How to Stay Informed Without Constantly Checking the News
There are many great reasons for wanting to keep up to date with the latest news stories. Staying up to date with the news is part of being an engaged community member. Many people enjoy knowing and talking about what is happening in the world and eagerly consume news content in their spare time. For others, being across the news is essential for their jobs.
As someone who works in government relations and policy in a highly regulated industry, I need to stay updated on news relevant to my field. However, constantly checking the news throughout the day can waste valuable time and affect my productivity. Over the years, I’ve developed a system using four techniques that help me stay informed without losing focus.
1. Subscribe to targeted and curated news sources
The key to avoiding excessive time spent on news consumption is to be very targeted and focused in the content you do consume. Rather than aimlessly browsing social media or checking the media company website for news updates, identify and subscribe to targeted email newsletters and podcasts that publish content on news topics of interest and relevance to you. By subscribing to targeted newsletters and podcasts, you limit your exposure to only what matters, avoiding distractions like clickbait headlines or unrelated social media posts.
Identify targeted news sources and sign up to a daily news email newsletter summary or podcast that aligns with your areas of interest. This could be from traditional news outlets - like the New York Times, ABC News, or the Guardian daily news summaries or other email newsletters and podcasts - or a curated news summary from a digital news outlets - for Australian based people I like the Squiz Today and The Daily Aus. This could also involve signing up to key word related media summaries based on your industry or areas of interest. I subscribe to a mix of news sources covering general news, targeted industry specific news, and topics of interest (such as economics and health) across email newsletters and podcasts.
2. Multitasking using audio news sources
While multitasking can often detract from focus, pairing low-effort activities like commuting or getting ready in the morning with podcast listening helps maximise otherwise idle time. I combine listening to daily news podcasts in the morning with getting ready for work and commuting to be across the day's key news stories.
The key to making this technique more effective is to identify and subscribe to news podcasts that are relevant to your interests and needs. For example, I subscribe to a couple of general daily news update podcasts that are 10 to 15 minutes long, plus two targeted industry specific podcasts with around 30 minute episodes that are released around once a week. Once subscribed, these podcasts will be readily available for you each morning in your podcast feed for focused news consumption.
3. Batching daily news update consumption all in one go
Another key technique for limiting the amount of time you spend on the news and avoiding distraction is to batch your daily news consumption all in one go. Batching minimises mental switching costs, allowing you to engage deeply with tasks in between dedicated news checking sessions. You may have heard of productivity hacks encouraging you to batch when you check emails to specific points in the day. While this is something that doesn’t work for my job, applying this technique to checking the news is effective.
Batching daily news consumption involves setting aside specific times, such as during your morning commute or the first 15 minutes after you start work, to check your targeted news sources. Once this time is up, you move on to other tasks and don’t recheck the news until the next targeted time. You may have another time in the day if needed, say the first 10 minutes of your lunch break or at the end of the day, but the key is not checking constantly throughout the day and interrupting your other work.
On weekdays I batch the majority of my news consumption to the mornings. I listen to news podcasts while getting ready and commuting, and I scan the content in the targeted email newsletters I have subscribed to during my commute and during the first 15 minutes when I first arrive at my desk. I then don’t check it again for the rest of the day (with the exception of targeted work related breaking news updates), until my commute home where I catch up on podcasts I didn’t get to in the morning. On weekends, I scan over breakfast or during an afternoon reading session.
4. Scheduling time for in depth news reading
When I come across long-form but non-urgent articles, I flag them in a ‘to-read’ list. I then set aside dedicated time to read through these. I also use scheduled reading time to research a topic in depth that I am not familiar with and want (or need) to be across. For work-related reading, I usually do this on a Friday. For non-work related articles I usually spend an hour or so reading on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Using a lunch break or commute time is another good opportunity to catch up on reading articles.
Dedicating time to read more in-depth analysis is valuable to avoid getting stuck in the daily news cycle, to help you engage with wider trends, think more strategically and build your knowledge.
In summary
These four techniques help me stay updated with the news efficiently without constantly checking it. Trying these techniques, particularly combined, can help to engage with the news productively, effectively, and in a targeted way.