It’s no surprise that I occasionally pick a few days (or weeks) and deliberately ignore the media. I do this on purpose. Most (nearly all?) information that’s presented as important, unexpected, or urgent is irrelevant, predictable, and most definitely not even remotely urgent. The best way to recognize this is to unplug from the flow of horseshit. When you return to the flow you’ll find everyone has spent weeks obsessing over something that was either a done deal from the start (most budget debates) or irrelevant (Superbowl commercials and any State of the Union Speech).
My term for this is “going off grid”. I sometimes call it “self imposed media blackout”. I’ve mentioned it before here and here.
Alas my definition lacks something. It seems to imply something of value as if the act of doing without is somehow a bad thing which one endures. This is not my intention. A sunset is not the unhappiness of lacking daylight.
Captain Capitalism wisely coined the term “microenvironment” and implores you to control it. You should venture forth and read what he has to say. Here’s a quote to whet your appetite:
“Thankfully, your micro-environment has an additional advantage over your macro-environment – it is nearly 100% under your control.
… if people were to step back, clear their eyes, and take a look at their lives, they’d soon realize that for all the dire news they hear in the media, practically none of it affects their daily lives.”