No News is Mostly Good News

It all started with a silly comment – my friend asked me if I had any New Year’s resolutions.?“I’m giving up news!” I said flippantly, “it’s dragging me down!”.?“That sounds like an excellent idea” he said.?And so it began, a month with no internet, radio or TV news.

I admit, I’m a news addict and I have been for as long as I can remember.?I have to know what is going on in the world and under normal circumstances, I’d be on the end of a constant stream of world affairs.?

Over the last year though, something has changed. ?I’ve found myself frustrated at the talk-no-action approach to politics, angry at everyone knowing we need to do something about climate change but no one doing anything tangible, powerless to stop the craziness behind the big black doors of Downing Street and increasingly saddened by the injustice of war that tolls on.

So, with the challenge laid down, what actually happened??Well, I admit that it wasn’t the strongest of starts, being sent off to tidy the kitchen when the news came on, but it made me realise I had some time on my hands – small amounts, that I could probably make better use of.

It started with building a desk midweek rather than absorbing the precious time that is the weekend. And then another (we have two children, reaching that age where they need a space to work – I’m not replacing one habit with a new one) and then the really good stuff started.

Conversations with my children and my partner, without a head full of stress, with time to sit and look them in the eye.?Quality time to think about my business and what it needs next. Planning ahead for the weekend – new walks, working out how best to use the time, rather than waiting for the time to dollop in my lap.?More swimming, more focus on how well I swim.?And before I knew it, a hatred for crappy TV – turning it off more regularly than on. (Although I did discover The Detectorists - so good, so clever, really funny).

Then one windy day, someone’s recycling bin blew over and there was plastic everywhere.?I found myself upset by the realisation that this had probably happened all over the city, that I was picking up a fraction of the mess and that even more plastic was probably making its way into our local rivers.?

And then, calm.?I have in my hands, the opportunity to do something.?I’ve not bought a single use plastic bottle since.

Networking has perhaps been the oddest of experiences – someone made a joke about Rishi Sunak and maths.?I think it was meant to be quite funny, but it went straight over my head.?I was left with no option but to explain my cluelessness.?Not knowing the basics of the news, had for the first time elicited some funny looks all round.?I have to say though, it turned out to be a great conversation starter and we had a refreshingly open discussion about mental health in business.

Now a good friend of mine who I regularly meet at Networking started to giggle when I told him.?He knows I like to get public transport where I can, and he couldn’t resist asking me how I’d know if a strike was on.?The next day in fact, knowing we were heading to the same event, he sent me text message from his car, asking how my journey was going, attaching a laughing emoji.?I knew what he was saying and if I’m honest, he sent me into a bit of panic.?The timing was genius – I was on the way to the station.

And then, as before, calm. Whatever happens, I’ll deal with it – not a lot as it turns out, someone forgot to tell the bus and metro drivers in our city.

I love listening to the radio, it’s me-time when I’m driving anywhere, and the volume sometimes nudges worryingly towards double figures.?I couldn’t work out how to stop the news on the radio, so I turned it off all together.?This was a mistake.?Too much.?Too lonely out on the road.?So gradually I allowed the radio back in, resolving to remember the news times, recognising the jingles.?For the most part I was pretty good at hitting mute, ‘turning off for 5’.?But there were a few slips in busy traffic, where without realising it, I was a minute into the news.?News by osmosis.?Worryingly unconscious stuff.?I’ll let you think on that.

Mid-month, it was all beginning to feel a bit odd – like I was missing out.?Calm being the new mantra, I gave it a little thought and realised that whilst I wasn’t up to date, I also didn’t have a storming opinion either.?I’d have to listen to what people say, I’d have to take more time to consider what was being said.?From that, I can only learn surely? The penny had dropped with a whacking great big thud. This has had an incredibly positive impact on my networking.?New relationships based on three things. Listening. Learning. Thinking.?So great to be reminded of that.

Would I recommend no news??Two weeks ago I'd have said "Absolutely not.?I love it, can’t wait to get back to it". Today, the news was all 'vox pops and caffeine', so today its a "yes, I would!". ?Either way, I recognise that the break has been good for me – a reflective experience.?Going forward I will be applying my dad’s mantra of ‘everything in moderation’ and be trying hard this year to ‘concentrate on the things I can influence’.

And so it is then, that the last word must go to Lyn – an ex-colleague of mine from my days on the railways.?We bumped into each other at a Metro station.?I asked how she was, and Lyn replied “well, you’ll know all about the latest won’t you!”.?“Why don’t you tell me?” I asked.?

“I’ve given three decades of my life to the rail industry.?I work hard and care very much for our customers.?And now it feels like they want to water down my pension and treat me like an agency worker with no rights.?I’ve never stood up to anyone like this before, but I just feel I have to.”

Enough said.