This website is dedicated to providing articles on getting motivated, getting things done, using time effectively, and generally getting more from your life. If you want short articles to get some quick food for thought, check out the Daily Inspiration category. For longer pieces which go into subjects in more depth check out the other categories such as Inspiration, Motivation and Time Management.
Now read on…
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inspiration by Steve.
I was thinking the other day that my news consumption probably stands at about 10 or 15 hours. That might not seem much for some people, those who spend most of their waking hours staring at the flickering news images on their TV or sit with their nose buried in the folds of the latest edition of the daily Daily Geddit, or, these days, glued to the computer screen as they surf goggled-eyed from one news website to another.
But wait! Fifteen hours is my news consumption for… wait for it… a whole year… and even that’s probably a wild over-estimation. Impossible? Not at all. The fact is that I haven’t watched much news now for years, having more or less stopped caring what the news reporters think or say when I was in my early twenties. This might seem odd to the most people, who can’t bear to not know what’s going on in the world, but what is even more odd is that I managed to work as journalist—though a business journalist rather than a newshound—and still not take much notice of the stream of news reports cascading from every media outlet imaginable. Nowadays I hear snippets of news from other blogs that I read, and I read the odd news alert which might give me material to write about. But mostly I’ve given up news and live on a news-free diet.
But what’s wrong with news, I hear you say. Isn’t it good to be well-informed? Sure… if you actually are well-informed. But news doesn’t give you that in the real sense. And that’s not all it doesn’t give you. Here are just 12 reasons—a nice round dozen—why it’s good to keep away from the news—especially the news as broadcast on TV.
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anti depressant deja vue Groundhog Day hindsight Mozart negativity nervous news TV news
It often isn’t that there isn’t enough time. It’s that we don’t stop to think how to get more out of it.
The song “I’ve had enough” by the British rock band The Who, taken from the album Quadrophenia, has a few lines which go:
“You
Were under the impression
That when you were walking forwards
That you’d end up further onwards
But things ain’t quite that simple…”
Who hasn’t been there, to suddenly realize at the end of a long period of (often hard) work, that we don’t seem to have progressed? We’ve put in the effort, but the results just don’t seem to match. It’s as though we’ve been meeting resistance, and much of the time our energy is being used to push against a brick wall.
In order to solve this problem, we need to separate the time and effort we expend from the efficiency of what we do.
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time management workaholic
Sometimes we can change our environment much more easily than we can change our thinking. It’s a good way to achieve motivation. And one of the simplest things to change is the people we spend time with.
If you’re interested in motivation, you’re no doubt always on the lookout for motivational tools—ways of achieving something or just making you feel ready to do something. When we do, we’re often looking for one of the various types of intrinsic motivation (motivation that comes from within). But intrinsic motivation can have its roots in extrinsic motivation (motivation from without), and sometimes extrinsic motivation is easier to get because you can find it easier to change your external environment than to change your feelings.
The good news is that there’s a very simple motivational tool we can use, and one that can have a profound effect on our lives at that. It takes practically no effort once it’s set in motion, and is actually enjoyable to use—fun, even.
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Choose your friends wisely comfort zone companionship friendship
I read a quick blog entry the other day which bemoaned the fact that there are just too many personal development blogs. These blogs, the writer, believed, were of very low quality, written by youngsters with uninformed opinions and nothing of real value to offer.
This may be somewhat true, but hardly surprising. With the popularity of The Secret running full pelt it was inevitable that there would be a spurt of interest in all things related to personal development, and since most people have a very strong herd mentality, it was inevitable that many people would want to take part. This is especially true when developing yourself—either spiritually, mentally, or physically—is seen as something that can be done without too much effort. “Just think about it and you’ll get it” type of stuff. People will always flock to something when they’re told it will give them what they want without them having to work for it.
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The Secret
