As a highly sensitive person (HSP), managing your news intake is crucial to staying engaged with the issues you care about. The sheer volume of news, especially when it tugs at your empathy, can quickly leave you feeling emotionally drained.
While staying informed is important for your safety and the ability to take meaningful action, it doesn’t mean you need to subject yourself to endless news cycles.
But how much information is enough? How do you navigate the emotional impact of the constant stream of negative stories and unsettling images?
To find balance, it’s crucial to establish practical boundaries, engage in ways that respect your limits, and find healthy outlets to process what you witness.
In this article, I’ve put together some strategies for managing your news intake to help you stay informed without sacrificing your emotional health.
7 Practical Strategies for Managing Your News Intake and Safeguarding Your Well-being
1. Set Boundaries for Mindful News Consumption
The first step to finding balance is being mindful of how and when you consume news. Without boundaries, it’s easy to spiral into overconsumption with 24/7 access to information.
- Designate news time: Instead of scrolling or reacting to notifications all day, choose specific times to catch up on news and set a time limit.
- Choose a few trusted sources in advance: Go straight to these sources to avoid getting lost in endless browsing or sensationalist content.
- Assess your capacity: Before diving into news, pause to assess how much bandwidth you have.
- Check in with your needs: Sometimes we’re seeking distraction. Someone in our HSP Circle suggested asking yourself, “Is there something else I need?”
2. Curate Your News Sources
Most news outlets use sensationalist headlines to grab attention and drive traffic. Nearly all media have some bias, but some are more balanced than others. Choose sources that prioritize in-depth reporting over rhetoric designed to provoke fear or outrage.
- Pick a better medium: Cable news thrives on ratings, while social media amplifies division. Look for longform articles and investigative journalism for a more accurate, nuanced view. It’s also helpful to choose larger news organizations with stronger accountability standards and diversified funding, such as public news outlets, which are often more reliable than unaccountable pundits or highly partisan sources.
- Check bias: Sites like All Sides use multipartisan analysis and community feedback to rate media bias, helping you get a more balanced perspective.
- See all sides: Ground News compares coverage across the political spectrum—left, center, and right—so you can view multiple perspectives on the same story.
- Narrow your focus: Subscribe to activist groups focused on issues you care about to get updates and calls to action directly. This can help you bypass the broader news, but remember to fact-check emotionally charged claims.
3. Be Mindful of Triggers and Make Space for Emotions
Many news stories or headlines can evoke strong emotional reactions, especially for HSPs. It’s important to remain aware of how the news affects your emotions and have outlets to process.
- Recognize emotional manipulation: News outlets often use charged language and visuals to provoke emotional reactions. Consider avoiding news from video sources. Reading the news can help soften the emotional punch often inherent in video, giving you more control over how you process information.
- Pause and reflect: When a story triggers intense emotions, it’s important to create some distance. Take a moment to notice and name what you’re experiencing.
- Step away to process: If emotions become overwhelming, step away to give yourself time to process what’s come up.
- Develop a grief ritual: Create personal grief rituals, such as journaling, making art, talking with a tree, or making a nature mandala to honor both losses and your own feelings.
4. Balance Information with Action
Passively consuming news can leave you feeling helpless. Balancing it with even small actions creates a sense of agency and a way to channel what you’re feeling.
- Channel your emotions: Whether it’s donating, writing to your representatives, or volunteering, taking action helps combat feelings of powerlessness.
- Start small: When thousands of people take similar small steps, these voices add up to create a larger movement.
- Get involved locally: Engaging with causes close to home can have a direct impact and foster a deeper sense of connection.
- Express through art: Art is a powerful way to process emotions. It can also be a form of activism. Art has the ability to make the invisible visible, and the distant more intimate.
You may also want to check out this book by my friend, Omkari Williams: Microactivism: How to Make a Difference Without the Bullhorn.
5. Seek Out Positive News
Managing your news intake also means reading news that highlights solutions and positive change. Amid the challenges, there are many meaningful advancements that can inspire hope and motivation.
- Focus on solutions-oriented journalism: Yes! Magazine centers their reporting on positive responses to social issues and insightful commentary that sparks constructive discourse.
- Explore “good news” outlets: For uplifting news, check out: Good News for Humankind, Good News Eu, The Better India, Positive.News, Good News Network.
6. Prioritize Self-Care and Collective Care
Balancing your news intake with restorative activities and community support is essential for maintaining resilience.
- Take breaks: Step away from the news and social media for a day, a week, or longer to give your nervous system time to reset.
- Tap into support: Whether it’s with friends or by joining a local group, find a supportive circle that offers a space to share, grieve, and celebrate together. Connecting with others who care can reduce isolation and remind you of the kindness and resilience in the world.
- Nurture your body and mind: Find practices that truly restore you—whether it’s yoga practice, creative expression, or time in nature. If you struggle to make time for this, consider signing up for a class to create structure and accountability.
7. Acknowledge Your Limits
As HSP, you may feel the pain of the world, but it’s crucial to remember that you can’t fix every problem. Safeguarding your energy is necessary to continue making meaningful contributions.
- Know when to step back: Get to know your capacity. Pay attention to the signals of your body. Trust yourself when you need to take a break. You can return when you’re ready.
- Set realistic goals for staying informed: Be intentional about how much time and energy you give to the news. Focus on issues that align with your values and set boundaries around how often you engage.
Final Thoughts on Managing Your News Intake…
As an HSP, your deep empathy and connection to the experiences of others are gifts, but they might also make you more prone to overwhelm. By setting boundaries, curating balanced sources, recognizing emotional triggers, and prioritizing self-care, you can stay informed and sustain your activist energy. In doing so, you’ll be able to contribute to the causes you care about without burning out.
You may also wish to read:
Navigating Collective Grief as Highly Sensitive People
A Guide to Balancing Social Action and Self-Care During the Holidays
For Highly Sensitive People Who Feel the Pain of the World