Why I Stopped Following the News and Started Reading More Books

I used to be a news junkie. Every morning, I'd scroll through my RSS reader, checking international newspapers, tech websites, YouTube channels, and Reddit threads. I thought staying informed was essential - how else would I understand what's happening in my country, the world, and the tech industry?

But at the end of last year, I took a hard look at my habits. I asked myself: what makes me happy? What stresses me out? How do my daily activities contribute to my goals?

When I examined my news consumption, I realized it wasn't serving me at all.

The Problem with Daily News

The first issue I noticed was the emotional toll. Most days, I felt more stressed than informed after reading the news. And there's a reason for that - negative stories dominate because they attract more attention and clicks. It's not that good things aren't happening; they just don't make headlines.

With world news, I started seeing the same patterns repeat endlessly. Political drama, conflicts in distant places, problems I have zero control over. I'd ask myself: how much of this actually affects my daily life? The honest answer was "not much."

Tech news was just as problematic. It revolves around:

• Big personalities and their drama
• Constant AI announcements that rarely impact my work
• Startups getting acquired (interesting but not actionable)
• People becoming wealthy (motivating but not helpful)
• Hardware I'll probably never buy
• Rumors about products that may never ship

None of this had real impact on my life. New technologies are usually easy to learn when they become relevant, and it's impossible to predict which ones will still matter in a few years.

What I Do Instead

This doesn't mean I don't care about the world or the tech industry. I've simply changed how I consume information.

For local news, I found a gem: Elbvertiefung, a daily newsletter from Die Zeit that arrives at 6 AM every weekday. It covers what happened in Hamburg the previous day and occasionally recommends books, restaurants, or cafes. Reading it in German also helps me improve my language skills - a nice bonus.

For broader world events, I'm considering subscribing to a quarterly magazine that covers important developments in Germany, the EU, or globally. These publications filter out short-term noise and fear-driven stories. Since they make money from subscriptions rather than ads, they tend to focus on quality over sensationalism.

The Results

At the beginning of this year, I decided to stop following daily news completely. The results have been remarkable.

Last year, I finished 20 books. This year, just in January, I finished 7 books. I'm still satisfying my curiosity and learning new things - I'm still "neugierig" (greedy for new things, as the Germans say) - but I've changed the medium.

Instead of consuming fragmented, often negative information designed to trigger emotional responses, I'm diving deep into topics that interest me. I'm learning from experts who spent years researching their subjects. I'm exploring ideas without the pressure of keeping up with a 24-hour news cycle.

And I feel much better because of it.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the news, I encourage you to try a news detox. You might discover, like I did, that you don't miss it nearly as much as you thought you would.