How to read the news without getting sucked in

👀 Today’s tip: Instead of aimless scrolling, give yourself a single news objective.

You can only absorb so much information at once. Unfortunately, the 24-hour news cycle did not get that memo. To keep on top of the news — like, really on top of it — you need a plan.

Think of information gathering as a process with three parts. The first is knowing your objective, or the information you want to seek out. Then give yourself a time frame in which you plan to find it, whether that’s a five-minute window between meetings or a half-hour during your lunch break. The third part, which is optional, is to implement a tool to keep you on task (we at Forge are big fans of setting timers and blocking off online distractions with the SelfControl app). Congratulations: You just got your time back.

📚 More from Forge on using time well:

How Author Morgan Jerkins Gets it All Done (While Having a Day Job)
Read more >>

A Radical Guide to Spending Less Time on Your Phone
Read more >>

How to Make Time to Read
Read more >>

The Forge Daily Tip is sent every morning via email. ☀️ Subscribe to The Forge Daily Tip here.

You’re subscribed to receive emails from Forge. You can adjust your settings via the link at the bottom of this email.