Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to maintain a list of online content
Speaker 1: you'd like to enjoy, because, especially in these anxious times,
Speaker 1: we can all benefit from less clickbait and more curation
Speaker 1: and our electronic reading and viewing when you need a
Speaker 1: brain break. It can be fun to read an article
Speaker 1: or look at other content online, but it's easy to
Speaker 1: get lost in the black hole of mindless scrolling. You
Speaker 1: start by reading an article that interests you, and then
Speaker 1: you follow one link after another. Much time can pass
Speaker 1: before you realize that you didn't plan to spend your
Speaker 1: whole morning looking at running scorts or catching up on
Speaker 1: every detail of the British royal family's life these days,
Speaker 1: in particular, you are definitely not planning to wallow in
Speaker 1: the details of how many face smasks. A hospital in
Speaker 1: rural Kansas has the sort of thing that's scary but
Speaker 1: that you personally can do nothing about. Yet somehow that's
Speaker 1: exactly what you've been doing. So how do we avoid
Speaker 1: taking the clickbait? In a recent newsletter from Character Lab
Speaker 1: psychologist Dan Willingham, suggested creating a list of links to
Speaker 1: content you really would like to enjoy on the Internet,
Speaker 1: including web pages, YouTube channels, and podcasts. I think this
Speaker 1: is a great idea. I'd recommend getting a little more
Speaker 1: granular and including links to specific articles, specific videos, specific
Speaker 1: podcast episodes, and so on. Just create a simple word
Speaker 1: document on your hard drive or a Google doc where
Speaker 1: you can store the links. Another option is to use
Speaker 1: the notes app on your phone. Maybe you can call
Speaker 1: the document worth Reading or something more cheeky, like avoiding
Speaker 1: the rabbit Hole. Then, any time a friend sends a
Speaker 1: link to an article she thinks she'd like, or you
Speaker 1: see a recipe you want to check out, or you
Speaker 1: hear about a Ted talk you want to watch, just
Speaker 1: pop the link into your document. When you want some
Speaker 1: light entertainment. You have a ready supply of content that
Speaker 1: you actually want to peruse. You can steer clear of
Speaker 1: clickbait and aim for content that's truly engaging. You don't
Speaker 1: need to let algorithms dictate your Internet consumption. You can
Speaker 1: curate your own viewing in a thoughtful way, and once
Speaker 1: you've used the links, just delete them so your list
Speaker 1: is always fresh. Right now, my list includes yo Yo
Speaker 1: Ma's Songs for Comfort project poems by Tracy K. Smith
Speaker 1: on the Poetry Foundation website. Emily austers Ted talk about
Speaker 1: things parents should consider before going back to work in
Speaker 1: a New York Times article with writer's descriptions of books
Speaker 1: that bring them comfort. And yes, there are some cute
Speaker 1: photos of royal children. This doesn't all have to be
Speaker 1: high brow, but if you're aiming to spend less time
Speaker 1: scrolling mindlessly, you might want to try this too. Curate
Speaker 1: your internet use by creating a document of links you
Speaker 1: really do want to explore. You'll probably be less anxious
Speaker 1: and more informed too, and maybe saved some money from
Speaker 1: not doing so much online chopping. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's B the number
Speaker 1: four then breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
Speaker 1: me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at i heeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from i heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H