Frictionless Friday: Stay Away From Negative News to be More Effective

Negative news stories can trigger emotions that can impact your entire day. Research released last year in partnership with the Harvard Business Review and Arianna Huffington found that consuming negative news in the morning can make you less effective throughout the day.

The study involved 110 participants who were split into two groups -- the first watched three minutes of negative news before 10am while the second consumed solution-focused news (i.e. stories of resilience). Both groups received emails six hours later with a survey that was to be completed within two hours. The participants that were exposed to negative news that morning were 27% more likely to saying they had an unhappy day than those in the second group.

News is hard to ignore and negative news is near impossible to escape if you want to keep up with current events. However, there are some steps you can take to keep you exposure to such news stories to a minimum.

Change the Channel

Start your day with on a positive note. That might mean ignoring the news altogether, or tuning in to media that is focused on positive stories. Check out some alternative news sources and find one that gives you the news without all the doom and gloom. The What's Working section of Huffington Post, for example, focuses on people and businesses that are making a difference and the solutions that are making an impact.

Turn Off News Alerts

Turn them all off. Consume news only when you want to. The alerts are distracting enough on their own, but the negative headlines finding their way to your inbox don't need to be read right away.