Your first day after the festive parenthesis. Are you ready for it?
How stoked or miserable are you today, maybe heading back to work?
It might feel exciting, like new doors opening and all that good stuff.
Or maybe you’re having a full-on Matrix moment: Neo realizing he has been down that road so many times and he knows exactly where it ends.
Okay, sorry, we are not living in a simulation and there is no red-pill escape hatch.
But you can fortify yourself.
Here is a detox list before the year really gets rolling:
Nuke the news.
Religiously abstain from following all the commentaries about events you cannot change or influence.
It does not touch the world, but the world’s media sure touches you on an emotional and often debilitating level.
Doomscrolling costs way more than just wasted time.
If cold turkey is not realistic, curate ruthlessly. Prioritize wire services like Reuters or the Associated Press. They consistently rank as the least biased and most reliable across independent ratings. Check once a day. Straight facts, minimal commentary. Skip the sensationalism and rage-bait bullshit.
If something real and relevant happens nearby, trust me, you will hear about it. The neighborhood grapevine will not let it slip quietly into the night.
Get a solid weather app. This one keeps you grounded. We’re not in control of everything.
It will also keep you covered for acts of God. When a tsunami or hurricane is coming, you will have time to prepare.
Do the basics: hydrate, eat real food, move.
You already know this. Do it. There is plenty of good material online. Stick to sources that are not TikTok trends.
Do not talk about anyone who is not in the room.
You will fail at this most of the time, but with effort it becomes habit.
Rumors and gossip kill the vibe for everyone, including the person spreading them.
Sure, gossip delivers a quick dopamine hit (Juicy drama, temporary superiority), but it is junk-food dopamine.
Those short-lived highs are often followed by a crash that keeps you up regretting what you said.
Take five minutes of real silence every day.
No phone, no noise, just stillness. It is low-effort, high-reward: resets your nervous system, clears mental fog.
Play with a dog or cat whenever you get the chance.
Their uncomplicated joy is contagious and their presence grounding. It is an instant reminder that life does not always have to be so serious.
Ask questions and do not settle for “easy” surface answers.
The stronger curiosity gets, the richer your conversations and inner life become.
Enjoy the absurd as signal, or entertainment. Don’t let it manifest as outrage.
People (like us), do dumb things, all over the place, all the time. Don’t attempt to auto-correct the world.
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Great advice. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thankfully, I am not in a job where there is gossip. I used to be and I hated it.
Thanks for this.
I’m working on a post about words that create work for people after the fact. In a bad way.
This relates to explanations and damage control after the fact.
I will look forward to reading.
At the time when I experienced a bit of toxicity at work from gossip, I would come to work as I always did, quiet. In my own corner. I join in with chat on the general things if I could get a word in. But mostly I was quiet in my own world. But when some gossiping was happening and they tried to get me in on the conversation, I was like, no. I ain’t going there. I don’t want no part of it.
I thought to myself, here I am right now coming to work to forget my issues. But the atmosphere at work is not nice because of that.
I would then take myself to another part of the building to sit until it was time to start work, just to get peace and quiet. And some wonder why I was quiet or did that.
Solid advice. Thanks, Matt. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 are pretty much daily, but 6 and 8 will need work. My SI wants no pets, but there’s a no-kill shelter near me that I hope to volunteer at just to hang out with animals. As to the last, it’s a good way to look at it and a great way to dump anger. In this bizarre-o alternate, how-the-hell-did-we-get-here universe, the absurd is everywhere.
Niki, thanks so much. yep, “Absurd,” especially online, has become what seems a default setting for our species. Please do hang out with the furbabies. I have a not-so-miniature Schnauzer. A big boy that keeps me grounded, and amused.
Edit: My own Number 9… Doodle more, create silly little drawings like the rock tower I illustrated for the post.
In fact, the list can be endless…
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