playbook
One week without news
Seven days without a newspaper, no NOS app, no newsletter. Only what people tell you. By the end you'll know how much you actually miss and how much you used to follow out of habit.
1u
duration
Free
budget
Ignite
pace
The idea of not following the news has a strange reputation. People immediately think of irresponsible citizenship, or a hippie ignoring the world. In practice it's something else: a week without news is a week without the constant drip of worrying headlines, without refreshing a news app ten times a day, without the "I wonder what's happening now". The world keeps going without you following it daily.
What most people discover: in a week you miss almost nothing that truly concerns you. Really important news reaches you through people. A colleague who says "did you see", a friend who forwards an article. The rest is simply the stream of noise you normally swim in. At the end of the week you take a few things back (the Saturday paper, a weekly newsletter), and you let go of the daily 30-checks-a-day. That's not irresponsibility, that's a better filter.
Checklist
0 of 6
Nieuws-apps verwijderd
NOS, NU, X-app voor nieuws
Dagelijkse nieuwsbrieven afgemeld
Browser-tabs zonder nieuws-bookmarks
Twee collega's ingelicht
Voor de filter
Eerste impuls overleefd
Drang naar refresh
Reflectie op dag 7
Wat mis je echt, wat niet
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by PlayTryBe team
Sunday evening: delete news apps from your phone (NOS, NU.nl, X). Not just notifications off, actually gone.
0Send a short email or message to two colleagues. "I'm going a week without news, let me know if something is really important". That's your filter.
Unsubscribe from daily newsletters (NRC morning mail, FD update, Algemeen Dagblad). One button, done.
Day 1: you'll reach for your phone multiple times to check something. No app, no feed. Feel the discomfort.
Around day 3: a colleague tells you something that's in the news. You get the information without hours of noise. That's surprisingly efficient.
Important news reaches you through people. Trivial news reaches you through apps. A filter via people is usually more reliable than a feed.
Midweek: buy a weekend paper on Saturday (NRC, Volkskrant, Trouw). Not cheating, a deliberate weekly update.
5Day 7: look at which apps and newsletters you put back. Often just one or two. The rest was noise.
0For anyone copying this
Do as we did
Suggestions
- Delete the news apps from your phone. Not just notifications off, actually gone.
- Unsubscribe from daily newsletters. Weekly ones are fine, daily ones are not.
- Tell a colleague you're doing this, they'll fill the gap with what they've heard.
- Picking up a print weekend paper at the end of the week isn't cheating, it's a choice.
Variations
- - Half-maatregel: alleen één weekendkrant lezen, geen dagelijks nieuws.
- - Twee weken: makkelijker omdat je een ritme vindt zonder.
- - Combinatie met social media-week: vaak overlappen de bronnen, dus combineren werkt.
- - In een onrustig nieuws-tijd: lastiger en daardoor leerzamer.