Turn Your Attention Toward Something You Love

Mike Montiero shares his strategies for staying online (but not on Instagram) In These Times. These are solid ideas, and he's bringing years of personal experience to the problem.

The idea is to turn your attention away from the figure in the spotlight, the one who is so desperate for you to pay attention to him. You can turn it toward anything at all: reading books, obviously, but also conversation with someone in the house, or pictures of Bodega Cats, or listening to music on the radio. Montiero recommends KEXP, a very solid choice, but I would like to make a case for KMHD, an all-jazz station with live DJs (as I type, they're playing Nina Simone's "African Mailman." Come on! So good.)

No one is saying not to be informed. This is not the time for putting our heads in the sand. But it is the time for protecting our sanity, and denying attention hogs our attention is one way to keep our peace.