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I spoke to a women's group last week about writing columns, working in news, hitting deadlines and all things Hot Global Mess. After the event, I chatted with a couple folks who shared similar sentiments: They're burned out.

The first woman tearfully said she saved a recent column I wrote about not wanting to talk about the news because it made her feel seen. I wrote that piece in a coffee shop with a deadline looming and the thought of writing about one more current event making me physically ill.

Another woman compared her past news consumption habits to now. Once upon a time, she'd read her newspaper and catch up with two or three TV channels, and that would conclude her media exposure for an average day. Now, she said, she's on her iPad constantly, headlines flooding in so fast that it feels like she doesn't get much else done before darkness falls again.

This is so painfully real, and it's a problem. To be clear, there is no changing the pace at which news comes, no going back to a time before the internet. And politically speaking, the current rash of headlines is a strategy designed to overwhelm and freeze. That's not just my opinion.

What can we do about this? We have to work with this deck of cards, not swear off cards completely. We're no good for progress if we're burned out and turned off. How can we, humans who want to be informed and involved in making our communities and world better, take steps to make sure information stays a vibrant part of our life and not our whole life like a snake eating its tail?

I have a few thoughts, advice to myself as much to anyone else. I just had to toss my phone to the side after watching Donald Trump and JD Vance berate Volodymyr Zelenskyy like a child. My already high blood pressure was creeping up, the hotness growing around my neck as I used gallows humor in group chats to cope. Who's bringing potato skins to the end of the world?

And the really messed up thing is that I stumbled on that horrific display of anti-diplomacy when I opened my phone... to take a break! To look at something mindless and fun for a few minutes! A cat video, perchance, or a meme! But no. Going online is like trying to use the bathroom with a toddler sticking his head under the door every five seconds.

That said, let's brainstorm solutions. Wallowing in comfortable misery only gets us so far.

1. It helps to remember that the pace of information will ebb and flow. We're enduring an all-out flow right now, each day's leading story more absurd than the last, but it cannot keep up like this forever. For one, all the journalists are going to end up face down in a tray of catered muffins, and we'll have no news at all. In Trump's last administration, the pace cooled eventually, in places, a little.

2. The phone has to go away sometimes. Bye. No one can make this happen except you, except me. We have to take responsibility for putting down the devices when it's not necessary to have them in our hands. I'm not even saying we need to be puritanically anti-screen, but do we really need to doom scroll and watch "Wicked" on streaming at the same time? No. Choose one digital warrior.

3. We must tell others when we need a break. I have in my household periodically petitioned to talk about anything besides the diaper spill of current affairs. It's an active choice to say, "We are going to talk about great restaurants in Boston and not the systematic dismantling of public institutions." Do it. Ask for it. Let's say what we need, ask for space, not assume others can read our minds.

4. On the flip side, read the room. We might be the ones overloading a conversation others are not mentally equipped to handle. For instance, if everyone at the function is enjoying a moment of lightness and laughter over a few drinks and a recap of "The Traitors," it might not be the best time to interject, "So, how about those mass deportations?" There is absolutely a dinner where that conversation can come up, but awareness of time and place is crucial.

5. Who are we fighting with online? Are we nitpicking someone substantially on the same side? Who does that help? Who gets your precious energy? Whose sincere energy are we stealing like a vampire who always has to be right?

6. Do something, anything. I find that whenever I am feeling mentally stuck, it helps to perform a physical activity. Laundry, washing a dish, a stroll through a park, a blissful half-hour in thrift store, a few pages of a book. I believe that forcing motion activates the ability to work for social well-being. We do not all have to be activists and writers and politicians. We can call a representative. We can reach out to a fired federal worker. We can clean up the beach. We can attend a community event and meet neighbors and read the room to start important conversations. We can pet a dog.

7. Remember that stories posted at 8 a.m. will still be there at 8 p.m. We don't have to consume news as it happens. We can decide to catch up for one hour per night and then put the world away. There is no prize for knowing things first when our health and mental stability are on the line. Breathe, friends, and steer the ship toward your own island of peace, toward the proverbial muffin tray where you can finally seek rest.

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Stephanie Hayes is a columnist at the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. Follow her at @stephhayes on X or @stephrhayes on Instagram.

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