Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday

In the modern world, this is not easy. In the 1990s, political
scientists began to study what they called the “CNN Effect.”
Breathless, twenty-four-hour media coverage makes it considerably
harder for politicians and CEOs to be anything but reactive. There’s
too much information, every trivial detail is magnified under the
microscope, speculation is rampant—and the mind is overwhelmed.
The CNN Effect is now a problem for everyone, not just
presidents and generals. Each of us has access to more information
than we could ever reasonably use. We tell ourselves that it’s part of
our job, that we have to be “on top of things,” and so we give up
precious time to news, reports, meetings, and other forms of
feedback. Even if we’re not glued to a television, we’re still
surrounded by gossip and drama and other distractions.
We must stop this.
“If you wish to improve,” Epictetus once said, “be content to
appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters.”
Napoleon was content with being behind on his mail, even if it
upset some people or if he missed out on some gossip, because it
meant that trivial problems had to resolve themselves without him.
We need to cultivate a similar attitude—give things a little space,
don’t consume news in real time, be a season or two behind on the
latest trend or cultural phenomenon, don’t let your inbox lord over
your life.
The important stuff will still be important by the time you get to
it. The unimportant will have made its insignificance obvious (or
simply disappeared). Then, with stillness rather than needless
urgency or exhaustion, you will be able to sit down and give what
deserves consideration your full attention.
There is ego in trying to stay up on everything, whether it’s an
acclaimed television show, the newest industry rumor, the smartest
hot take, or the hottest crisis in [the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the
climate, the World Bank, the NATO Summit, ad infinitum]. There is
ego in trying to appear the most informed person in the room, the
one with all the gossip, who knows every single thing that’s
happening in everyone’s life.
Not only does this cost us our peace of mind, but there’s a serious
opportunity cost too. If we were stiller, more confident, had the