Doom Loops
Not letting the news steel your time, focus and energy.
On edge, anxious, stressed, struggling to focus.
Only 3 days into the first full working week of 2026 and that’s where I’m at. Not due to work, mainly from the news.
It seems like the year has already started with a flurry of bad news stories, most of them courtesy of the orange man in charge across the pond.
Is NATO finished, where will he invade next, what does that mean for us in the UK, the world in general, and then what about the impact on the family, the business, our clients, their customers.
I’ve been here before, where the gravity of external influences starts to impact the day-to-day.
So already, this is the very definition of ‘Refinding Focus’, even when it’s just for the next hour, or next day… it’s the perfect time to refocus with a few small resets - 2 minute solutions that I find helpful to get out of the doom loop:
Set a single time per day to check the news and leave it at that
Phone-free walk, leave it at home
10 second reminder of your goals
Decide on a quick win to start on that can be done in under 10 minutes
Turn on comforting music
It’s another one of those times where more inputs and stimulation don’t add any value to you. They’re not worth the cost. Is it fair for your time and focus taken up by issues you can’t control?
Worrying times for sure, but it’s time to be mindful of how much you should worry. Too much and it holds you back, delays your progress and causes unnecessary stress for things that probably won’t happen.
Spend too much energy worrying about situations you can’t control, and it’ll hold back your progress on the things that you can control.
These times will pass, it will get better, but the world still needs business leaders to stay positive, focussed and to keep making progress.
I wonder if maybe the bigger risk for you is the cost personally, to your mindset, energy and health, and the impact to the business. If you head’s not in the game then this can quickly filter through to the bottom line results.
Optimistic, calm and safe in the knowledge that you can adapt to whatever happens.