How to stay sane during a turbulent election

Eight strategies I’m personally using

A recent survey found that 69% of Americans are stressed about the upcoming presidential election. I get it. I spent thirty years as a TV reporter and anchor; I understand the chaos from the inside.

I wanted to share my eight strategies to handle election stress, so I recorded a solo podcast where I go through those top tips. These are not must-dos or homework—just hacks I’ve learned over the years that inject perspective and equanimity into an atmosphere of tumult and uncertainty. 

Below you can listen or watch the episode. Both free and paid subscribers have access to the episode cheatsheet with key takeaways, time coded highlights and transcript. 

Episode cheatsheet

The big takeaway

The mind is trainable, and we can develop skills to help us navigate challenging periods—like the 2024 election season. By reframing the election as an opportunity to practice these skills, we can not only cope better but also improve our overall well-being.

Dan’s eight sanity-saving strategies for election season

1. Mindfulness: Develop awareness of your thoughts without getting carried away by them.

2. Limit news consumption: Use mindfulness to recognize when you've had enough.

3. Diversify news sources: Consume media from various ideological perspectives to gain understanding.

4. Practice loving-kindness meditation: Cultivate warmth towards others, even those you disagree with.

5. Use effective communication skills: Focus on understanding rather than changing minds.

6. Take action: Remember that "action absorbs anxiety"—volunteer or help others locally.

7. Never worry alone: Reach out to friends and discuss your concerns.

8. Practice self-compassion: Be kind to yourself when you struggle to maintain these habits.

Quote to ponder:

"Action absorbs anxiety. It's very easy, I find, in the middle of a turbulent election or an overseas war to feel really helpless. Like, there's nothing you can do. And it may be true that there's very little you can do to affect the macro situation, but you have an enormous amount of power to take action locally."

—

Episode timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction and context

02:10 - Caveats about the strategies

03:49 - Mindfulness meditation instructions

05:22 - Limiting news consumption

07:12 - Diversifying news sources

09:11 - Loving-kindness meditation

13:01 - Communication skills

16:46 - Action absorbs anxiety

20:55 - Never worry alone

22:55 - Self-compassion

24:49 - Conclusion and request for feedback

Election Sanity Transcript

89.7KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download