Is anyone else trying to work but...

[TwoBees]

...can't concentrate because of the news?
Sigh.

I keep refreshing my facebook page for possible updated from friends and family in/around Boston. And I'm keeping one eye on the tv. :(

[elektra]

This is how I have felt since the moments right after the bombing.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

yes. i didn't get to work until 9am, as we were trying to catch up news this morning. i still can't concentrate with all the updates coming through.while we're not in the area anymore it hits too close to home for me. my fb feed is flooded with updates, people saying they are ok and stuff.

[lizzywednesday]

I am lucky it's a slow week.

I felt this way after September 11th, too.

Not to conflate the two, but I needed to get my hands on FACTS to make myself feel more in control of the situation.

Does that make sense to you folks?

[alootikki]

Yes - haven't gotten any work done all morning. I went to MIT, my brother and extended family live in the area. I can't concentrate at all. Can't believe that this is happening - so strange to see all of these familiar towns in this context!

[AngB]

I am lucky it's a slow week.

I felt this way after September 11th, too.

Not to conflate the two, but I needed to get my hands on FACTS to make myself feel more in control of the situation.

Does that make sense to you folks?

Me too. I am a news junkie.

[lizzywednesday]

Me too. I am a news junkie.

I actually had to go cold-turkey after September 2001, actually, because I was getting anxiety attacks, which were (mis)diagnosed as asthma.
I

[kbud]

Yes, I work PT from home when the kids are at school. I am getting little done this morning...

[wendibird22]

I have my ipad on my desk streaming ABC live news while I work on my laptop. I have a friend 1 block from the area that is surrounded in Watertown and I keep refreshing his FB posts.

[BayGirl2]

I really had to just stay away from the news on Mon-Wed. Its been a busy week for me and I just couldn't afford the distraction.

At some points I need to tell myself that
1. No amount of info will give me any actual control over the situation
2. The second to second news is mostly speculation, read the economist on Friday for a true in depth analysis of facts, because no one will really have distilled all the facts for at least a couple days

I tend to get pulled in to the adrenaline of the news sites if I let myself but I find there's little true benefit to it, just a lot of stress and emotions and impact to my work.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

I really had to just stay away from the news on Mon-Wed. Its been a busy week for me and I just couldn't afford the distraction.

At some points I need to tell myself that
1. No amount of info will give me any actual control over the situation
2. The second to second news is mostly speculation, read the economist on Friday for a true in depth analysis of facts, because no one will really have distilled all the facts for at least a couple days

I tend to get pulled in to the adrenaline of the news sites if I let myself but I find there's little true benefit to it, just a lot of stress and emotions and impact to my work.

yeah, that all makes sense but it is a lot harder to do when you have lots of friends in the immediate area and you just want to know if they're ok. i have friends who work at beth israel, friends who live just down the street from where the bombers supposedly lived, friends still at MIT. my dh was frantically trying to contact his good friend last night who lives in newton after the police mentioned the suspect was headed there after the shootouts. i don't know , i usually can easily tune out most breaking news stories but it's a whole 'nother ballgame when your own hometown/community is under attack. i am just so thankful DH is not in boston this week (he goes pretty often, went last week). i would have been beyond freaked and he would have likely been stuck there for a while.

i agree that the real facts tend to come out later (so much misinformation/rumors in the beginning), and i'm not so much paying attention for those things other than listening to the names of towns/areas and wondering if whoever i know lives there is/will be ok.

[BayGirl2]

yeah, that all makes sense but it is a lot harder to do when you have lots of friends in the immediate area and you just want to know if they're ok. i have friends who work at beth israel, friends who live just down the street from where the bombers supposedly lived, friends still at MIT. my dh was frantically trying to contact his good friend last night who lives in newton after the police mentioned the suspect was headed there after the shootouts. i don't know , i usually can easily tune out most breaking news stories but it's a whole 'nother ballgame when your own hometown/community is under attack.

I understand. I lived in Boston for a few years, still have friends there, and have a nephew at MIT. But watching the news isn't going to tell me anything about any of them, just work me into a frenzy. I did check FB regularly to hear people were ok. I also learned from FB that an alum of my B-school lost his leg in the explosion. There are plenty of ways to know that the people I know are ok, the mass media is not the best way to find that out.

[lalasmama]

I need to drive up to my old neighborhood today, which is about 4 hours to go there and back with the errands I need to do up there. .... and yet I am unable to pull myself from in front of the TV.

[AJP]

I keep hearing updates on FB from people in the areas in Watertown and Newton and surrounding towns. It's madness. I'm kind of glad my DC are home and I can't turn on the news. Ive been reading cnn from my phone and following some live video from local news here in Boston.
I was supposed to visit my best friend in Newton today and when I awoke to the news my first thought was how I'd get through certain neighborhoods to get to her house. I quickly saw on local news that there has been a shelter in place order for the surrounding towns and I'm glad they are doing what they can to keep people safe. This madness must be so stressful to everyone in the area!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

glad you are doing ok AJP.

dh and i went out to lunch together today, which we NEVER do (it's kinda far). i just wanted to talk to someone about all this.. it's just downright disturbing seeing pics of our old neighborhood/work now on lock down... and with all this uncertainty.... anyway, it was really good to get out...gave us a chance to really talk without kids constantly interrupting (rare these days). we are both just in shock over this.

[LizLemon]

I checked the news a couple times but the structure of my job doesn't allow me to check out one day and make it up the next. It's sometimes a good thing because last night my husband and I got sucked in to the news and stayed up to a ridiculously late hour watching the events unfold, so I probably would have been been focusing on it a lot otherwise!

[Kindra178]

This is how I have felt since the moments right after the bombing.

Me too.


I really had to just stay away from the news on Mon-Wed. Its been a busy week for me and I just couldn't afford the distraction.

At some points I need to tell myself that
1. No amount of info will give me any actual control over the situation
2. The second to second news is mostly speculation, read the economist on Friday for a true in depth analysis of facts, because no one will really have distilled all the facts for at least a couple days

I tend to get pulled in to the adrenaline of the news sites if I let myself but I find there's little true benefit to it, just a lot of stress and emotions and impact to my work.

Really great advice. Thank you.