[VladimirGolovin]

First off, do you still read the news? If so, consider cutting them completely.

As for the rest, deal with issues in a sequential manner. Don't deal with multiple things at once. Be stubborn: pick one thing, kill it dead, move to another.

And consider adopting a GTD-like system. If you deal with information, you will benefit from having a clear distinction between actionable information (tasks) and non-actionable information (reference). See a task? Put in on a task list. Not a task? File it into notes and forget about it.

[shostack]

I've struggled with this. News and social sites like Reddit are what tipped me off early this was going to be bad.

Yet I empathize greatly with OP. It takes massive energy and time to deal with the sifting.

I've started trying to develop mental filters and guidelines for things I went let myself dig into, like opinion pieces and their comments. It helps a little. I suspect I need to do more though but don't want to risk being out of the loop on major global and local happenings.

[72deluxe]

I use skimfeed.com to attempt to get an overview of headlines in the world and delegate everything else to lists and work through them. Once an item is on a list, I no longer need the mental exertion to remember what I needed to do, and avoid getting into the "what was that thing I was meant to do and remember?" situation.

I also deliberately avoid WhatsApp and force people to email or SMS me. This massively reduced the amount of noise I had to deal with. Sure, I hear off fewer people but I actually get stuff done and if people can't be bothered to write an email, it's probably not important in the slightest.

This might not be an option for you but in any case it is reducing the amount of time you're on your phone and/or distracted, coupled with exerting a bit of control over when and how people can contact you. Your phone is for your convenience, not theirs.