I feel this so much! I share your sensory overload problems, and I always have, but things are worse in today's world. Louder, flashier, brighter than ever.

I just came back from reading a frightening article in Newsweek about how networks of progressive lawyers are already strategizing about how to file lawsuits to stop Trump from using the military against US residents if he wins the 2024 election.

I think the article might have become more stressing because of how much I had to struggle to dismiss flashy, blinking intrusive ads as I read. If I didn't do it just right, then the ad would take me away from the article and when I returned I would go back to the top of the article instead of where I left off. If I did manage to hit just exactly the correct tiny X, then I might have a respite of 15 or 20 seconds before another ad would pop up.

My experience was so frustrating that I almost stopped reading the article, and that's pretty typical depending on the news platform. Some are better than others, but even very staid, mainstream news sources that I actually pay to read (looking at you New York Times and Washington Post!) inundate me with flashing, blinking ads.

When I'm writing a story about current events, I go to new sites all the time. I go from article to article to dig up different points of view and to select quotes. I'll tell you what, I usually end up with major headaches and nausea as a result.

And as far as phones go, I replaced mine a couple of months ago because the battery on my perfectly lovely prior phone wasn't charging well anymore, and the battery is not replaceable. (By design, of course.)

I sprung for a new phone, and it did not have a jack for my perfectly good headphones that come with a perfectly good microphone that I have used for many interviews for my stories over the years.

Fortunately, I thought to Google, and I learned that I could buy an adapter to plug my headphones into my phone's power port instead. But don't suppose I discovered that from my phone manufacturer. They're sitting on that bit of intelligence, evidently not wanting people to know it's possible.

Capitalism at its finest, eh?