…
Simply trying to zone out is particularly ineffective when you’re waiting for significant news, said Kate Sweeny, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, who studies the difficulty of waiting. So as much as the TV might call out to you when you’re desperate to be distracted, it’s probably not going to help.
“Spacing out, listening to music, just trying to relax — those sorts of things are tough,” Dr. Sweeny said. “If they work for you, great. But I would say that for many of us, our minds are perfectly capable of loudly worrying while watching television, while we’re listening to music, while we’re driving the car.”