What can we do ourselves, directly and concretely?

Busch: There are various ways to develop optimism. The key is to distinguish optimism from hope. Optimism helps people in difficult times more than hope. Hope is something we passively expect. We hope that we will stay healthy or that we will keep our job. Optimism, on the other hand, has an active momentum. A leading German politician once aptly said: "Optimism is working on hope.”

Optimism arises when we focus on what we can do directly, now, immediately and by ourselves in a situation. For example: If a company is in financial difficulties, it is of little use to hope that the market situation will change in five years' time and the company will prosper again. Instead, it is much better to concentrate on what you can do yourself right now.

Busch: There are always opportunities to take action. If I'm concerned about global warming, there's little point in hoping that we'll somehow be able to solve the problem in 30 years' time. Instead, it's better to focus on what you can do yourself: How can I live more sustainably, reduce my own carbon footprint? Someone else will go on a protest or the next person will deregister their car.

It is important to take action, because then something very good happens in the brain. The moment I become active, I reduce anxiety. And studies show that this positive effect occurs as soon as we start to act – and not only when a problem has been completely solved. This can be applied to personal challenges – like an overweight diabetic who has to lose 20 kilos and is happy about losing one kilo every month – but also to social problems such as foreign infiltration and the migration debate.

Busch: Bad news and fake news infect us like viral pathogens. They infect us with negative feelings, make us thin-skinned and hypersensitive. Nevertheless, I don't think it's a solution to completely stop consuming media. Information is important, we can't barricade ourselves off from the world. It's like red wine and chocolate – a question of dose. If you constantly consume one headline after the next on your mobile phone, you put your brain on permanent alert with information confetti. It's better to consciously take an hour a day to read or listen to media reports from start to finish and understand the background and context. Of course, this requires a certain amount of willingness and discipline.

It is important that the stories we read and hear about the world are also told to the end – and that we read them to the end and don't just stop at negative headlines. We usually only hear about what is not working, but in many cases things are improving and developing step by step. We hear about the shortage of apartments, but not how many new ones are being built every year. This constant focus on the deficits is not good for the brain or the mind. Whether as a politician, journalist or manager, it is important that we tell stories fully and to the end – a bit like we tell our children as parents fairy tales from beginning to end – and consciously give space to the good, the successful and the accomplished.

The best time of day for news consumption is midday. Early in the morning, studies have shown that it can affect our mood for the rest of the day. In the evening, or even more so just before bedtime, bad news can upset us and deprive us of sleep. Late at night, it is better to look back gratefully and consciously on the good events of the previous day.