In the U.S. most people would say, "take a timeout", meaning "take a break." In the U.S it's usually written as one word, without a hyphen. In sports it would be: "The referee called a timeout" ( one word) If you use "some", it would be" take some time OFF" or "have some time OFF" (two words)

PercheNo, yes, it would be correct to say, "take a timeout from negative news." In fact, when I go on vacation, I often take a timeout from watching the news, at least for a few days, because listening to all of the negative things going on in the world can be a bit depressing

I've seen @Walkabout's answer, and it seems that there may be some variations in usage. 'Take a timeout' does not sound natural to me, as a British English speaker. I think of 'time out' as being uncountable, so I would use it either with 'some' or with a zero article. I'd say: take time out or take some time out I checked a few dictionaries, and found that this use of 'time out' - uncountable and two words - also seems to be an American usage. This is from the American Merriam Webster dictionary: .................... Definition of take time out : to stop doing what one is doing in order to do something else for a while —usually used with from "She took time out from her career to raise her children." ................................... I wonder if 'take time out from' is seen as a different meaning from the sports-related 'take a timeout' which Walkabout mentions.