I like to call bullshit when someone tells me they don’t have time to devote to something to fuel their creative fire, aid in their well being or simply bring them happiness.
If I were to open the screen time setting on their phone, I would most likely see that they are logging a minimum of 4-5 hours/day on social media and other superfluous digital activities.
I’d also venture they are spending a few more hours at night watching some sort of streaming service or sports entertainment.
I’ll admit, I’m often ashamed of my consumption patterns. I also don’t think a little mindless scrolling is too detrimental to our well being.
The issue I have with this form of “downtime” is, when left unchecked, we start to depend on it to relax — often in greater amounts and at the expense of our desire to create.
…or to put it another way —
We increasingly waste our precious hours on things that don’t matter.
Let’s replace this pattern with something more constructive.
Let’s commit to create in greater proportion to our consumption.
Some Things I Do To Rebalance My Creativity
Here are a few things I like to do to rebalance when I notice my creative output waning.
Try and treat them as a “menu” to choose from versus trying to incorporate them all at once.
I also cycle on and off of them as needed.
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Spend the first 30 minutes of your morning free writing versus reading CNN or Reddit.
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Turn off ALL notifications on your phone before 8AM and after 7PM instead of starting and ending your day responding to “fires”.
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Delete ALL social media apps from your phone and access them only from your web browser on your laptop.
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Schedule 30-60 minutes of “thinking time” every day versus stacking up your calendar with meetings and busy work.
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Schedule 3-4 hours of “deep work” twice a week for creative projects and turn off your email reader, phone, and eliminate all other distractions.
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Go for a walk or a bike ride at night instead of watching the latest GRR Martin series on HBO Max.
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End your day reading a book versus scrolling Instagram or Tiktok.
Do you have something that nurtures your creative well being?