54 consumption issues!!!!!

“you must create more than you consume.”

is something i have seen over and over again the past few months on various platforms. intuitively i agree. but does my output even come close to my input? with 7 hours screen time a day, the math probably isn’t mathing.

but through therapy i have also learned that judgement of myself or my routines is not the way towards progress. so instead of being hard on myself, i want to just evaluate and assess. because i swipe past this quote almost weekly but never evaluate. i know that the reach for my phone late at night doesn’t do any good for my brain, i know that it won’t give me any new ideas, if anything it makes me feel bad about myself and clouds my brain, preventing it to have any smart thought of its own. sometimes i scroll up to the comment section before i have even made up my own mind about something. and still often i opt for the mind numbing method instead of turning something into output, like a meditation or journaling. and i know that i do not need to consume anyone’s content in order to find inspiration for my own. i am not recreating tiktok trends and i am not recreating someone’s outfits. so how do i get the ideas for my own work? if i think about it, they come in the shower, while wandering through a museum (wait, that’s consuming right?), while brainstorming with someone I love, while staring at the wall, or on the empty screen, the blank notes app. I do love a scroll though, I spend an hour a day on pinterest and tumblr. I justify to myself that it’s a little better than a tiktok scroll, but it’s still input. the goal is to reduce the time gap between inspiration and creation. taking advantage of ideas when they come, immediately. most creatives never put out their work, because it “isn’t ready” or perfect, that is something i have completely diminished myself. i am not precious with my output at all, i think it, i post it. i send out the substack with typos and the instagram photos unedited. between idea and creation lie only a few minutes. but still, if i were to create more than i was consuming, there would be novels on my substack. i also don’t want to limit myself from consuming valuable things, i think deep down we know what kind of content doesn’t serve us anything. i took note of what kind of consuming does inspire me. movies, museum visits, a good conversation, an insightful article, writing down notes, piecing together mood boards. to not be too harsh on myself, i broaden my own concept of creation. I cook more than I order in or eat out. i create little games with my dog. i discuss things with my friends, with my partner. i have started working out, which means an hour a day away from the phone. and most importantly i do not take my phone with me to the toilet!!!!!!!!!

i know that the most wasted times of my life have been those of worrying about something i either can or cannot change, comparing myself to a shiny life I see through my screen, waiting for an idea, a chance, someone’s attention, improvement, change when i could have just moved the needle myself. and that is also creation, doing something, anything. i know that all of the extraordinary that i seek for my life, kind of already exists within me, i just have to start creating it. how can i label myself overly ambitious but spend my nights scrolling through other people’s work? watching someone’s lavish life through the screen is not manifesting your own. i also know that all of the self help books and therapy sessions don’t do much if you only take in the knowledge but don’t apply any of it to better your life. so how do i take action? i could set a daily output quota. i already hate this idea as i am typing it out, i love to do nothing all day and then start working when (and if) i get an idea or a burst of inspiration and energy. i do not create out of habit, and the thought of changing that seems dreadful. but yes, i could set myself to a minimum production output of a substack a day, a podcast episode, a sentence towards and article. i could also just be stricter with time, i know that a lot of people i know work with child lock things for their apps, and dedicate at least one hour a day to reading. i could be more clear with times are allocated for collecting inspiration, for developing ideas and for publishing the work. i could build routines, such as writing for five minutes in the morning. i could publish drafts (actually i am kind of doing that already, i will not proof read this text for example). as i work for myself, there is no one holding me accountable for my output other than myself, and the goal is to be more mindful. maybe i just need to reduce the input, and the increase of output will just be a natural result?

if I am looking at the real black on white numbers in relation to “create more than you consume”, i am generating more value than i spend with my business. i create more intellectual property and cultural imprint with my work and the things i put out, in real life and online. maybe the input and output is not as bad as i thought. i just know that nothing was achieved by scrolling and looking at what other people are doing.

let me know how you are minimising your input to maximise your output please!!!