Creation:Consumption Ratio Check

iPhone users are all too familiar with the report, delivered unprompted and certainly uninvited as an alert each and every week by default. The data we are given is: 

the average time you spent on the phone last week (Do you do anything else? it seems to suggest)

the percentage that time increased or decreased (You just keep getting worse!) 

and whether you spent it on “social networking,” “productivity” or “reading & reference” (Do you really need to be on Facebook that often?).

I find myself scrolling and scrolling for longer periods of time given that it's my main avenue to socialize, to connect with other people other than my kiddos. I know it sounds corny to say that, but it’s true.

In the midst of the coronavirus, when many people are stuck at home, these reports have become a badge of shame, making us face how much time we are truly spending on our phones.

Let’s face it though, the rise in our collective screen time is natural in a time that finds people still wanting to remain connected despite the recommendation to maintain a physical distance. Plus, let’s not forget that there are also many adults working from home now and schools putting online platforms in place — all of which requires more time in front of screens. But guys, we need to be mindful. How much are we consuming? 

I’ll be the first to admit, I have spent a lot of time consuming instead of creating with this social distancing stuff. Browsing other peoples' blogs. Looking at other peoples' posts and images. Reading other peoples' stories. I have found myself valuing the already completed work of others more than the in-progress work of my own.

We all contribute. No matter what you're doing: getting an education, raising kids, handing insurance claims, writing books, trying cases, building bridges, making sense of spreadsheets, teaching students, growing veggies, managing financial operations, building wells in Africa, you're contributing.

And we all consume. All day, everyday, we consume. There is nothing wrong with taking in information. There's nothing wrong with fist-pumping at someone else's inspiring story. Or tearing up over someone else's breakthrough. It's part of the process and certainly not a bad thing.

But during a time like this, where we are defaulting to social media and rabbit holes on the internet, we need to check ourselves.

Am I spending three hours mindlessly looking at other peoples' work and only one hour on creating my own? Can I flip that equation? Three hours for my CREATION, just one hour for CONSUMING?

When it's time to actually get a project done, I have learned (through practice) that "creation" happens in my own head. It is not something that comes to me. Lightning doesn't strike. The lightbulb doesn't go off. I chase the lightning down. 

It's not easy. The more you consume other peoples’ thoughts and ideas instead of working on your own, the more you'll be worried about everyone else and the less you’ll be improving yourself. 

The more you're caught up in scrolling, the less you are living. 

You want to make stuff? Make it. You want to write stuff? Write it. You want to do something different? Do it. 

Get in and be inspired, but then GET OUT. And then get to work.