Creation vs Consumption

During this lockdown, I’ve gone through a sort of evolution of how I spend my time. Initially, when the lockdown orders came through alongside me being relegated to furlough, I was excited to kick back and plough through all the shows that I had left pending on my Netflix list. However, I found myself feeling disengaged pretty quickly. I decided it was best to get productive so busied myself by rekindling my love for classic novels and signing up to online courses for passion and professional development.  

While it was lovely to explore the timeless worlds of authors gone by and better understand cinematography, photography, data science and more I once again found things becoming a little repetitive with no clear goal in sight.  

A few days later whilst letting my mind wander during one of my daily government allocated walks, a bout of inspiration hit. It was suddenly clear what I needed to do. Create.  

Initially, I thought about writing a book but that seemed like quite a daunting task. I wanted to challenge myself to create something I was passionate about and share it, so I decided on a website and here we are.  

While excited to get going the whole experience got me thinking. Why had it taken so much time for me to reach a stage where I wanted to create? After doing some digging (internally and online) the realisation sunk in, a truth I had always known but never stopped and thought about in-depth, that society today has been conditioned to consume as a means of distraction and escape.  

We live in an age of consumption 

Here are some facts for you: 

• In 2020 Netflix is estimated to spend $17bn on new content in a fight for the attention of viewers. 
• Jeff Bezos is set to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2026 as Amazon continues to instantly gratify any desire with the click of a button and next day delivery (although, yes, I am aware that AWS is doing some heavy lifting).
• Last year people spent an average of 144 minutes per day on social media, a 62.5% rise from 2012 (see a breakdown by continent and more here).  

Whilst consumption is important for learning and relaxing, too much can leave us in a rut and eventually a bit bored, as I felt during the early days of quarantine. Yet perhaps unsurprisingly, data shows that current media consumption is higher than pre-pandemic levels – find profiles by age group and more cool infographics here.

As explained in HBO’s Westworld (I would highly recommend season 1), humans are remarkably good at falling into a pattern. Back when everything was normal, for many of us our days were very similar; daily commute, work, consume media/news, eat, sleep, repeat with a sprinkle of socialising (RIP). The general consensus was that between all of the above everyone was too stretched for time to pursue any passions seriously or sit and create something. It was much easier and needed to wind down in front of the tv after a hard day’s work whilst scouring social media to see what the world had been up to. The routine might’ve been broken up by the occasional holiday but as that hasn’t been an option recently we’ve had to face the reality of how we spend our time. What’s the best way to break up our Truman-show-like reality? You guessed it. Create.  

The benefits of creating

Creation can have some positive side effects: 

• Help us to focus 
• Organise and channel our thoughts 
• Bring mental calm  
• Give us a sense of accomplishment

I have personally felt some of these as since deciding to start this website I’ve caught myself having ideas and rushing to write them down whereas previously I would have been momentarily bemused before letting them disappear into the cosmos.

In my mind, the best part about creation is that it’s yours. You’ve taken an idea from the depths of your mind and brought it into the real world. Whereas most of the creation we do in our lives is repurposing information (while an essential skill, the importance of which is a whole topic in itself) it is completely different from creating something original, for yourself. An original idea is a much greater challenge but with potentially greater rewards. 

I challenge you

So seeing as we may be in this lockdown situation a while longer I challenge you, take the time and create something. Create anything. Share it with your friends and family, showcase it to the world if you’re feeling brave. It’s the creations of others that bring us joy and even greater joy comes from the successes of our creations. So pick up a pen or paintbrush, take out your camera and bring your ideas to life. Just start. That’s the hardest bit. You never know, your creation could open up new doors, potentially changing your life. But more than anything it will break the routine of constant consumption that we’re so used to.

Have I convinced you yet? Excellent! If you’d like any pointers on how best to start, see below.

5 ways to flex your creative muscles and do it consistently  

I know when hitting a (creative) wall it’s tempting to leave an endeavour aside and let it gather dust. Below are 5 steps to start creating something and see it through till the end. 

• Spend a minute thinking about why you want to create something. Is it to hone a skill? Have something to hang on the wall? Maybe to generate some extra income? Or just to let the mind wander? Finding a purpose will make it easier to push through any obstacles. If you ever hit a wall or lose interest – remind yourself of your purpose. 

• Be consistent. Very few things get made overnight. It’s a lot easier to write 500 words a day than write a whole book. I would recommend setting a daily target of how much you want to write/edit/film/draw and stick to it as a minimum. If you really get into it and go above and beyond, even better!  

• Don’t stress if things haven’t turned out exactly as you envisaged. It’s a journey! Assess how things have gone and use this information for next time.

• Rid yourself of any distractions (mainly your gadgets). I find that having my phone next to me has me reaching for it whenever I pause and sit back. It’s way easier to leave it in the other room to avoid getting sucked back in.

• Make your own rules! The above may seem a bit prescriptive but that’s what I’ve found works for me. But everyone’s different, so figure out what works best for you. What’s important is that you just start and enjoy the journey. You may resonate more with this list I found.

Good luck!