How many apps do you blitz through in a never-ending whirl of hearts, comments, and shares?
How many hours do you pour into those apps?
How does it make you feel?
If you’re anything like me, pretty dang antsy.
You can’t do your best work and live your big dreams on social media.
You can showcase your work, share your dreams, or get feedback, yes, but you still need to do and live offline before you have something to share online.
You still need pockets of quiet to concentrate, dream, and create without checking your phone every 5 minutes.
And those pockets won’t come to you unless you invite them in.
Why You Need To Carve Your Own Quiet
Carving your own quiet is getting intentional about the hours in your life and what they mean to you.
It’s tuning out the distractions so you can hear yourself think and make that time count.
Let’s say you have a 30-minute block on your hands . . .
A) You cycle through all your apps and take a quwick selfie for Instagram #livingmybestlife
B) You watch some funny videos and shoot them off to your crew; or
C) You shut down all distractions so you can start or finish that blog post, book proposal, short story, song, painting, or code you’ve been putting off.
Which one do you think makes you feel brilliant, creative, and on fire for your dreams?
(Hint: it’s C)
Yes, you need time to rest, unwind, and just have fun.
I’m all for it.
But you also need time (lots of it!) to buckle up and work so you can do the things you’re called to do.
Spoiler alert: You won’t be great if you’re always consuming and never creating.
And isn’t being great at life what you want anyway?
So if being more intentional matters to you (and it should), here’re 3 tips to switch things up and get your hours back.
1) Go offline for a week.
No Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Netflix, or whatever else fills your hours.
Unless you absolutely need it for work, you can do without it for a week.
You’ll be amazed at how much free time you have.
Read a great book.
Go out to a park or brunch with your girlfriends.
2) Focus on one project.
Don’t just veg out on TV because you’re offline. (Bonus points if you stay off TV too!)
Pick something important and work on it every day.
Maybe you’ll surprise yourself and wrap up ahead of schedule.
And even if you don’t, guess what? You’ll still make a tonne of progress.
Get on it.
3) Notice how you feel offline.
Chances are you don’t realise just how many hours you spend online.
If you’re online for 2 hours every day of the week, that’s 14 out of 168 hours.
If it’s 4 hours every day, then it’s 28 out of 168 hours.
If it’s 6 hours every day, then it’s 42 out of 168 hours.
And we haven’t even talked about how much time you spend on your devices when you’re not browsing or streaming.
Now imagine how much content or art you can create in 14, 28, or even 42 hours in one week.
A brilliant new short story.
A series of killer blog posts.
The outline and first chapter of your book.
Full scripts for your podcast or YouTube channel.
And so much more.
You become great when you clear the decks often enough to hear yourself think so you can do your best work.
Being Intentional Isn’t Easy
FOMO (fear of missing out) pops up.
Your fingers get itchy to scroll, scroll, and scroll some more, but if you channel all that energy into your creative project, you’ll astound yourself with just how much you can do with your extra hours.
Whenever I go off social media for a week or more, I always feel like a whole new woman.
I write more fluidly and regularly, I get better ideas, and when I’m really relaxed, I even write poetry a few times a week instead of a few times a year.
Every time I get twitchy and feel like I can’t hear myself think, it’s because I spend too much time online and too little time nourishing my relationships and projects offline.
Every time.
I don’t have Facebook and Twitter anymore (bliss!), but I still need breaks from Instagram so I have more space to breathe, dream, live, and write.
When I slash my app time to the bare minimum or go on a full hiatus, I feel calm, sane, and on top of my game.
It’s not always easy, but it is always worth it.
What If You Can’t Stay Offline?
You can still be intentional with your app time.
If your job or business means that you can’t just waltz offline for a full week, block off some hours on your calendar for your important creative project (see #2).
Track your time on the apps that’re vital for your work tasks and projects.
How many hours are work-related, and how many hours are just entertainment?
When you have those numbers, cut your entertainment time in half and funnel one half into your creative project.
Focus on work while you’re online and log out of the apps once you’re done.
Take a break from your screen to clear your head and hear yourself think.
Make space to tune out distractions and do more great work.
Do you have time to entertain yourself for hours and hours each week?
Then you have time to create much more than you consume.
Get on it.
This Is Your Fork In The Road
Either you click away and dive back into the apps you can’t live without, or you become more intentional so you can hear yourself think.
I can’t burst through the screen and force you to tune out the cacophony of distractions.
You’re responsible for how you show up in the world, and that includes how you spend your days.
But I can tell you that your beautiful dreams won’t blossom unless you nurture them from idea (seed) to real life (fruit).
And it’d be a shame to neglect those dreams because you’re too distracted by the bustle and glitz of social media.
So tell me, how’re you gonna be more intentional so you can hear yourself think?
Talk To Me