“I’m tired of looking at digital lists of user generated content” – Brad from the past.. Or about a month ago.

Has this thought crossed your mind this year as so many of us have been at home more than ever? The mindless activity of reaching for my phone to scroll through yet another digital list of pictures, or memes, or texts has just gotten, well, boring. We live in unprecedented times where worlds of information is available to us on a click, but we spend our time just consuming lists of content.

Well I can say I’m finally fed up with this modern lifestyle. The allure of being in the know at all times, day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after.. okay, it hasn’t been a decade but it’s getting pretty damn close to that. All of this is just so taxing mentally. I’ve seen all the memes. I don’t need to wait for next month’s new hot meme format to have something in my life to look forward to.

I’m in a mood where I want to create content more than I consume content. Which is a tall task, because we end up spending most of our day just consuming content. In fact, let’s do a simple exercise to see exactly how much content we’re unknowingly consuming each day. I call this the, uhh, content consumption formula:

Daily Content Consumption = Mobile Screen Time + TV Screen Time

For someone that works on his computer, checks his phone constantly, and then watches TV or plays video games at night I can easily clock 11 hours of screen watching.

11 hours! 😵

And this is totally okay in modern society. No Nature Alarm is sounding after lunch telling me to get my butt outside to go for a walk. In fact the only notification that’s buzzing is some hook from an app to get me to check in and surf through what’s new. *sigh* 😭

We’re already at the 6th paragraph of the post and I still haven’t painted a positive picture. Sorry about that. We’re getting there, I promise.

So what can we do? Because I cannot go through 2021 consuming more and more lists of the same memes, pics, and tik toks. This model of living and serving our ego is causing a societal psychosis where we spend more time reading commentary and having discussions in our head then talking out loud.

That’s why I’m trying to design a few lifestyle tests that I think can help curb my digital screen malaise. Check out my story on IG for these tips and more (swipe up)… Just kidding 😛! Here’s the short list:

No Screen Sundays (It rhymes! Kinda..)

Reading (like what you’re doing now, but with a book!)

Morning Nature Walks (Or just walks if I’m in a city)

Using an old tablet to take notes, write blogs, & create content*

*Yes yes, I know this is staring at yet another screen, but it beats looking at my phone during the work day where I get hella distracted from IG, texts, and news.

So I’ll write separate posts in more detail diving into each test more specifically in how I plan to design a daily routine around it.. Except reading a book.. You get the gist of that one.. But maybe I’ll write a blog for that too. 🧐😅

Until then, start thinking consciously when you’re aimlessly browsing through digital lists of how you could be spending that time creating content that serves your needs. We’ve all seen enough memes, sent enough texts, and read enough comments for one digital lifetime. ✌️