Doomscrolling is killing your creativity

• If I asked you to tell me your daily or weekly screentime, would you feel happy or slightly embarrassed?

• How would you describe your relationship with your electronical devices? (your phone, notebook, tablet, etc.)

Many of us spend hours on our phones, especially if we are using any social media apps. If you are belonging to the group of not having any issues at all with your screentime, this post shall not concern you.

I am merely calling out those who hesitate to state that they spend 2h+ daily with their beloved screens outside of work - myself included.

In order to be able to tackle the issue, we must first admit that there is an issue to begin with. A moment of silence for my weekly screentime I am about to show you:

Across all devices (phone, tablet, notebook) my daily usage averages to around 8h…..EIGHT HOURS!! YIKES

I spend loads of hours editing videos for myself and for clients, creating and planning posts and listening to audiobooks. All of those things are mainly done on my phone - however, 8 hours is a brutal reality that I am not ready to accept.

In one of my older posts (You're scrolling too much — Soritta) I mentioned my daily average there too and yes, I am embarrassed to see that the number has not de- but increased.

How scrolling is impacting my creativity

• I am constantly overstimulated and flooded with a million and one ideas done by hundreds of creators online. From recipes to aesthetic posts, to tutorials and funny memes - the hours pass by without my noticing it.

• The increased hesitation of exploring creativity, because of the pressure of having to create something meaningful.
  
  I would be lying if I said that there is no thought behind any of my posts except for “oh, i was just experimenting”. Nowadays, I rarely find myself making room for allowing myself to explore creativity without having to create a finished product.

• The pressure of wanting to be unique: Let’s face it. Not every idea you will have will solve world problems and be completely new.
  
  It’s okay to be similar to others who have the same interests as you. It’s okay for people not to remember you, because they too are being bombarded with posts left and right. And sometimes, even remembering what you did last week can be hard.
  
  The fear of not creating at all, because you have seen it done by others is probably hindering the growth as artists for many of us.

• But can you make a living out of it? The current economic state and culture we live in, drives many to think that we can hustle our way to financial freedom. Lack of sleep is a trophy and burnout is the battle scar we carry with pride. Thus, can you profit off of your creativity?
  I am here to tell you:
  
  Hobbies can stay hobbies.
  
  No, not everything needs to be a digital product or a side hustle. Yes, there are many who have found success with that, but that does not mean that this has to be your dream too.

• Are these really my own thoughts? Hypothetically speaking, if I am constantly surrounded by the many ideas of hundreds of people, how much of what I think is truly my thought? We are constantly being influenced and training the ominous algorithm to the point of believing that it seems to know us oh so well.
  
  I don’t even make time to explore my own thoughts before I have heard about those of 100 strangers online.

• Where inspiration ends: You can keep your 10 Pinterest inspiration boards, your saves Instagram posts, the bookmarked recipes, etc.
  
  How many of those saved inspo posts will never make it out of being bookmarked? Will you ever try out that one stir fry recipe, upcycle that shirt or build that table?
  
  There is only so much inspiration one is able to soak up - but if we don’t follow up with actions, that inspiration dies with the post we saved.

• No sleep makes me weak: The amount of times I stayed up late scrolling instead of trying to fall asleep has certainly been the cause for some tired and hard days. (If those aren’t the consequences of my own actions).
  
  I have come to realize that yes, sometimes art and creativity find us during hard times and help us cope. But most times, I notice how much more motivated I am to write, read, paint, etc. if I am at ease, have slept and eaten enough.

How to tackle this issue

Let’s start small. I cannot move away from my phone and not use social media at all - it’s my job after all. But what I did is log out of my private profile. Jup, that’s it.

I can still access Instagram via my notebook or tablet, but at least it’s not my phone. Where finding my spark was about making it easy for my brain, this time, I am trying to make it harder.

You might think that the change may not be significant, but I can already notice how much less I grab my phone, because there is nothing to check!

For now, I won’t make any bigger promises or go cold turkey, buying myself an old Nokia. Small steps, big changes, awareness - this is my plan.

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Thank you for reading along this far! I would love to read about what you are thinking and how you are facing your phone addiction. Is it impacting your creativity at all?

Cheers to healthier habits!

Lead your dreams,
Soso