I’ve talked previously about procrastination and its ability to cripple our creative efforts. Recently I’m finding my proscrastination driven by a healthy media overload. I’ve got two reality series and a soap opera recording on the DVR. I’ve got nearly two hundred friends to keep up with on a social networking site. I’ve got news to read on my home page… All of this adds up to a boatload of distractions for the well-meaning writer. If you’re going to eke out more time in your life for creativity, you (and I) are going to have to put media in the background, where it belongs.
Here is your first baby step: If you’ve taken time to make a nice dinner (or other meal) for your family, insist that all forms of media be shut off, and make your family sit down at the dinner table–no TV, no handheld devices, no radio, no mp3’s, and no cell phones. Make conversation as a family. Talk about your day. If your kids are older and this is too boring for them, try this: While you’re cooking, make a list of interesting social topics and let one member of the family pick a topic to discuss during mealtime. This is multi-tasking at it best too: You’ll open up lines of communication, and get your opinions about said topic across in an open forum where they’re free to express themselves too.
The next baby step? Monitor the amount of time you spend engrossed in each type of media. You’d do the same for your kids, right?
1) If you’re having trouble limiting your social networking time, get your egg timer or set the timer on your stove, and let it blare at you when your half-hour is up. Your ‘friends’ will understand. After all, they’re surely as time-strapped as you are.
2) If you must follow a certain TV show, be sure to record it so that you can fast-forward through advertisements, or so that you can watch it when time allows (such as on a lazy Sunday.) Also, by recording your shows, you can be aware of exactly how many series you’re watching. If there are too many series, it’s time to narrow that number down to the absolute favorites.
3) If you’re a sucker for magazine or newspaper subscriptions, then you should evaluate the number of these to see which you actually take the time to read. Are there any that you could receive digitally through the Internet or on a digital reading device? If there are magazines you love to read (and hold), put them in what I call ‘Strategic Points of Reading Opportunity’ aka The Back of the Toilet. (Most of my magazine perusal comes while I’m giving the kids a bath, or, that’s right, as I’m perched on the porcelain throne.) If you can’t possibly read all of the subscriptions you have, then consider donating them to a clinic or hospital waiting room or senior center.
4) Narrow down online shopping to the items you definitely need. Surfing the Internet to find out what’s on sale can be a rush, I know, but it’s also an easy way to waste tons of time. You might try the egg timer in this instance also.
Now that you’ve started to evaluate your media time, I’m sure there are ways for you continue to whittle it away. Be honest with yourself, first of all, and you’ll be on your way to magically finding more time in your day to do the creative things you fervently wish to accomplish.
Where Has The Time Gone? Blog 