How to Consume Less and Create More

This article is about what I have done in the past month to replace my consumption habits with creation, reconnect with myself, and, more importantly, my purpose: to evolve and serve others.

I. Skip Social Media

The first thing I did was disconnect myself from social media (I mean, Instagram, where you see all the good looking people who seem to be having a more exciting life than yours) to regain control of my time and attention.

It was not hard for me. I didn’t even have to remove the app, I just logged out of my account, and I haven’t logged back in ever since.

I guess that was easy for me because it has been a while since I felt mentally drained from scrolling through those endless feeds of other peoples’ lives and the stress of needing to post mine for validation, which usually involved me posting in front of my mirror (Ergh).

Well, honestly, this period of no social media has been one of those times when my mind is lightest and calmest.

I love how it feels, and for now, I don’t see any reason why I should go back. Still, social media has its benefits, particularly when it comes to sharing positive messages.

So instead of completely removing social media from my life, I still use Instagram for my business, and I plan to post once a month on my account just to let people know that I am still happily alive.

I am sure you know what I am talking about here, and allow me to remind you that the only validation you need is from yourself.

Reclaiming your mental space from social media would let you put your focus back on things and people that truly matter.

So, unplug yourself now and thank me later.

II. Review My Goals and Schedule in Creation Time

The second thing I have done to reflect on how I want myself to be perceived in the coming 1–3 years in every aspect of my life, i.e., my career in finance, my two vegan businesses, my YouTube channel and my upcoming coaching business, which I plan to build them into an ecosystem that can support me to live the life I desire and make the most significant impact.

To do this, I have reviewed and updated my annual goals with actionable steps, something I am learning to do at least every three months to keep myself on track and accountable.

I have also broken down my annual goals into monthly goals and listed them on my Notion page, which you can find here.

With my monthly goals set, I then worked on planning for my creative time.

Because I have a full-time job and my days can be unpredictable, I mainly devote my lunch-time, after work, and weekends to my creative process. I will time block 3–4 hours during these times to create.

Of course, I also time block other tasks on my calendar to keep my mind organised about what I need to do.

One thing important here is that I am not scheduling an activity for those time slots. I am “scheduling” the results I want.

For example, I put “Finish outline for Sunday’s video” into my Wednesday’s 12–2 pm time-slot, and “Finish filming YT video” into the 2–4 pm time slot of my Sunday.

It is vital to keep myself mindful of and focused on the outcome required because a lot of the time, we mistake being busy as being productive, and we all know it is not.

People often ask me how I stick to those scheduled tasks when unexpected things happen every second.

The truth is, I don’t. I consider it a win when I can stick to 50% of my scheduled task (Yes you read this right 😊). But it is important to me that at least 3–4 hours a day are spent completely uninterrupted and focused on a high-priority creative task.

It may not be the task I have rescheduled, but it must be equally essential and move the needles. For example, instead of working on my YT script, I may design my website instead.

Instead of waiting for creativity to strike, schedule a time on your calendar to create.

You’ll feel more accountable to the task at hand and will be more devoted to the work if you make time for it.

Quantity doesn’t always mean quality but permitting yourself to pursue quantity without restraint during designated time blocks will help you become more creative.

III. Cultivate a Morning Ritual for Maximum Creativity

Another thing I have done is to stick to my morning ritual, which prepares my mind for creativity.

Two of the key activities in my morning ritual include meditation and morning pages.

Meditation has helped me get calm and listen to the deep inner creative voice that never fails to inspire me. I have been using the App Insight Timer for meditation.

I love it and have talked about it in another video. After meditating, I do my morning pages, a tool created by Julia Cameron in her book “The Artist’s Way.”

The Morning Pages was initially designed to help creative people get out of their ruts and get back to living a creative life.

The morning pages can be anything from three pages of free-write to a list of things about your goals, dreams, or fear. The point is not what you write but instead committing to writing it every day.

Usually, I start by writing what I need to do that day, and then I ask myself how they will support my goals or something I use those pages for manifestation scripting.

Often, things will start popping into my head, and I will keep on writing.

You are free to write whatever you want. Also, if you forget to do it in the morning, do it in the afternoon instead, or right before bed.

You might feel as though you can’t complete three pages of work, but do it anyway. Trust me – the magic comes when you have filled those pages.

Although the morning pages are not the work I share with the world, just like meditation, they help me get rid away some of my mental clutter from yesterday and prepare my mind for a new day and creativity.

IV. Put My Imperfect Work Out There

I am taking the “Creator Program” with Natalie Bacon, and I love when she says, when it comes to our work, know that it is just as good as done.

That resonates with me because I would have never started this channel without that mentality, which now I wish I had started earlier.

Honestly, I don’t even want to watch those videos I filmed months ago.

In one video, my lipstick was totally smudged. I saw that when I finished filming but I was like, I need to put this out this Wednesday because that’s what I have promised!

We all know that if we wait for our work to get perfect before we share it, we may end up never sharing it, and the world will be sad!

Just keep on creating. You will improve along the way.

A creative mind is not born. It is trained. It needs courage, curiosity and permission to explore new things without worrying about the results.

Put your imperfect work out there and see how it goes, get feedback, learn from the process, and evolve!

V. Keep My Ego in Check

We live in an ego-driven society, and once we are not conscious, we allow our ego to grow into arrogance, and we act like the whole world is about us.

In my opinion, social media is 200% responsible for this. I believe that true happiness comes from being in the service of others.

It is a feeling that comes from within but not from the approval of others.

I need to constantly remind myself to stop myself from thinking I need to post another selfie to feel better, and that requires me to keep my ego in check.

Besides contributing your time and money to those in need, one of the best ways to serve others is to create valuable content.

I have an avatar for my blogs and YouTube channel, and when I create content, I often consider if she will watch it to get clarity on what I should create.

To be truly fulfilled, we cannot just be self-serving, but we need to be servant-leading and create values for others.

Keeping this in mind has motivated me to create more and consume less in the past month, and I hope this reminder will help you do the same.