In early May I decided to try cutting down on time I spend browsing, watching videos and listening to podcasts on my phone. I wanted to do this because I felt overwhelmed by incoming information and like I was spending more time-consuming information than reflecting on it or developing my own ideas. Time was also a motivator, as the more time I spent passively browsing the less time I spent on my hobbies.
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| Sigrit is careful to make time for her hobbies, such as staring at things |
I don’t think I’m a particularly heavy phone user, and my only social media is Pinterest and YouTube, but it’s definitely been making me feel overwhelmed by information, so I decided to experiment with greatly reducing my phone use for 10 days. To do this I:
- Deleted Pinterest
- Limited myself to my subscribed channels on YouTube
- Trimmed down the podcasts I follow on Spotify, only keeping the ones where I look forward to a new episode
- Put my phone in the kitchen at night when I go to bed
- Logged out of Vinted and Ebay
- Kept a list of what activities I did instead of using my phone
This worked well and I felt clearer headed and less rushed. I enjoyed the extra time and thinking space, and I did lots of things I might not otherwise think I have time or energy for, such as writing a letter, reading a book that’s that’s helping me to begin healing from diet culture, and redesigning a cardigan pattern to fit better.
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| An important picture of Lars' paws |
It was great, but it hasn’t lasted so I’m modifying my approach and trying again. All of the above steps worked, I just fell out of the new habits quickly. What I’ve learned is that I didn’t miss browsing Pinterest, Vinted, Ebay, non-subscribed YouTube channels or any of the podcasts I unsubscribed from, but I did miss listening to podcasts and videos (I prefer the ones I can listen to rather than watching) when I was sewing, knitting and lying in the bath. However, I still want to reduce how much information I consume as it’s all too easy to binge listen.
My next baby step is to see how I feel listening to more music and less information content. Not a huge amount less, just enough to try out. I find music uplifting and inspiring, and usually once I start I want to continue, so next time I’m sewing I’ll listen to music instead of a podcast. Music lets me meander through my own thoughts, turning over information and ideas, reflecting on something interesting I’ve seen, read or heard and thus getting more out of it than if I rushed to devour the next chunk of information. I also used to enjoy listening to music in the bath, it was very relaxing and I got out of the habit, so I’ll try that too. It was especially lovely when I made the bath extra special, with a candle and bubble bath.
Hmm, I challenge that involves listening to my favourite music whilst I take a candle lit bubble bath? I think I can manage that.