The Importance of Balancing Input and Output

The other day I read an article about how to be more creative. One of the key themes that stuck with me from that read was the concept of input and output. The article suggested that as part of your morning routine, you should focus on creative output instead of input such as watching TV or reading your Facebook feed.

In today’s world, I would say this has become more of an issue than ever before, as more and more of us spend large amounts of time consuming social media. Since then I have started keeping a daily journal. What I like about it is that it gives me the chance to write without worrying about it being great stuff. I just get my thoughts out on the page and say whatever the hell I want.

But back to the I/O theme… (any computer scientists or programmers?)

This got me thinking about my son. He’s five years old and, like a lot of kids today, he likes to watch YouTube videos. Random, inane, disjointed videos that range from mermaids to Power Rangers, shark attacks to people dressed as super heroes acting out some ludicrous parody. This in itself bothers me. The fact that kids of today get such fragmented viewing. There’s no longer a beginning, middle, and end to things. Just one long never ending stream of randomness.

But more importantly than it being essentially trash, my son is spending far too much of his precious time consuming (input) and not enough time being creative (output). I think there are some pretty serious ramifications of a generation of children that subsist almost solely on input: when the time comes for them to spread their wings and live in the world as decision-making adults, they will be terrible at it.

Ok, so this is just speculation. I don’t know this for sure. But it certainly feels that way. That to be good at creating things, you have to practice it. This could mean creating a beautiful painting or just creating a plan for how you will solve a problem at work. The bottom line is, kids these days spend far less time thinking and far more time consuming this junk.

Again, I’m no expert and I’ve never been one to do surveys or research but I imagine in the past the I/O ratio must have been more balanced. Kids didn’t have so many distractions like TV, internet, and video games and so they had to make their own fun. I remember the stories of my grandfather of how he would play outdoors all day, making bows and arrows.

So I believe that it’s my responsibility as a parent to make sure he gets a healthy balance throughout the day. Sure, watching a movie is fine, but then make sure it’s followed up by something creative like building with lego or drawing. Later in the day spend some time teaching him to read and write and don’t forget the all important exercise. I’m very luck, I have a swimming pool in the condo where I live and so he swims almost every day. But if you can’t get that, a walk, a run, something outdoors, even for just 30 minutes will be great for your kids.

But don’t forget ol’ number one, either. If you consider yourself a creative of any kind then this would be great advice for you too. I’m consciously aware of this I/O balance now and I’m trying to be more creative. I’ve even started practicing juggling again, something I used to do years ago and got too old, boring, serious, and lazy to do.

When I was young, I was full of crazy and wild fantasies. I had story ideas in my head all the time. I wrote songs, I drew pictures. At some point, and I wouldn’t like to blame computers but to be honest that was the great distraction for me, I stopped doing all these things. I passed off my own, unique creativity as silly, childish musings. But it was exactly that uniqueness that was my “genius” if you will.

I believe that to be a genius, one must listen to their inner voices, you can’t do it by trying to be like someone else, and your genius may even surprise you. It may not be what you consider to be a genius. Furthermore, I say “genius” in the non-ego sense that we have adopted today. That a genius is this almost god-like individual who is one IQ point smarter than everyone else. I say “genius” in the sense that we all have a kind of genius hidden deep inside. It’s that child who wasn’t afraid to fuck up and dream. You know, that kid who you swept under the carpet when it became socially awkward to continue nurturing him.

So that’s my two cents worth for today. If you want to be more creative, then be more creative, and pull yourself away from the FB feed. Have a great day!