How My Brain Processes Things Differently Now
This is just two weeks after I changed one thing in my day
A little over two weeks ago, I embarked on an experiment- A 60-day sabbatical from social media, especially as a business owner. Before the sabbatical began, this is how my brain looked on any working day.
Can you imagine that? Waking up every day wondering which of those things I needed to focus on first — the stress alone is enough to make you feel overwhelmed.
These days, when I wake up, the first thought is- ‘How can I make this day matter?’ And I don’t mean that in the sense of productivity or achievement. I believe that the feeling is one of enjoying the day in all its glory.
So I then think about how the day needs to unfold in minutes and hours. It’s easier to do this self-appraisal on a Sunday when you have a more relaxing day.
For instance, how many minutes should I spend meditating? How long should I read a novel, losing myself in the middle of its pages? How about music? The joy there is in music is rivaled by very little else in my world.
If it’s a working day, those questions can segue into topics like what content should I create? Who should I reach out to this week in my business? What admin tasks do I need to complete this week?
Through them all, I find there’s a gentle rhythm that exists even without my trying too hard. But that rhythm has become even more pronounced in the last couple of weeks, especially when I chose to take time away from social media.
For example, just this past week, I created 8 pieces of content across my blog, this space on Medium, my podcast and my YouTube channel. How was that even possible?
When your brain isn’t battling multiple distractions — social media, in this case — it has more space to do the things you were meant to do. Create content that truly connects with your audience.
In other words, my brain wasn’t getting pulled in multiple different directions. Think about it.
Two weeks, later, this is how my brain is able to process things:
See what I mean? There’s very little stress and practically zero overlaps. Time blocking ensures that I stay mindful of my minimal tasks and do them to the best of my ability, with complete and utter focus. The focus is not anymore on the fragmenting of content creation, but the joy of creating content itself.
I have more time to commit to deep work and perform just one task at a time. It’s absolute bliss.
Earlier today, I finished listening to Derek Sivers’ book Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur and loved it! The audiobook version where Sivers himself narrates the book is great because you get such a clear insight into his thinking process.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from books by Sivers, Cal Newport ( Deep Work & Digital Minimalism) and Haruki Murakami (What I talk about when I talk about Running), it’s that true joy as well as growth lies in doing the hard things and doing it to the exclusion of everything else.
Above all else, learn to disengage from external validation and find joy in the process. Your brain will start feeling better too.
If you enjoyed this, I talk more about how to find joy in content creation & organic growth in my free Friday newsletter for content creators.
