How to Stop Content Consumption and Be Productive, Instead
Do you like the idea of excelling or do you really want to excel in life?
Just think for a moment.
Confused? Let me help.
If you belong to the former category, you will read articles and books on productivity. Follow hundreds of people on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and watch their videos everyday.
You are under the impression that content consumption will help you gain the motivation or the knowledge you need to achieve your dreams. But in reality you have made zero efforts to actually move towards them.
Now, if you belong to the latter category, without wasting any time you will start doing the things you really want to do.
Dream of a better job? Start sitting in interviews more.
Dream of gaining more followers on Twitter? Start tweeting more.
Want to get fit? Start hitting the gym and control your diet.
Yes, you will make mistakes and you will need guidance but at least you are making some efforts towards your goals. Take a small step, focus one day at a time and track your progress.
If you’re the type of person who just dreams of going forward in life, chances of your success are very low. You see, dreams without any action are just dreams. You will keep thinking about it, reading about it or even watch others doing the same.
Consuming content is a addiction and you need to get over it. Being a consumer will never help you become productive.
If you’re the type of person who just dreams of going forward in life, chances of your success are very low.
It’s a psychological block
Lack of information isn’t the problem here. You have all the information of the world at your fingertips. It is the psychological block that prevents you from executing what you dream of.
Have you ever thought and worked on the efforts that are required to get to your goals?
Maybe you like the idea of getting a new job but in reality you don’t want to study and take multiple interviews. Maybe you fear companies will reject you or you will embarrass yourself. Get over that fear, that mental block.
You want a million followers on Twitter, you follow a thousand profiles and read their tweets everyday. But you don’t often tweet. In order to become a Twitter celebrity, you have to actually tweet something and regularly.
You already know that to get a better body you need to hit the gym and control your diet. You will however convince yourself that by watching talks of health experts and following their instagram profiles will help you seek the guidance you need in getting a better body. So you watch more Youtube videos and read more health related articles. But, when it comes to DIY, you probably think to start tomorrow and we all know that TOMORROW never comes.
Restricting yourself from mindless content consumption requires focus and dedication.
Why can’t we focus and take actions ?
As humans our attention easily shifts towards results. We never consider the entire process and the hard work involved in reaching that goal. People who have gained success, have worked hard for what they have achieved.
Paul Jarvis, author of Company of One writes in one of his articles: How do you want to fill your day?
They figure it’ll be fun to be a writer or run a software company or host a podcast because they see others succeeding at those things. But they fail to consider the work involved in actually doing those things.
People decide what they want to achieve but never consider coming out of their comfort zones. Getting up and making an effort requires a change. Our mind always associates change with pain. For example, getting up early in the morning to study or to hit the gym requires extra effort and we can all relate to the struggles of getting up early.
It is easy to sit back and watch others succeed but it requires a lot of effort to drag yourself out of your comfort zone.
For a long time I used to be that guy who loved the idea of making side-projects but never made efforts towards it. I used to read many success stories of entrepreneurs but never really pushed myself to create one myself. For 3 years I was stuck in this vicious cycle.
It took me months to realize what my problems were and why was I not moving forward in life. I then made a resolution to overcome them one by one.
In 2019, I left my job which I didn’t quite like. It was terrifying, but I did it. I launched my long overdue side-project Curatemails. I also started writing, which I love. I stopped just dreaming and started doing.
You see, in life you can either be a participator or a spectator. A spectator just watches or talk about what others have done, while a participator is all about action. Don’t be a spectator and stop the mindless content consumption.
