Media Diet: Cultivating Voice, Deliberate Action, and Alive Time

post by Willa (Eh_Yo_Lexa) · 2021-07-17T05:56:33.046Z · LW · GW · 2 comments

Contents

  Content Consumption Versus Production
  Sources of Inspiration
  Media Diet and Habits
None
2 comments

Content Consumption Versus Production

My present consumption versus production ratio is not well balanced, I consume ridiculously more media and content than what I produce.(1 [LW · GW]) So! I am changing that :)

I think content consumption is a necessary part of life and can be quite healthy and good for someone...but! If the ratio is off and/or one is consuming certain kinds of content especially via certain mediums [? · GW], and one is also trying to get stronger, improve, "level up" [? · GW] then cultivating a prudent media diet is necessary. I want to improve and have something to protect [? · GW] plus pursue, so that's why I'm doing this stuff.

Producing content helps me voice my voice [LW · GW], get stronger, practise deliberate action [LW · GW], and thrive in alive time. Additionally, the more deep work I engage in, the happier and more highly functioning I become. Book recommendation: after reading Cal Newport's "Deep Work", I read OP A.G. Sertillanges' "The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods" and that provided yet more insight into the benefits of deep work plus further increased my desire to do that and is an excellent guide to doing independent, novel, intellectual, and creative work. I highly endorse this book and will be re-reading it very soon. It's likely better and more timeless than Newport's "Deep Work", in my opinion.

Sources of Inspiration

I looked to these posts [LW(p) · GW(p)] as examples and guides [LW · GW] for building my media diet rules.

Media Diet and Habits

1. I reserve 8 hours of each weekday for productive, creative, deliberate, etc. work.

   • 4-6 hours of each weekday's reserved 8 hours is for deep work and/or strictly necessary must-get-done-now work. The other 2-4 hours is used for less focus-required, less deliberate but still productive work.

   • No internet access, social activity, or otherwise potentially distracting things are permitted during this time except for what is strictly necessary to support the work I'm focusing on at that moment.

   • If I absolutely can't focus on anything, or need relief I may play the piano, write, draw, exercise, or meditate for some reasonable amount of time before returning to work.

2. No Hacker News or other interesting news aggregators, social media sites, news sites, videos, TV, movies, YouTube, etc. permitted except on Saturdays and Sundays.

3. I can be as social as I want outside of the 8 hours I reserve each weekday for working.

4. I can watch one episode of Star Trek per weekday.

5. I can play one hour of video games per weekday.

6. Anything is allowed if I'm doing it socially outside of my weekday reserved 8 hours.

7. I reserve 4 hours of each weekendday for productive, creative, deliberate, etc. work but otherwise impose no restrictions on weekends.

8. When with friends or if situations prudently require it, I may make necessary on-the-spot temporary exceptions to any of the rules. Life is change, one must know how to prudently adjust as necessary.

9. I must resume writing daily shortform posts, weekly reviews, and so on to better structure and document this initiative, plus such things help my life more broadly.

10. I commit myself to this diet and habit change for 3 months. I will reevaluate this initiative on 17 October 2021 and decide whether to continue with it and if so in what ways (and make any necessary changes).

My oath of reply for this post [LW · GW] lasts until 17 October 2021.

Be well!
Cheers,
Willa

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