Consume less, produce more

If you have too many inputs then your brain gets overwhelmed. Every piece of information you consume takes up some brain cycles.

If you’re not producing enough output to match your inputs then it can get clogged up in your brain. You end up with too many strands of thought. Too many lines of enquiry.

Excess consumption causes anxiety

This can often be a cause of anxiety, stress and depression. Just increasing the amount you produce allows your brain to work through your anxieties.

Perhaps this is why mental health issues are on the rise. There are just so many inputs for our brain in the modern world that we don’t have time to process them all into coherent outputs, so that we can understand the information we’re being presented with.

Reduce consumption

Reduce the number of inputs in your daily life.

• Stop reading the news
• Spend less time on social media
• Reduce the number of websites you visit daily
• Delete unused apps from your phone
• Eliminate unnecessary calendar appointments
• Spend less time watching TV series

Generally stimulate your brain less.

Increase production

Increase the number of productive outputs in your life.

• Create something with your hands
• Draw or paint pictures (doesn’t matter if you’re good or not)
• Write more, keep a journal or a blog
• Increase your daily step count
• Explore new places
• Exercise regularly
• Cook for yourself, rather than eating out

These are things that allow you to express yourself. Express the ideas in your brain. Work through the inputs in your life.

Not everything has to have a point, sometimes you just need to do things for fun.

Express yourself

It’s by expressing the ideas in your brain that you can actually think clearly. Because the more you express them the more you can see them. Then you can visualise the ideas. Then you can better structure and organise them and compartmentalize them.

Now stop consuming these words and go and produce something. Express yourself.