Five Day Challenge: Create Before You Consume

My attention span has been shit for a while. Like…I start a thing and then bounce to another thing and then jump back to the first thing and then I watch TV or play with my phone. I kinda want to blame Covid but I’ve been stressing for a while…my job is hella stressful and I am mentally wiped when I leave work. However, home is not a refuge. Because I am so drained from work, I get home and sit. Looking around though, I see all of the things, real or imagined, that I feel the need to complete and then I get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of want to dos. Throw in family dynamics that rival the best (worst?) Lifetime movie (without all of the killing) and it’s no wonder that escaping into the land of Hulu while scrolling through my phone is a comfort.

The Plan

So here is where the challenge comes in. My friend Lori, an amazing writer and an amazing person, challenged me and a few other FB friends to Create Before You Consume and I can get down with this. I have gotten into the habit of grabbing my phone and scrolling through all the social apps, for minutes to hours, before I start my day. I thought that by limiting TV in the morning, I could get other things done but I have simply exchanged one screen for another.

The Plan in Action

How can I create before I consume? Usually I get up and run but lately I have not. This is a story for another days but I will share that I just don’t feel like it and have leaned into this feeling. It’s been a little liberating but this cannot last. Since I did not get up to run, today I took a few minutes to set intentions for what I want for the week. Realistically I know that while I cannot control all of my stressors, I can control me so I took some time to meditate and soften my breath and relax and visualize a calming morning.

It helped. Because I waited to scroll through my phone, I had time to set my intentions for the day, plan this post and read a page in a book that I’ve been reading. My morning routine wasn’t so rushed and I was on time for work.

I will check back in during the week before I make any declaration. My MO is to jump into a thing before I fully understand what that thing is and wind up feeling quite what the ham fat ish but I can confidently say that if shucking my phone for a smoother morning is it, I’m there.