A subtle life-giving shift (Thanks, Simon Cowell!)

Posted on Sep 30, 2020

television set

I’ve felt unsettled about my media consumption lately. Whether it’s social media, news, email, or TV, we take in A LOT of digital media.

Whether it’s social media, news, email, or TV, we take in A LOT of digital media.

Let’s take just one of these:

Internet TV.

Sometimes I intentionally escape from the world in an old episode of The Office on Netflix, or the latest Hot Ones on YouTube. 

Lately, I’ve been UNintentionally escaping from the world more and more often.

The other night I looked up from the screen, blinking nonstop in a failed attempt to remoisten my contacts, and wondered, Did I just spend 2 hours on a YouTube rabbit hole watching American Idol auditions? How did I get here? It was almost as if I didn’t decide at all… Marketers chose for me.

It was as if I didn’t decide at all… Marketers chose for me.

My new routine? Write down what I plan to watch before opening the computer. 

This very subtle slowing down has already helped me notice why I turn to TV (avoiding uncomfortable feelings… big shocker there), and how I can add more joy to my tune-out time (like having good fiction ready on my Kindle.)

So far, I have not once written down anything remotely resembling “American Idol auditions.” 🤣

You’re up.

So… what about you?

What would you love your media consumption routines to look like?

What’s one EASY tweak you could make to baby step toward this ideal?

What’s one easy change will I make to my media consumption habits this week?

PC: Rene Asmussen via Pexels