If there is a battle I fight daily, it’s that of production vs. consumption. No matter how hard I try to be a producer, the allure of consumption is always there to fighting for my precious time. The world is increasingly consumption based, and it's leaning more in that direction every day. With devices like tablets and smartphones, we’re always within reach of distractions that can consume as much time as we let them.
Producers are the movers and shakers in life. They’re the people who get stuff done and make things happen. The more you produce, the more potential you have to effect. The more time spent consuming, the less time available to produce. Nobody should ever take pride in the amount of time they spend reading Facebook updates, but I'm fine with someone bragging about the cool app they built. Production can impact life in positive ways. The passive nature of consumption can't really lead to anything great, but can be beneficial.
Consumers tend to sit on the sideline while producers generate value. If we aren't careful, it's easy to fall under the spell of consumption. With things like Netflix, Facebook, and the 24 hour news cycle, there is more empty-content than any person could ever ask for. Empty-content is anything that doesn't provide value. It's in one moment and out the next, it's simply there to pass the time. Note that not all consumption is bad. From watching a baseball game to reading a novel, consuming can be a great way to relax. It's important to minimize the amount of time spent on empty-content.
The key to avoiding the problems of consumption is to create as much as possible, then consume once you've reached it. By working in small, modular goals you can shift from production to consumption as desired. To maximize production, always write down ideas and try to make something of them. I tend to use OneNote to help me here. OneNote allows me to synchronize my notes on all my devices and I can access them at any time. Sometimes the ideas will be useful, other times nothing will come from them.
Through balancing production and consumption, we can achieve more. The current trend of humanity is to consume as much content as possible. Entertainment sources like TV and video games are constantly fighting to absorb as much time, and money, from us as they can. Limiting forms of empty-content consumption helps to maximize production. Maximizing production is instrumental to creating something that can potentially change the world.
Published on 4/23/2016 9:52:14 PM