Today I speak with writer Jocelyn K. Glei about how digital media and technology has created a crisis for many writers and artists. Their days are spent running on the treadmill of digital and social media, chained to their computers and phones, and increasingly unable to break away in order to complete bigger creative projects.
You can listen to the entire conversation by clicking ‘play’ above, or via iTunes.
We dig into the neuroscience behind why this is, and she shares a wide range of strategies and tactics to take back your attention. Some of what we cover in our chat:
- Technology is training us to keep refreshing our social media, email, news feeds in search of “what else?” and how it defines your mindset as an addiction for something new.
- How brain chemistry encourages us to seek random rewards, and technology manipulates that.
- The concept of “The ethics of attention”
- Her experience going on an “information diet” where she not only gave up her phone, but any media consumption, including books, and no digital communication . Her summation, “My phone felt like a dead object.”
- The importance of exercising ANY kind of control over your digital media use.
- The crisis situation of frittering away time that could otherwise be used for meaningful activity or creation.
- Addiction to short-term rewards of digital media vs long term rewards of creating.
- How completion bias encourages us to focus more on email and short-term goals, rather than long-term creative projects. How using physical objects can help you stay focused on a long-term creative project
- When analog tools are superior to digital in the creative process. Why we tend to default to digital.
- How to break the cycle of addiction to your computer/phone for creative work by decoupling specific tasks.
- Why self-management is a challenge in a rigid office culture. How the tiniest action to take control of how you work can rub others the wrong way.
- How the challenge to self-manage is about articulating what you are doing and why you are doing it so you can control the workflow
- The importance of learning how to be an advocate for yourself in terms of how you work best.
You can find Jocelyn in the following places:
http://jkglei.com
Hurry Slowy podcast: http://hurryslowly.co/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jkglei
Her books:
You can find Dan Blank at:
https://wegrowmedia.com
Be the Gateway: http://a.co/evyrsjw
https://www.instagram.com/DanBlank/
https://twitter.com/danblank
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Yes! Yes! Yes! If you heard that all the way from WI, it was indeed me. 🙂 Really appreciated this podcast so much. Thank you! I love the name of Jocelyn’s podcast, Hurry Slowly. A favorite quote of mine taped to my laptop is: “I don’t believe in hurry” by Tasha Tudor who was a prolific illustrator.
At any rate, Yes! This topic is one of great interest to me, and I’ve taken steps in what I call taking back my power which I wrote about on my blog recently too and Facebook – and how I’ve realized what a brain drain social media can be for me, plus how I often didn’t even realize I was using it as a distraction. And for me as a highly sensitive person, just like the news, I’ve realized how I have to really limit my exposure.
I don’t think completely getting rid of it is the answer, but having self-discipline and using in a way that benefits us is key – and in a way that feeds our life and work – not drains it. It’s already made a huge difference in my energy levels making some of these changes to reflect that which I’m enjoying immensely.
I’m sure this topic will continue as it really needs to, I think. So thank you to you and Jocelyn for all the nuggets of wisdom!