Hey sis!
This is a post that has been on my heart for awhile and I really wanted to practice this before I wrote a post about it. I feel like our entire lives are filled with consumption. We are constantly being fed information. Some good, some bad, some we don’t agree with or some that make us envious of what we want/should have.
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As a content creator, I am consuming an unbelievable amount of information on a consistent basis. I have seen how this has affected my own mental health and how I know I can’t be the only one experiencing this. I wanted to really take a deep dive into my own levels of consumption and how things I say and put out there could negatively affect those who follow me. I also wanted to personally realize the content I was consuming that was negatively affecting myself.
I’ve tried to write this post a million times in my head and I’ve never been able to truly put into words how I feel about this topic. With Memorial Day this past weekend, it felt like a good time to put into perspective an unrealistic level of consumption that I consumed myself this past weekend.
Obviously with any holiday stores and brands take to giving mass amounts of discounts and sales for consumers. It can quickly become this level of unhealthy consumption where we are tricked into believing we need something solely because it is on sale. I am so guilty of this and noticed myself this past weekend swiping up on links to things I didn’t need because I saw it was on sale.
With technology what it is, everywhere we look we are being fed information and it can become this vicious cycle where we don’t even realize how it is affecting us. Mass amounts of information can be an amazing thing, but it can also quickly become unhealthy. I’m not sure when I even realized that I was consuming an unhealthy amount of information on a consistent basis.
So what do we do? How do we consume less while not limiting ourselves to the content that also brings us joy and is healthy?
I’ve started practicing this over the last month or so and I’ve learned a few things about how to consume content in a way that is healthy. This goes for any level of content, bloggers, Instagram pages, news articles, subscription emails, random people on Facebook, commercials on TV, coworkers or people on the subway talking, any sort of ad anywhere. The level of information we consume daily is crazy if you really think about it.
CUT THAT S*** OUT.
Unfollow. Turn it off. Get rid of it. If you even for a second see something that brings you the tiniest bit of envy, disappointment, fear, any of it that is negatively affecting your mental health, cut it out. If you are getting overwhelmed with content, turn your phone off. Delete an app for a day or a few hours. Get outside or find content that does bring you joy. Maybe it’s peaceful music, a workout class, a good book or podcast, whatever it is, focus on those things when you’re feeling overwhelmed and undervalued by content being fed to you.
PRACTICE SMART CONSUMPTION
We live in a world where we are told we need this phone and this new fashion trend and it’s this constant battle of new and best and now. Most of this lives in products. It’s this value we have placed on THINGS. You can quickly find yourself wanting something; it could be those Chloe slides everyone posts about or a new car because yours is a dated model.
I notice this happening to myself when I am constantly shopping online. I am always looking at different retailers and have a full cart and even if I don’t check out, I know it has become so consuming of me that I need to pull back on my levels of consumption. I practice these things when I find myself falling into this cycle.
I’ll make a list of things that I want. It can be a new top, a new vase for my mantle, whatever it is – it goes into a list on my phone and stays there for a minimum of 30 days before I pull the trigger on it. Typically, by the time 30-days is over, I don’t want it anymore and I’ve moved on to something else that replaces it’s spot on the list. If I still want it after 30 days, I’ll evaluate the cost and if I can afford it, I’ll buy it.
By making less impulse purchases I am not only practicing healthy levels of consumption, I’m spending money on things I truly want and things I believe will bring joy to my life. Not things that my consumption is telling me I need or have to have.
CONSISTENTLY EVALUATE THE CONTENT YOU CONSUME
I wanted to end this post with a reminder that consuming content is inevitable and I’m not encouraging that you cut everything out forever. That would be impossible. I want to encourage you to consistently evaluate the content that you do consume and see if it is making you feel any negative type of way towards yourself. Healthy levels of content consumption can be achieved through a consistent evaluation!
Don’t ever let your content consumption get in the way of living your life the way you want to live it! You do you sis and remember to consume the things that bring you joy and bring out your best self!!
xoxo,
Zoe