Right now I’m focused on curation. Or that’s what I’m calling it. I think I feel maybe the opposite of what you’re feeling. Not necessarily the need to show up and provide output in every place, but the requirement to be in all those places receiving inputs. Like… I feel stressed about reading and processing all the things in all the places from all the people.
I’m not in a situation where many people care if I produce some version of content, but I do feel pressure to be consuming. So I’m spending this season forcing myself to deeply curate where/from whom I consume.
First I wanted to understand the why behind each app. “What do I want from this particular app?”
Then I decided to cut a few apps from my life entirely. And dramatically cut others. Any app that felt like an uncurated feed… has been deprioritized for now.
Then on the apps that I want to stay active on, I’ve started sorting the content makers there into categories and intentionally trimming the categories down to focus on the individuals/teams whose contributions feel most needed (to me) right now.
The next step is deciding which of those creators I can go all in learning from and becoming a paid subscriber or patron or whatever they offer. Then I want to sit quietly and learn, lol.
Thank you for this. Been feeling it deep of late and have been questioning myself on how to streamline my online time and bring forth more human interaction. We are living in and through intense days, a chaotic regime that is causing immense harm, a push of AI that is harmful - fostered by greed and no care for humanity nor the environment. The overload is real. I so appreciate your quest to bring forth insight, balance and great care. One thing I have been doing is stopping the social politeness when people ask “how ya doing?”. I answer, Not so good, not feeling well with the craziness at hand. How are you doing.” This has brought about some deep and healing conversations. It’s a start. Taking things and life moment by moment.
Thanks for this thoughtfulness. Are you responding that way when strangers ask how you’re doing? Like, is this a public interaction? So curious how folks have been responding. The honesty sounds exciting.
Yes! It’s with strangers, public interaction. Mostly happening when walking my dog. It’s an opening for conversation. I’ve had quite a few of these conversations, have been thanked for my openness to engage. Always cathartic for both. It’s tough all around, we walk through our days with all the insanity going on and the dissonance of it all is overwhelming. Note, I live in a blue zone so it makes it much easier.
One day a young gent was riding his bike with his dog running along side, he was playing Nipsey Hussle’s “FDT”. He was a distance and I yelled, “Thank You, I agree and love you!” He waited for me and we had the best conversation. I’m 60 and he in his 20’s, both of us caring deeply for humanity. Making connections is so important. 💓💓💓
I dig. The context of this being a video online that stole my time is ironic. But that irony is what my whole presence here on Substack is about. I let go of all the other social medias and I limit my time on this one. The void that left is now filled with more hours at work. I have two jobs: one online, and one in “real life”, a restaurant in fact. The restaurant job is physically exhausting, but the online job drains me the most. The reason for this is that the company I work for uses AI to speed up my work: write notes, and client emails, and even enhance my picture. So, if I am logged in, I feel like a part of this machine. The restaurant job is more rewarding because I am interacting with people around tangible, basic, things like food and drink. The 90 year old cafe where I work has long been a social hub. But it is affected by the digital age, of course. The mobile devices we use to take orders and store sales data speed up the pace of dining, and the the mobile devices in the hands of customers keep them from looking up and making conversation with their neighbor at the counter, or their family they are sitting in a booth with. The sad part is when young children are plugged in to a tablet and don’t learn how to order or be a part of the table talk. I also have to admit, I have resorted to this approach myself when my kids are young, just to make them quiet. This is why I call myself “Hippie-critical”. I have to say, I like not being on Facebook or Instagram. When I see friends now, I can ask about their lives because I have no idea. They can ask questions about mine and there is less of this “para-relationship” thing people had with me because I overshared. When I have time off from work, my family is my priority and my friends are next. I realize my limitations and I try not to promise what I don’t have to give. Even as I tap out this comment, I think I have devoted too much time to engagement online. So, I will stop now, but I hope my comments land with someone somewhere. Thank you for the video.
THANK YOU for spending your carefully limited online time sharing this with us! Really interesting to reflect on the two different kinds of “tired” and how much more satisfying the physical kind is.
Baratunde severance is insane. LOOOOL.
Right now I’m focused on curation. Or that’s what I’m calling it. I think I feel maybe the opposite of what you’re feeling. Not necessarily the need to show up and provide output in every place, but the requirement to be in all those places receiving inputs. Like… I feel stressed about reading and processing all the things in all the places from all the people.
I’m not in a situation where many people care if I produce some version of content, but I do feel pressure to be consuming. So I’m spending this season forcing myself to deeply curate where/from whom I consume.
That makes total sense! What have you been focused on as you start curating? Where does the attention feel valuable?
First I wanted to understand the why behind each app. “What do I want from this particular app?”
Then I decided to cut a few apps from my life entirely. And dramatically cut others. Any app that felt like an uncurated feed… has been deprioritized for now.
Then on the apps that I want to stay active on, I’ve started sorting the content makers there into categories and intentionally trimming the categories down to focus on the individuals/teams whose contributions feel most needed (to me) right now.
The next step is deciding which of those creators I can go all in learning from and becoming a paid subscriber or patron or whatever they offer. Then I want to sit quietly and learn, lol.
Thank you for this. Been feeling it deep of late and have been questioning myself on how to streamline my online time and bring forth more human interaction. We are living in and through intense days, a chaotic regime that is causing immense harm, a push of AI that is harmful - fostered by greed and no care for humanity nor the environment. The overload is real. I so appreciate your quest to bring forth insight, balance and great care. One thing I have been doing is stopping the social politeness when people ask “how ya doing?”. I answer, Not so good, not feeling well with the craziness at hand. How are you doing.” This has brought about some deep and healing conversations. It’s a start. Taking things and life moment by moment.
Thanks for this thoughtfulness. Are you responding that way when strangers ask how you’re doing? Like, is this a public interaction? So curious how folks have been responding. The honesty sounds exciting.
Yes! It’s with strangers, public interaction. Mostly happening when walking my dog. It’s an opening for conversation. I’ve had quite a few of these conversations, have been thanked for my openness to engage. Always cathartic for both. It’s tough all around, we walk through our days with all the insanity going on and the dissonance of it all is overwhelming. Note, I live in a blue zone so it makes it much easier.
One day a young gent was riding his bike with his dog running along side, he was playing Nipsey Hussle’s “FDT”. He was a distance and I yelled, “Thank You, I agree and love you!” He waited for me and we had the best conversation. I’m 60 and he in his 20’s, both of us caring deeply for humanity. Making connections is so important. 💓💓💓
I dig. The context of this being a video online that stole my time is ironic. But that irony is what my whole presence here on Substack is about. I let go of all the other social medias and I limit my time on this one. The void that left is now filled with more hours at work. I have two jobs: one online, and one in “real life”, a restaurant in fact. The restaurant job is physically exhausting, but the online job drains me the most. The reason for this is that the company I work for uses AI to speed up my work: write notes, and client emails, and even enhance my picture. So, if I am logged in, I feel like a part of this machine. The restaurant job is more rewarding because I am interacting with people around tangible, basic, things like food and drink. The 90 year old cafe where I work has long been a social hub. But it is affected by the digital age, of course. The mobile devices we use to take orders and store sales data speed up the pace of dining, and the the mobile devices in the hands of customers keep them from looking up and making conversation with their neighbor at the counter, or their family they are sitting in a booth with. The sad part is when young children are plugged in to a tablet and don’t learn how to order or be a part of the table talk. I also have to admit, I have resorted to this approach myself when my kids are young, just to make them quiet. This is why I call myself “Hippie-critical”. I have to say, I like not being on Facebook or Instagram. When I see friends now, I can ask about their lives because I have no idea. They can ask questions about mine and there is less of this “para-relationship” thing people had with me because I overshared. When I have time off from work, my family is my priority and my friends are next. I realize my limitations and I try not to promise what I don’t have to give. Even as I tap out this comment, I think I have devoted too much time to engagement online. So, I will stop now, but I hope my comments land with someone somewhere. Thank you for the video.
THANK YOU for spending your carefully limited online time sharing this with us! Really interesting to reflect on the two different kinds of “tired” and how much more satisfying the physical kind is.