Spring Cleaning
#THE CLUTTERED CUPBOARD
Technology has changed our life in so many ways. On the whole these changes have been insanely positive, yet there are some downsides that have come with the internet controlling our daily lives. The monotonous scroll has become ritual and habit to most of us. Obsessed with other peoples lives, or the latest viral sensation, or even keeping your streaks together with your friends. All these things add clutter to an already cluttered lifestyle. It's not easy to get ahead on any desired career path, but we make it harder on ourselves by filling our life with these distractions. It doesn't seem like much, but that's because they have become the norm. In a world of constant distraction, we barely notice the impact these outlets can have. I recently saw an incredibly entertaining Shakespearean show. From where I sat there was a man in the bottom row who spent a good 10 minutes looking at his social media feed. It was in no way a boring show. The audience were laughing and gasping, and yet this man had his head in his phone. This is a typical sight across the globe nowadays. How often is mealtime with your loved-ones filled with the occasional flick through Facey or Insta? The conversation lulls, and a friend says "Hey, have you seen this?", turning around their screen with the latest Unilad funny. It is easy to see how much social networks have affected our social lives, but have we even noticed how much they can affect our productivity? With such instant and quick access to these platforms, we are too often distracted when we should be writing a new script, working on our showreel, or reading up on our craft.
#DISRUPT DISTRACTION
As spring rears its head, a lot of us go into spring cleaning mode. It's time to throw out all of last season's clothes, or those old knick knacks you have grown out of, and time to start fresh. However, we could also declutter our distractions. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter; the list goes on. How many of these are you using on a daily, or even hourly, basis? We get notifications for almost everything; a new comment or like, a friend's new photo or status update, the list goes on. Tweets, snaps and status' can control our lives. It starts to take over. Whether we like to admit it or not, social media addiction is a real thing. It's a thing that slows us down and adds another layer of complexity to our productivity. Social media presence in this day and age can make or break a job, so we do need it, but we can't let it control us. Always try to remind yourself that it is okay to pause your presence, or let that streak come to an end. While you send filtered selfies back and forth, success could pass you by. I am sure we have all gone on social media bans at one point of time in our lives, but how long do they? We might stay strong for a couple of months, but sooner or later we give into temptation, and the apps somehow find their way back onto our phone. Social media's ability to crawl its way back into our lives is impressive, but why do we let it have that power over us? Maybe we should look at the damage social media can have on our careers? We can aim to disrupt the social media distraction. We don't need to know the intimate details of everyone's lives, moment to moment.
#FRESH AIR
Making the break from these distractions isn't always easy. It's almost like a diet. We do it for a couple of weeks but soon slip back into our old ways. I have tried these 'diets' on multiple occasions over the years and failed each and every time. This year however, instead of going on another diet, I tried a new approach which was to adjust my habit. The freedom it has given me has been unprecedented considering my work load. Social media has now become a tool to progress a career and a dream. Habits are key to functioning at an optimum level, and by building good habits we learn that a lot more is possible from what we originally thought. You can breathe again. The weight of the digital world is no longer consuming. The problem we may find ourselves in would be that we want these fixes instantly, yet habits take at least four weeks to really sink in. Focus on the overall goal you are trying to achieve. It isn't about giving up or cutting back on your social media use. It should be about achieving the dreams and goals you have set out in front of you. When you make that your overall focus it makes it a lot easier to say no to the daily scroll. What will happen if you are not up to date with every little detail that everyone is up to? Have you ever tried it? The world keeps spinning and somehow all the insignificant details that we couldn't live without are completely forgotten. Our productivity has risen and we might even connect with people on a deeper and more personal level, which is a bonus that wasn't even the initial reason we chose to remove the social clutter.
With spring in the air, make it a goal of yours to decrease the social clutter in your own life.