Sit with It

Our imaginations can be overwhelmed by too much stimuli.

I’m the type who gets easily distracted by shiny objects. Having my phone near me while writing is a huge no-no. And doom scrolling is a real thing, where I thoughtlessly read through hundreds of posts and come out the other end hours later.

We have to get good at being bored. It’s not “OK what’s the next best thing to be inspired by?” It’s “What have I not yet considered about this object or concept in front of me?”

Focusing on the bare minimum for a decent amount of time strengthens the imagination and problem-solving muscles. Allowing ourselves to simply jump to the next stimulus without sitting with the first trains our brain to think whatever problem we’re trying to solve can simply be subsumed by another.

It’s OK to only be working on one thing for the time being. It’s easy to look around and see the whole world multitasking, but that’s been proven to be ineffective. Chew on your current meal for awhile.