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CreationDeep ThinkingHabits

Create Before Consume

Give the first attention of your day to making something, however small, before the world spends it for you.

Runs for
14 days
Costs you
15 minutes each morning

The problem

You consume far more than you create. The feed gets the freshest attention of your day, and whatever you actually want to make gets whatever is left over, which is usually nothing.

The protocol

How to run it

  1. 1

    Tonight, decide what you'll make tomorrow morning. One specific, small thing.

  2. 2

    Tomorrow, do not open any feed, email, or message before you make it.

  3. 3

    Spend fifteen minutes creating. Write, draw, code, plan, build, play. Rough is fine. Bad is fine.

  4. 4

    Only after that may you consume anything.

  5. 5

    Keep what you made, even if it's terrible. The growing pile is the point.

What to expect

The first two or three mornings feel uncomfortable, because consuming is easier than creating and your brain knows it. By the end of two weeks you'll have fourteen small things you made, and a noticeably different relationship with your mornings.

The thinking behind it

Flow: The Hidden Joy of Total Absorption12 min