When something unexplained is wrong with your physical health, doctors will often prescribe an elimination diet to seek out the cause of your distress. As it turns out, you can do that with your emotional health & creativity as well.
At the beginning of April, I embarked on my Seven Days of Silence in an attempt to see if my bad mood, lack of ability to write well, and negative self-talk stemmed from something I was doing (my environment), rather than a medical or psychological issue.
I began the experiment on a Thursday and ended it the following Wednesday, the day of my dog’s surgery. (She’s doing great, btw). And I’m happy to report that I stuck to the rules the whole time, only using YouTube for ambient sound videos (mostly Harry Potter themed) and I listened to two audiobooks that had been sitting on my phone for more than a year.
By eliminating the constant noise I was intentionally subjecting myself to (under the guise of needing background noise), I was able to find the root cause of at least some of what plagued me.
Things that improved:
My ability to write
My time management
My overall mood and energy
Things that remained:
Emotional/boredom eating
Frequent waking during the night
What was most striking was that it was not the “noise” itself that was causing my distress. It was the type of noise. Specifically, the three hours of political/current event podcasts I had been listening to Every. Single. Weekday.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
As creators, we need to be more ruthless in what we ingest, as it has an outsized effect on our ability to produce.
Obviously, I don’t have any one-size-fits-all advice, as we are all different in our workflow and our most optimal environments. But I can tell you how my average day has changed since my experiment.
No more podcasts. At all. I read the news. I don’t listen to it.
I start my day listening to an audiobook while I have breakfast.
I listen to music with no lyrics or ambient sounds while I work. No tv or anything with words.
Cutting out these distractions has helped me feel less anxious and improves my word output, both in speed and quality.
As a rule, non-political YouTube videos haven’t caused me any anxiety or had any negative effects, just as long as I actually watch them, instead of having them on in the background while I multitask.
If you’re interested in a good book about how to cut out distractions and work in a way that makes you feel refreshed instead of exhausted, I’m reading this book right now and enjoying it. I heartily recommend it!
Even the news, on almost any basis, on any platform - is toxic full-stop. Much of it is AI-curated on the basis of at-best conflict/drama, at-worst - fear/trepidation. I gave it up years ago. It adds nothing, & extracts much.
I'm so with you on this. I took a step back recently and reassessed what I really wanted, and removed some of the 'unnecessary' stressors in my life. It's a work in progress, but seems to be helping. Sometimes you don't recognise exactly what's happening, because you're so caught up in it. A week of silence sounds like a good place to start. I might try it!