From Consumption to Creation: Breaking Free from the Passive Life
The 1-for-1 Challenge That Changes Everything
TLDR: Americans spend 12 years of their life staring at screens, passively consuming content that drains energy and steals time. By shifting from consumption to creation—even just 15 minutes of making something for every hour of scrolling—you can reclaim your life, boost energy, and rediscover your natural creative capacity through simple acts like journaling, cooking, or building.
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The Consumption Trap
Do you ever find yourself scrolling through your phone for "just a few minutes," only to look up and realize an hour has passed? Or maybe you've spent an entire evening watching shows you don't even really like?
I've been there too. Getting sucked into YouTube rabbit holes that I was never meant to go down. The average American spends almost five hours looking at their phone every day. That quickly adds up over time to about 1 day every week and believe it or not, the average American will spend 12 years staring at their phone screens over their lifespan.
Many of us have fallen into a pattern of passive consumption. We spend hours each day taking in what others have created – videos, posts, articles, and shows. It's easy. It's comfortable. But at the end of the day, many of us feel strangely empty, like we haven't really done anything with our time.
The gap between how much we consume and how much we create has grown wider and wider. And that gap might be costing us more than we realize.
The Hidden Costs of Passive Consumption
This imbalance between consumption and creation affects us in ways we might not notice at first:
It drains our energy instead of building it. Have you noticed feeling tired after scrolling social media, even though you haven't done anything physical? That's because passive consumption often depletes our mental energy without giving much back.
It steals our time without us noticing. Five minutes easily turns into an hour when we're in consumption mode. These aren't just lost minutes – they're lost opportunities to make something meaningful.
It trains us to be critics rather than creators. The more we consume, the more we develop a critical eye for what others have made. But this doesn't help us create our own work. We become experts at what's wrong with everything, but never make anything of our own.
It weakens our creative muscles. Like any skill, creativity grows stronger with use. When we spend all our time consuming, our ability to generate ideas and express ourselves begins to shrink.
Perhaps worst of all, constant consumption can make us feel like spectators in our own lives. We watch other people living, creating, and sharing while we sit on the sidelines. Deep down, many of us have ideas we want to express and things we want to make – but we've trained ourselves to consume rather than create.
The Power of Flipping the Balance
What if we flipped the balance? What if, instead of spending most of our free time consuming, we became creators more often?
It's funny when I am busy, often find myself thinking, I really need a break and how nice it would be to sit on the couch for the whole day. The few times of year when I do that I find myself bored, unfulfulled, and thinking why am I so tired. I haven't don't anything today.
When we sit around and give our time to someone else (through a screen) we loose a lot of who we are. We become big blobs of biological goo that sits and stares. We weren't born to do that. We were born to create.
What Creation Really Means
Being a creator doesn't mean you have to be an artist, writer, or musician. Creation takes many forms:
Cooking a meal from scratch instead of ordering takeout
Writing in a journal instead of scrolling social media
Building something with your hands instead of watching TV
Growing plants instead of buying them
Sharing your ideas instead of just reading others'
The exciting truth is that human beings are naturally creative. Children don't need to be taught to draw, build, or imagine – they do it instinctively. Somewhere along the way, many of us lost touch with that natural drive to make things.
But here's the good news: your creative capacity is still there, waiting to be reawakened. And when you shift from mainly consuming to regularly creating, something remarkable happens. Your energy increases. Your confidence grows. You begin to see yourself differently – not just as a viewer of life, but as an active participant in shaping it.
Breaking Free: A Path Forward
How do we break free from passive consumption and reclaim our identity as creators? Here's a simple path forward:
1. Become Aware of Your Consumption Patterns
Start by tracking how much time you spend consuming versus creating:
Use your phone's screen time feature to see how many hours you spend on different apps
Notice which parts of the day you tend to fall into passive scrolling
Pay attention to how you feel after an hour of consuming versus an hour of creating
2. Set Clear Boundaries Around Consumption
You don't need to eliminate consumption completely. Instead, make it intentional:
Choose specific times for checking social media or watching shows
Use app timers to limit how long you can spend on certain platforms
Turn off notifications that pull you into consumption mode
Try a "consumption fast" for one day a week to reset your patterns
3. Start Small With Creation
Don't pressure yourself to create masterpieces right away. Begin with small, enjoyable creative acts:
Write for 10 minutes each morning, just for yourself
Take and edit one meaningful photo a day
Cook one new recipe each week
Draw or doodle during your lunch break
Share one original thought or idea with a friend
If you have kids, ask them to do something creative. This is an easy way to kill two birds with one stone. You both create while spending time together.
4. Build a Creator's Environment
Your surroundings can either support or hinder your creative efforts:
Keep creation tools visible and easily accessible (notebook, pencils, kitchen tools)
Create a dedicated space for making things, even if it's just a corner of a room
Reduce consumption triggers in your environment (like keeping your phone in another room)
Surround yourself with examples of creativity you admire
I bought a bunch of Field Notes notebooks and put them in my backpack and coats. Knowing I can write, draw, or log ideas without having to go to my phone has helped me capture ideas and fill deadspaces where I otherwise would have scrolled.
5. Connect with Other Creators
Nothing helps sustain a creator's mindset like being around others who are actively making things:
Join a group focused on your creative interests
Share your creations, even if they're not perfect
Celebrate others' creative efforts, however small
Find an accountability partner who is also trying to create more
Some of hte most energized I have felt was when I was able to share my work with likeminded peers and we could all "brag" about how much we had done. Eeryone fed off that energy and strove to create more.
Reflecting on Your Creative Journey
Take a moment to think about your own relationship with consumption and creation:
When was the last time you made something that wasn't required for work or school? How did it feel? Did you notice any difference in your energy or mood compared to when you're just consuming content?
Think about a time when you were regularly creating something – maybe as a child, or during a period when you had a creative hobby. What was different about how you felt during that time?
The Benefits of Creative Living
Many people discover that when they shift from mainly consuming to regularly creating, they experience:
A greater sense of purpose and meaning
More energy, even after a full day of work
Stronger connections with others when they share what they've made
A sense of time well spent, rather than time slipping away
Growth in skills and confidence that spills over into other areas of life
These benefits don't require becoming a professional artist or creator. They come simply from engaging the creative part of yourself that may have been dormant for too long.
Take Action This Week
Ready to shift the balance from consumption to creation? Here are three simple steps you can take this week:
1. The 1-for-1 Challenge
For one week, try the 1-for-1 challenge: For every hour you spend consuming, spend at least 15 minutes creating something. It doesn't matter what you make – write a few paragraphs, sketch a picture, prepare a special meal, or work on a DIY project. The point is to balance your consumption with creation.
2. The Morning Creator Habit
For the next five days, try this: Before checking any devices in the morning, spend just 10 minutes creating something. It could be:
Writing in a journal
Drawing or doodling
Playing a musical instrument
Planning a project
Every weekday my kids and I do a five minute writng. Five minutes to write about anything you can think of. Set a timer and go.
Small habits like these help you start each day as a creator rather than a consumer.
3. The Consumption Inventory
Take 15 minutes to list everything you've consumed in the past week (shows, social media, articles, etc.). Next to each item, write how it made you feel and what value it added to your life. Then, list three things you could create in the coming week that would bring you joy or meaning.
Your Creative Journey Starts Now
Remember, the goal isn't to never consume again. Good books, films, music, and other content can inspire and inform us. The aim is to find a healthier balance – one where you're not just absorbing other people's creations, but actively contributing your own voice to the world.
What small thing will you create today?
Diego