KatherineKatherine Monet
In the first episode of The Kate and Abbie Show talks about a minimalist lifestyle for everyone and for creative people too, and how technology impacts our creativity:
We look at our phones out of impulse–all day, every day. Whether you’re mindlessly binging YouTube videos or scrolling past the millionth influencer drinking coconut water [out of an actual coconut] on the beach, the information input never stops. But the question is: how is this affecting our creativity and mental health? In this episode, Kate and Abbie discuss “digital minimalism” and the hidden impact that the internet has on our creative lives. Kate and Abbie also share some of their best healthy habits and practices that will help you digitally declutter your life and reconnect with what matters most.
How are distractions of our phones affecting our creativity and mental health?
Our phones are constantly distracting us with notifications, messages, social media, YouTube, email, and news. Here are some steps that can help you get focused, get back on track, and power up your creative juices:
- Your Morning Routine
Kate and Abbie discusses how our morning routines are extremely important. The way you start your morning will affect your day. Abbie said that she used to take her iPad first thing and start scrolling to help her wake up, but that’s not a good thing, it’s one of those bad habits we all have.
So, how do you start your morning? Do you start endless scrolling on YouTube and see what others do? That would be the first thing in mind, because on impulse, everything is on YouTube these days. But you can get trapped in the rabbit hole of videos and picking the most perfect routine ever. This would be the wrong approach when you want to change up your routine.
Here’s what I did:
· Write a list of your current routine
· From your current routine, reorder the things you do in your day differently.
This helps when you begin to experiment and find ways on how to improve.
Sometimes, putting your phone on airplane mode can be the best option, that way you get to be more in the present moment. There’s this common, popular excuse, “I don’t have time.” It may be true because of your type of job, but other than that, we have more time than we think we do. In the spaces of little moments when we’re scrolling on our phones distracts us, which is a useful tool.
We don’t realize that when we’re with other people who have their phones and a conversation, you’re not being mindful about the conversation. It’s so important to have human connections, but that’s harder said than done thanks to our phones.
2. Social Media
Kate and Abbie talk about how social media compares our lives through an artificial camera-lense of other people on the social platforms. Comparison to others can be disheartening, discouraging, and damages our self–esteem, because we see on social media picture – perfect lives. But what if I told you, we’re wrong about exactly what we see? We’re all creatures of habit. Everyone has their own life and promotes their happiest highlights, but no one has a perfect life.
Here are some tips to break the cycle on how not to compare ourselves to others:
· Affirm yourself, have a bunch of sticky notes everywhere with affirmative messages.
· Accept yourself for who you are because you’re unique.
· Style yourself up, look good to feel confident.
· Have a heart to heart talk with your brother, sister, any relative or anyone you trust.
· Write a journal.
· Or go out and treat yourself.
If you’d like to go deeper into this subject on self–esteem, I can provide resources, such as a podcast, a blog post, a downloadable printable, course, and so much more. Leave your thoughts and comments in the comments.
3. Minimalist Living
What is minimalist living? It is when you declutter everything you have to the things you need, to stay organized and know where everything is. Minimizing your time, things, and your space can clear your mind and see your life is lighter. The whole podcast Abbie and Kate talk about having a minimalist lifestyle helps to improve your creativity that flows more easily when there are no distractions.
How can you live like a minimalist? What is something you can sacrifice for? Here are some tips on how to do that:
· Get some small baskets to organize.
· Get rid of stuff you don’t need.
· Create a scheduled day in your life to minimize what you do, for better rest.
· Know your boundaries.
· Decrease entertainment time.
If you have too much printed, get an iPad or you have one, take pictures, and throw out. Live life to your own standards.
4. Value Yourself and What You Create
Let your creativity matter to you. Whatever kind of creator you are, respect the time you have to work on that project. Time is one of those things that slips away from us, it can be slow or fast, but we can’t control it, we can only value it. Try to make it a point to make sure when you’re working is to get rid of distractions, and interruptions that can decrease your performance.
When you need time, you can find time. No matter how busy you think you are, you can squeeze in a little more into your day. For content creators out there, Kate and Abbie talk about creating your own content before seeing others’ content. It’s true, when looking at other content creators’ content, it feels daunting. Like: how did they do it? I love their ideas, and my content sucks! Okay, now I need to get my shit together, cause I need to, and get into the competition. To do list: blog, YouTube channel plan, businesses, and a whole long list of content stuff to get done to get to the top. It’s a definite problem.
The first podcast episode of The Kate and Abbie Show gives us something to think about on how to walk down the middle line in life, and how our devices affect our mental health. It’s so important to realize these things because everyone forgets, restarts bad habits and thought patterns.
To take this episode a step further, use these prompt questions to understand yourself better, and write journal entries you can reread to figure out what’s going on in your mind:
Prompt Questions To Journal
· Why do you get up every morning?
· What do you look forward to doing in your day?
· What are some feelings and thoughts about social media? [Go deep into this topic]
· Do you feel cluttered? In what way? Why?
· Do you feel extra tired? Why?
· When you look at others who have something you want, how does that make you feel and why? Do you feel insecure? What do you want in your life?
· Are you ready to make sacrifices?
· What do you prefer, neat and clean or messy and dirty? Decide.
· What are some of your values?
· What is something worth your time, and why?
· Do you believe you can change? Or is it impossible? What’s the reason?
· Who do you admire, and why?
