The Infinite Tap

You have to turn off the infinite tap.

Media is effectively infinite now. The media (film, tv, music, podcasts, books & articles, social, etc.) that is inside your niche is vast enough that you need never stop consuming it.

But.

If you don’t turn it off, you can’t make your own stuff. As long as I’m listening to a podcast on my morning walk, I’m not thinking my own original thoughts. As long as I’m listening to music, I’m not creating new melodies. As long as I’m scrolling social media, I’m not writing my daily post.

So we have to turn it off. Intentionally. Because the media world has gotten very good at keeping itself on. With autoplay, suggested playlists, scheduled weekly releases, and more, we are constantly invited to keep the tap on.

I’m only sometimes good at this – I’m as easily caught as anyone else. And I know my students don’t know how to do this with any regularity.

The three things I know about it are:

  1. It helps to know the value of turning off the infinite tap.
  2. It helps to systematize turning it off through scheduling and other habits.
  3. It helps to remind myself, out loud, of why I want the tap off.