What are you consuming?
What are you watching on TV?
Who do you follow on social media?
Which books, magazines and newspapers do you read?
What do you listen to when you put your airpods in? Which podcasts or audiobooks? What type of music?
I suppose a better question would be, what are you giving your energy and attention to every day?
The media we consume plays a profound role in shaping our perspectives, beliefs, and overall well-being. From the news we watch to the content we scroll through on social media, every byte of information leaves an imprint on our minds and souls.
What we consume can impact our mental, emotional, and spiritual states, plus we are exchanging our most valuable asset - our time - for it, so we need to make sure it's worthy of that.
I heard someone speak on this topic many years ago and thought it was really interesting, so I did a little test at their suggestion. I started paying attention to how I felt after watching, reading or listening to something.
The result was that I started becoming much more mindful about the content I watched, listened to or read and made a decision that, whatever it was, I'd like to feel good about it. I wanted it to inspire me, uplift me, make me laugh or educate me. Mostly I wanted to feel like I was investing my time and not wasting it.
These are some of the changes I made:
1. I stopped consuming the news.
Controversial? Maybe, but I can tell you that I'm happier for it!
I no longer spend my time and energy thinking, worrying about or being haunted by distressing events entirely outside of my control. If something big is happening, I hear about it through interactions with others and then I can choose whether I want to investigate further and hear more about it.
I'm not suggesting you stop watching the news like I have unless it feels right for you, but do be mindful of the benefits versus the cost.
Continuous exposure to distressing headlines can contribute to anxiety, stress, and a distorted worldview, so it's really important to strike a balance between staying informed and preserving our mental health.
One idea would be to diversify your news sources and incorporate positive content to maintain a more optimistic outlook.
2. I did a social media cleanse.
I looked at social media from a few angles.
Firstly, I thought about how I felt after scrolling through my social media feeds and simply stopped following the ones that felt more like energy takers than energy givers.
For me this meant unfollowing accounts that spent time criticising or being unkind to others, those who posted inappropriate content, or content that felt 'off' to me, and those who's perfectly curated Instagram life made me feel 'less than' somehow. If the accounts happened to belong to friends or acquaintances of mine, I sometimes muted their posts and stories rather than unfollowing them.
Secondly, I thought carefully about what I actually wanted to watch and read when I went on social media and sought out those types of accounts.
Thirdly, I turned off the notifications. It's like an itch you have to scratch when you get a social media notification sometimes, isn't it? Then once you've signed in, you get sucked in, veer off course down a number of different rabbit holes (after all, it's really important to understand what so and so posted about their ex 5 years ago, isn't it?), suddenly you 'wake up', 45 minutes have gone by and you can't remember what you were there to do in the first place.
You know how older people often say that they go into a room and forget why they're in there? Well, I go into my phone and the same thing happens to me!
Lastly, I looked at my average screen time each day. Honestly, I was horrified by the amount of time I was wasting scrolling social media, so I set myself time limits on each social media app and I hid the apps from view on my phone so they weren't the first thing I saw when I turned it on. (Top tip - do the same with shopping apps you use frequently to curb your spending!)
I also set time limits on my children's phones, which can be changed or extended using a password known only to me. A quick story about this...
My teenage son was in a Math's class one Monday and they were looking at averages. The students were asked to look at their phone and share their screen time from the day before (Sunday). I think my son's was 4 hours total (between YouTube, homework apps, Google and messaging services etc - he doesn't have other types of social media - yet...). Not terrible, but not great. The average screen time on Sunday alone among the class was about 8 hours and the most amount of time one person had spent on there was 16 hours! 16 hours?!
For literally anyone with a phone, I cannot recommend screen time limits enough.
I also wanted to add for any solopreneurs out there that it's hard to stay away from social media when you run a business or a side hustle.
I try to use my accounts to share information about Reiki, inform people of the services I offer and share uplifting messages but I still spend too much time on it. I've now invested in an app which lets me set up my social media scheduling in advance so that I'm not required to login every day. If you have your own business, I recommend doing the same!
3. I started muting the TV or turning it off during the ad breaks.
(ESPECIALLY, when I had young kids! Otherwise I found that they wanted or 'neeeeded' whatever happened to be on TV in that precise moment...)
I studied Psychology at 'A' Level and as part of my degree and one of my courses touched on advertising and how it is targeted.
Advertisements subtly shape our desires, beliefs, preferences, and aspirations.
Advertising is very clever and very persuasive as we all know, and when we're chilling at home watching TV, we are not usually aware enough to consciously challenge or reject the ads that pop up. The trouble with that is our minds are then wide open to accept what we're being told.
Have you noticed there are more ads for cough, cold and flu meds in winter and hay fever in spring and summer? Have you ever been at home during the day and seen the ads then? For retirement homes, SAGA holidays, walk-in baths and life insurance? If you switch over to the kids channels you'll find ads for toys and games.
Recognizing the targeted and persuasive nature of advertising means we can make more conscious consumer choices. We can then decide what is a priority for us and be more intentional about what we buy.
4. I reduced TV hours and increased reading/ learning hours.
I used to watch a fair amount of TV, I suppose most of us do, especially with all we have 'on demand' these days (not like the 'olden days', when you had to wait a week for the next episode to come on).
When I started really paying attention though, I realised that, while some of the content was ok, not much of what I watched actually did anything for me. It wasn't uplifting or educational or funny or particularly inspiring, so I challenged myself to stop watching it and do something else instead.
I still watched a few carefully chosen bits with my family but more often than not I'd go to bed early with a book that taught me something. It is so much more satisfying to know that I have spent some time in the day - even just 15 minutes - feeding my mind rather than numbing it.
So, they are some things I did that have been working for me, and here are some suggestions to take away if you'd like to do something similar:
- Pay attention to your emotional reactions to the content you consume. How does it make you feel?
- Take breaks from emotionally charged content and prioritise sources that present information in a balanced and measured manner.
- Diversify news sources and balance with positive content (or stop watching the news altogether if that's right for you).
- Be intentional with your social media: Curate your feeds to align with your values, turn off notifications, set screen time limits and hide the apps. Embrace a digital detox when needed.
- Mute the ads!
- Be selective about what you watch on TV - maybe try watching less and reading or listening to podcasts more.
The media we consume is a potent force that molds our perceptions and influences our well-being. By approaching media consumption with mindfulness, intention, and a commitment to balance, we can harness its positive aspects while safeguarding our mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
Ultimately, as with everything in your life, it's up to you!
Much love,
Amy 💜🤟