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You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

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Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#61

Post by projectazorian »

jug wrote: post #16
sosodev wrote: post #4

This seems like nonsense. The author claims that we're overwhelmed by the volume of content we consume and that's why we can't be creative. So the suggested solution is to do more work to consume content? That doesn't make any sense to me.

Also the recommendation to block content to curate your feed and not just scroll past it. Does he even realize what he is suggesting? That the user curates the social media feed to be more tailored and thus addictive. It won’t shorten just because you block stuff. The actual cure to that crap is to fill your day with healthier activities so that you’ll end up surprising yourself you hadn’t browsed Instagram today.

> Also the recommendation to block content to curate your feed and not just scroll past it. Does he even realize what he is suggesting? That the user curates the social media feed to be more tailored and thus addictive. It won’t shorten just because you block stuff.

I find that it does shorten. Of course infinite scroll still happens but with a ruthlessly curated feed, it seems like after about 5-10 minutes of browsing there's a tipping point where relevance drops off a cliff. That's when I know to close the app.

(I open IG maybe 1-2x a week, FYI)

Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#62

Post by agys »

FigurativeVoid wrote: post #13

I think that we are being overwhelmed and it hurts us in more ways than our creativity. We are moving through the world in constant distraction. Until recently, when I was doing something around the house, no matter what, I was listening to music, podcasts, or books. I found that it seemed like it was taking for ever for me to do the simplest tasks. After a while... I figured that I must be going slower because I was…

I live in an old house without a dishwater. The 5-10 minutes spent doing the dishes are moments of deep thoughts, not dissimilar of the ones under the shower; maybe it’s the water…

Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#63

Post by runjake »

lelanthran wrote: post #25
FigurativeVoid wrote: post #13

I think that we are being overwhelmed and it hurts us in more ways than our creativity. We are moving through the world in constant distraction. Until recently, when I was doing something around the house, no matter what, I was listening to music, podcasts, or books. I found that it seemed like it was taking for ever for me to do the simplest tasks. After a while... I figured that I must be going slower because I was…

I listen to white noise, on headphones, when I want to think. Might be my imagination, but I think it's made a difference.

Same, but with brown noise[1] (not to be confused with the brown note[2]).

I find it less harsh and it seems to drown out office talk much more.

1. https://open.spotify.com/artist/4H1DT9A2uoT7pTVRDSolnk

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_note

Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#64

Post by silcoon »

> The sheer volume of content is overwhelming

and few paragraphs later the post becomes another marketing content with affiliate links and so on.

The web is getting flooded with this type of spam content and this post is part of the overwhelming. I came to HN to avoid being spammed with unwanted marketing things about this app or that app and I find this article as #1 in the homepage. Marketing camouflaged as cultural content.

Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#65

Post by spieswl »

projectazorian wrote: post #47
spieswl wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the content of the article is totally orthogonal to the problem the title supposedly addresses. I was immediately excited to read this but then found no relation to what the article talks about. Content curation? Really? We're not overwhelmed with content, we're overwhelmed with noise.

Yes and curation is the process by which one can identify valuable content among the noise. As someone with a somewhat creative job, and a creative hobby on the side, the concept resonates with me. But maybe it's not universally applicable.

As perhaps with some other HNers, I'm in specialized, technical line of work (robotics) and the SNR for most of content sources is absurdly low. There's just no way for me to put in a reasonable amount of curation effort for subject matters involving my field _at the degree of specialization I need it_ and get meaningful insights back.

Maybe later when my focus or responsibilities have changed, but that runs the risk of keeping a library of curated content that I can't validate at the time I capture it (_because I will have to validate that content later when it aligns with whatever-later-task-is-relevant_).

And this says nothing about the creativity that's sapped by the organizational inefficiency, the clumsy handoffs, the incomplete understanding of what is truly wanted and/or needed at the end of a creative endeavor, and all of the other things that are the sources of hundreds or thousands of cuts at your psyche.

Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#66

Post by makeitdouble »

coldtea wrote: post #57
makeitdouble wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obvious other side of that coin: of the two things we're doing at once, one of them is neither fun nor engaging. Making it the thing to 100% focus on will also mean it it's now a stronger candidate to procrastination, and just won't be done at all.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been done or added to our plate in the first place?

Maybe. I don't know if I'd enjoy it, but I'd totally try hiring a full house keeping staff if I had that kind of money flowing in.

I otherwise find it awkward to have random people working in my house for a few hours a week at a total cost that isn't trivial either.

Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#67

Post by swah »

goodroot wrote: post #32

These posts pop up every now and then. Too much rationalism in this approach for sense. But I get it, it's difficult to sell letters when you're warning people against reading letters. As a lay student of Buddhism, there's a much more simple and effective route. Meditate. A clean, crisp, quiet break into your own internal fortress of solitude. Curating as a means of establishing a creative sandbox makes sense to me,…

Meditating is much easier if you do it before opening your browser to find out about hospitals being bombed 4000km from your place, though. I'd still advocate for limiting consumption first...

Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#68

Post by paulpauper »

FigurativeVoid wrote: post #13

I think that we are being overwhelmed and it hurts us in more ways than our creativity. We are moving through the world in constant distraction. Until recently, when I was doing something around the house, no matter what, I was listening to music, podcasts, or books. I found that it seemed like it was taking for ever for me to do the simplest tasks. After a while... I figured that I must be going slower because I was…

Distractions are not that bad. The idea is you complete work in small bites and then recharge instead of crossing the point of diminishing returns.

Re: You're not lacking creativity, you're overwhelmed

#70

Post by hprotagonist »

makeitdouble wrote: post #46
FigurativeVoid wrote: post #13

I think that we are being overwhelmed and it hurts us in more ways than our creativity. We are moving through the world in constant distraction. Until recently, when I was doing something around the house, no matter what, I was listening to music, podcasts, or books. I found that it seemed like it was taking for ever for me to do the simplest tasks. After a while... I figured that I must be going slower because I was…

The obvious other side of that coin: of the two things we're doing at once, one of them is neither fun nor engaging. Making it the thing to 100% focus on will also mean it it's now a stronger candidate to procrastination, and just won't be done at all.

learn to find something of worth even in the mundane. they’re there.
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