Overload

It seems I've reached the point where I need to stop consuming information and start processing what I've already accumulated into something meaningful. Over the past ten years, I've read, watched, and listened to an unimaginable amount of content. Did I end up making more projects because of that? Or maybe they turned out better than they could have? Or at least, did I feel smarter? Doesn't seem like it.

I've never been in the state of "I need to read one more book" before starting something. I usually act faster than I think. And yet, my content consumption has only increased over time. Algorithmic feeds, A/B testing, and creators optimizing for clickbait headlines and thumbnails have reached incredible heights. Even if you consciously open a specific tweet you saved a week ago, and your eye catches a random post in that moment - you still "fall into the feed" for a while. And considering I have quite a few of these sources, I can sometimes spend the entire day in this state. Opened a news site in the morning, then another one, then checked messages on Telegram, checked email, opened Twitter, scrolled through Facebook, opened Discord, got distracted by a Telegram message with a YouTube link - and so on in circles.

Over time, the brain gets used to this and doesn't let you stop. All these bits of information seem very interesting and, more importantly, useful. But of course, that's self-deception. You only make progress when you actually do something. Endless consumption just turns your brain to mush and actually hinders the creative process and work in general. Because doing is hard, while passively reading/watching/listening is easy, and the brain quickly rewards itself for that. Plus, all of it clutters your head, and you're constantly walking around in a fog. Everything seems fine on the surface, but your mind can't hold onto a single thought for long, constantly getting distracted by hundreds of unrelated ones.

Anyway, I decided to do something about it. For starters, I'll just start dumping thoughts out of my head into text here.