Picture this: you wake up, check your phone for a minute, which turns into another 45 minutes of scrolling, and when you finally wake up, you will have consumed so much that your brain just isn’t functioning as it should.
I’ve been there. Every morning, I look at my phone screen for 15–20 minutes, and it makes me feel different. My eyes become itchy, and my brain isn’t 100% normal. I don’t know the medical side of it, but I just know that something isn’t right. My mind is filled with clutter, I’m comparing my life to others’, and my creative energy is low.
I finally decided to shut down my phone in the morning and before bed. My day should start with a creative mindset rather than a consuming one.
This single shift transformed my focus, output, and confidence.
The side effects of consuming first
Starting my day consuming wasn’t very ideal for my physical and mental health. Let’s discuss some side effects of consuming first.
You start your day responding to comments, thinking about others’ ideas before your own, and your brain becomes passive.
Social media floods you with opinions, trends, and angles. You start to believe the things you see rather than your own conscious beliefs. You start becoming what you consume, and that can be scary.
This one is the worst. Comparing your life with others is such a brain-damaging activity. You begin to think thoughts like:
- “They’re ahead of me.”
- “My work isn’t that good.”
- “Why can’t I have what they have?”
Your brain gets endless input from what you consume. So, your focus becomes scattered. You can’t do one thing properly and are not fully present. Your willpower lowers for actual work.
Remember: The first thing you feed your brain shapes everything that follows.
What “Create First” does instead.
Once I shifted from consuming to creating, my life literally changed. My focus improved, and so did my creativity. I felt energized every morning, and everything seemed better.
When you start creating first, you start your day being in control of your actions. You act instead of react. You are in charge of where your attention flows, so you start the day producing.
You keep a promise to yourself not to consume first. The momentum starts early as you begin to do the work that actually matters — creating. This grows your confidence. You start to trust your actions more because you can see the results.
Your thoughts are pure and fresh. So, you can use them to the best of your ability. You begin to shift your identity from a consumer to a creator, which is crucial for growth.
How I started creating instead of consuming
Understand that your attention is your most valuable asset. What you consume, you become. It programs your brain. So, you must protect your attention and keep it ready for creation.
Your brain loves easy dopamine, which you can obtain from scrolling. On the other hand, creating can be uncomfortable and challenging. Your brain doesn’t like it. However, growth requires you to do the difficult tasks. Joe Rogan said, “Difficult things make regular life less difficult.” I agree with his statement. Growth requires challenge. Winning the first battle of the day changes your trajectory.
Here are some things I did to create instead of consume.
- No phone for the first hour.
- Reading books instead of scrolling.
- Writing before checking notifications.
- Two hours of deep work (focused creation) daily.
- No phone an hour before bed.
Within two weeks, I began seeing massive changes. For instance, my energy was high in the morning. I didn’t feel lazy. My creativity increased significantly, allowing me to write/create more content every day.
Furthermore, ideas flowed more easily because my brain was functioning well. My anxiety reduced, and last but not least, my work output grew 10x (or more).
I didn’t make massive changes to my routine. Some simple rules made it easier for me to stop consuming. You can steal them if you want.
- Set a clear creation target: 100 words, 30 minutes, one idea, one draft.
- Create a no-consumption window: No social media, emails, YouTube, etc., before you create something.
- Prepare the night before: Decide what you’ll create beforehand. I wrote my to-do list in the evening, which made me ready for the next day. Also, I kept my workspace ready for creation.
- Start small: The goal isn’t to create something big. It’s to become a consistent creator. Remember, consistency > intensity. Even 10 minutes of creation a day will help you shift your identity from consumer to creator.
The long-term impact
Imagine you follow this “creating before consuming” rule for a year. How different would your life be? I’ve been doing it for almost two months now, and I can already notice massive changes.
Here are some possibilities for the long run.
- Hundreds of pages written.
- Skills sharpen.
- Audience grown.
- Self-respect strengthens.
- Less comparison.
- More clarity.
- More output.
- More income.
The possibilities are endless. Your life will literally change if you make this tiny shift to your daily routine.
Stop feeding your mind before using it. Ask yourself this every morning:
“Before I let the world speak to me, what will I say first?”
—
Hi, I’m Biliz.
If this piece resonated with you, feel free to leave a few claps and follow for more. You can also buy me a coffee.
Download my free blueprint to grow your audience from zero to 1,000.
Your support truly means a lot. It helps me keep creating and sharing meaningful work. Thanks for being part of this journey.
