4. Stimulation vs. Noise

There’s always a plethora of social and online content to engage in for fun and stimulation; reading and sharing of ideas, podcast listening and social media engaging (currently I’m loving The Burnt Toast Substack and podcast, and delighting in the brilliant and swear-y Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes on the Maintenance Phase podcast).

This week though, I’ve been working through my second cold/flu of the summer while also having entered the gambit of intense months working on book deadline. And all the usually fun stuff that I find stimulating is feeling more like noise than fun…a subtle shift felt as a lethargic internal hum. So restfulness and energy conservation are the name of the game this week.

Working at the stimulating and noisy drawing table (pre-cold/flu)

A few adjustments I’m making to help create space for the malaise:

• Turning off as many inputs as I can to support the necessary work output — minimal phone/text/email engaging.

• Swapping out podcast listening and online/social media reading with an audiobook (my 3rd reading of Jane Eyre) and BBC re-runs.

• Making naps & TV watching the main mode for my work breaks.

Turning off new inputs and going offline for big chunks can be hard and feels out-of-the-loop (a perpetual state for me already, haha), but it helps soooooooo much. Even in small bits. And all the fun, stimulating stuff will still be there, ready to go whenever the energy regenerates.

Cheers to finding a little more space and quieting stuff that feels like noise to you, too! ☕