I’ve been trying to manage my time, and although I’ve been absent from Medium for a while, I’ve been reading, just not contributing much. But here I am, back in action.
In this article, let’s not focus on 2024 resolutions. I want to talk about the beauty of the thought that, once again, we’ve been given a fresh start. The idea of a new beginning in a new year is inherently motivational. Right now, we might all be thinking about it, but it’s paradoxical. The excitement of a fresh start is real, yet we all know our motivation might wane by the end of the month.
Congratulations, we made it!
We survived the struggles and suffering of 2023, where every day started feeling as dull as a Monday.
We were in survival mode, and let’s be honest — even weekends felt like a mere 24 minutes, offering only physical rest. But was it enough? Nope. Your mind is cluttered; it’s a mess. That’s how most of us live, and many people can relate to this.
Why this reminder? Not just to tell you that we won’t be as consistent as we envisioned on December 31. No, it’s a reminder with a nearly accurate prediction of what lies ahead. This helps us prevent a lot of issues before they actually happen.
It varies from person to person, as not everyone has the same brain, personality, or mindset.
Be honest with yourself. Despite accomplishing things in 2023, you’ve made mistakes. You’ve grown tired of routines, habits, or tasks that you don’t want to relive in 2024.
Don’t repeat this one mistake.
It’s January 1st, and you’re doing the opposite of what you planned. Does that make you ashamed? Should you give up because you never learn? No!
Somehow, you planted the wrong idea into your mind, misunderstood what consistency or productivity is. Now it’s toxic, pushing you back instead of helping you accomplish more.
I’m sharing this because I’ve been there. An inner voice nearly made me give up on myself. Then I realized it could be turned off. Why do I even need this voice? I barely listen to anyone out there.
No one influenced me negatively, but I walked around being controlled by a voice that abused me, belittled me, and pushed me back.
Only one thing to do
Start. Yes, all you have to do is start. But use consciousness. Isn’t everything about consciousness now? We don’t need productivity or motivation as much as consciousness. When you’re conscious, you’re focused. You know what you’re doing and what you should be doing.
Everything out there is trying to get to your concentration and consciousness, take over, and destroy it. Distract you until you’re lost — lost enough that it would be too painful to recover and start seeing again.
A short story about concentration:
I’ve always been focused; I thought I could never fall victim to distractions like Instagram Reels. I’m not a fan of TikTok or YouTube shorts, but Instagram knew how to play me.
I can say I’ve been consumed, not consuming media, but entirely consumed by media, unconsciously scrolling for I don’t know how long — long enough to forget about my tasks or everything else. What am I doing? I’d say I should have done this.
Oh my God, I’ve been watching tons of reels about cats, clothes, or makeup, and I wake up from this coma not remembering what I was watching or what to do.
On my way back home, I thought there’s something I don’t want to bring into 2024: doom-scrolling.
Instagram reels, TikTok, and shorts are like zombies, all relentlessly after your brains!
After I got home, I grabbed my phone and posted a story, telling everyone I’m not sending reels anymore to friends or people with similar humor.
I got many “whys?” and “NOs,” but after a few small conversations with friends, all of them encouraged me to start. Since that day, I’ve never clicked on that reels icon again.
It’s not about limiting time; Shit happened while still having my Insta on focus mode. It’s not about setting a limit on my usage; it’s about getting rid of the whole thing, never being exposed to reels again.
Half of my problems vanished with one simple action. Only one action that you’re willing to take right now can change more than one thing, can solve more than one problem.
Here are a few points you might want to jot down on your sticky note:
- Don’t let the rush of motivation deceive you and lead to burnout.
- Turn off that inner critical voice.
- Eliminate Bullshit.
- Identify and address sources of distraction.
- Cut a habit, and share it with others for support — no matter how silly the task is.
