The Joyful Flamingo
The Joyful Flamingo Podcast guides and empowers women to tune into themselves and zoom in on their own well-being through laughter, connection, knowledge, and celebration! We’re here to create a tsunami of self-discovered, self-loved, and self-understood women who show up in this world unapologetically and joyfully so that we can pass the torch for generations to come! Join us to start leading your most vibrant, aligned and joyful life.
The Joyful Flamingo
Spring Cleaning Your Content Consumption
In this episode, Emily talks about spring cleaning your brain by going RIGHT to the source and tackling your content consumption habits! She talks about the dangers of mindless scrolling and what it's actually doing to us, the fine line between consuming real and authentic content that doesn't perpetuate parts of us that don't align with our highest vibrations, and the dangers of having the world at our fingertips. Towards the end, she gives you tips on how to effectively spring clean your content consumption, so that you're able to start showing up in the way you actually WANT to.
Time Stamps:
0:40 - Intro
2:21 - Why Emily believe it's important to Spring Clean the way we consume our content
6:10 - You are the sum of the 5 people (or pieces of content) you spend the most time with
8:20 - Emily's aha moment when she realized that what she was consuming was colouring her lens of the world and her own identity
12:32 - Sporadic vs. frequent consumption and long form vs. short form content
15:08 - The dangers of having the world at our fingertips
18:50 - Emily uses her own social media accounts as an example
24:05 - The fine line of creating and consuming real and authentic content that doesn't perpetuate parts of us that don't feel in alignment with our highest selves
30:55 - Our content consumption is a huge reflection on how well we know ourselves
32:50 - Tips on HOW to Spring Clean your content consumption
40:15 - Wrap Up
Connect with Emily:
On The Gram - @thejoyfulflamingo https://www.instagram.com/thejoyfulflamingo/
For Collaborations - thejoyfulflamingo@gmail.com
The Joyful Flamingo Podcast is produced by jpvoiceovers.
You can find them here : jpvoiceovers
*DISCLAIMER*
Just a reminder, that I am not a medical or psychological professional. Each one of my episodes has been inspired by my own experience and journey through life and is brought to you through my own opinions and my own lens. Any suggestions or advice offered here do not substitute proper conversations with your own healthcare professionals for either your physical or mental wellbeing.
With the beginning of spring officially here, all forms of spring cleaning are taking place. And today I want to remind you of an area that could probably use a spring clean that maybe we've forgotten about.
And that is our content consumption. What are you putting into your brain on a daily basis? How much content do you consume? Where do you consume it? What's the undertone of the accounts and the platforms that you frequent?
Are you becoming a greater, more in tune with? version of yourself? Or are you getting further away from it? Stay tuned for a chat about content consumption and what we can do to spring clean it all up.
Well, hey there friend and welcome to the joyful flamingo podcast. I'm your host Emily Schreiber and I am obsessed with empowering women to tune into themselves to zoom in on their own well -being.
And so in terms of they can lead their most vibrant, aligned, and joyful lives. I wanna create a tsunami of self -discovered, self -loved,
and self -understood women to show up in this world unapologetically and joyfully and to pass the torch on for generations to come. If any of that feels aligned with your vibe,
stick around. I'm so glad you're here. Now. Now, let's go find our joy. Hey,
hey, hey, joyful flamingo flock. Welcome to the pod today. Spring is in the air, and it's the time of year where the feeling of all clutter and clutter all around us needs to be addressed.
Oh, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling it in my veins right now. And most of us will spring clean things. like our homes, our cars, our garages,
our sheds, our office spaces, so that it gives us some fresh vibes moving into the warmer seasons. Many of us are forgetting one of the spaces that needs to be cleaned the most.
And to me, that's the space where we consume our content or spaces where we consume our content. Our brains need a spring clean.
So we need to go straight to the source of where we fill our brains up. And oftentimes that's through the content that we consume on a daily basis. I want to define what I consider to be content consumption.
Okay. Because a lot of us are thinking, okay, Instagram, Facebook, when we hear the words content, right? Or the words content consumption. But really, this could also mean the shows you watch,
the online forums you read, the influencers or everyday people you follow on socials, the videos you scroll through on Reddit, the podcasts you listen to, the books you read,
the news channels you plug into the radio stations you listen to. Basically, it's all of the ways that any content digital or not is getting into your brain. And today,
I'm really going to focus quite heavily on the social media aspect for spring cleaning and quite honestly, this is just because I feel like it's an area that's of growing concern,
especially if not used correctly. And especially as parents, since we're trying to navigate raising children in this kind of new digital age,
it's no shocker that there are some serious costs of raising kids in this. phone -based childhood that we live in and how it's going to affect our littles and the way that they develop as they try to find themselves and find their voice in a world that's filled with clutter.
So if anything, I feel like we owe this deep spring clean every once in a while to them, to the next generation, to teach them how to use and consume content in a way that that supports our well -being rather than the opposite.
And I feel like probably the biggest place to really focus is our social feeds. Let me tell you something in case you don't know. All of the platforms that you use to consume your content,
they all chat with each other. So when you start to frequent and consume certain types of content in one app on your phone, phone, all the other apps are having like a little meeting and they then start feeding you more of the beast that you're already consuming and maybe battling.
I'm really excited to hear from y 'all. I know that I kind of just like just jumped right into it today, but I'm so excited to hear y 'all after this show airs because I know that social media content and content consumption in general.
can be a very controversial topic. The words that I share today, they're going to sit really differently across our listenership. We've got people who are listeners that have very different views and are going to listen through very different lenses and perspectives.
Some of you who are listening have never known a world that wasn't already heavily influenced by the digital content that we consume. Others, like me, may have experienced kind of equal parts of both sides,
like, you know, not having had that huge influence online as youngsters, but now that we're parents or adults, you know, the game has changed for us drastically and we have the other end of the spectrum.
And then there are some of us who may seem totally confused about why anyone would allow themselves to be bombarded with ideas, opinions... opinions, and life updates from everyone they've ever met all day,
every day, because it's just not their experience. I do think that there's going to be kind of a vast and very versatile experience through the listenership this week.
But one thing I think we can all agree on is that this is a world we live in now. You know, there's no denying it. It would be, I think, near too impossible to avoid. online content consumption and social media altogether.
So we have to learn how to make it work for us in the best possible way. And I really, truly think that that's the only way to get through it and to teach our young ins to do the same.
I'm sure you've heard the saying, we are the sum of the five people we spend the most time around. And while that is true, a lot of of the people we spend time with now happens online.
So don't forget that. And don't forget that in this day and age, we can also maybe say that we are the sum of the five accounts or the five pieces of content that we consume most often.
Think about it. This quote about, you know, we are the sum of the five people we spend the most time around that quote was created in a time where we were spending the most time around that quote was created in a time when we were spending the most time around that quote was created in a time when we were of our time off -screen and in the presence of actual other humans.
And now we still do that, but a lot of our views, opinions, conversations, ideas, a lot of them happen somewhere online and through the content that we consume.
If you're clicking on someone's Instagram stories 10 times a day, you're in that person's space and they are becoming one of your five. Or if you go down a rabbit hole on TikTok watching the same types of videos,
maybe they're put out by different people, but they've got the same messaging, you're spending time in that space and it becomes part of your sum. If you listen to all true crime podcasts or watch all reality TV shows in your downtime,
that's what's infiltrating your brain and becoming one of your five. We need to be very diligent. diligent and very on purpose with what we're consuming. It cannot be flippant anymore.
It can't be this idea of thoughtless scrolling. We need to change that. We need to see a change for our own well -being and then therefore the well -being of our kids. There was an Ask Me Anything episode a few,
maybe a few months ago, and I briefly addressed this idea, but in case you missed it, basically social media and the amount of time that. that I specifically Emily spend on my phone has always been something that I have tried to be super cognizant of,
especially since I started having kids. That's when I like really started to think, okay, how often do I want to be on my phone? What do I want to be on my phone for? What am I doing when I'm on there? Is it purposeful? It doesn't mean that I'm always good at it.
And I remember a very specific aha moment that made me realize, realize on a much deeper level how my content consumption, even though I was super cognizant of it,
how it was still affecting the colored lens that I was seeing the world through, and maybe even the way I was identifying as a person. This aha moment, I'm going to explain it to you,
it was spurred on by one specific Instagram account I used to follow. That account became one of my five, I'm sure it's probably one of a lot of your fives to be honest,
it's a really popular account amongst women in my age group. And I'm not going to name it because it may be the perfect account for someone else to follow. But for me, what I realized was that that account and the content it was putting out was perpetuating a part of my identity that I did identify with,
but that I didn't necessarily want it to be a part of my identity that I didn't necessarily want it to be a part of my identity to continue identifying with. Does that make sense? So I originally started following the content because, well, first of all,
it was humorous and I love humor. It was real, super relatable. It was in the stage that I was in. And in those moments, I would get kind of my like download dose and it felt really good to be validated in my feelings.
And I think for a period of time, it actually genuinely did help me. me. It's an account and a space that I think was probably created and meant to be super validating,
affirmative, relatable and connective. And I think it did that. But then I think what happened was the content became almost mono dimensional and it became very like singularly focused in its messaging.
And although that account was, you know, really affirming experience, in my life for me that felt difficult or hard, that content's niche then therefore became about affirming hard things,
which meant that I was putting a lot of emphasis and focus on things in my life that were feeling hard. And this meant that more of the hard was in my awareness.
And so more of the hard seemed to be happening because it in fact became part of of my greater sub. What we focus on is what grows. And what happened was the account I was following so frequently,
it grew my identity in hardship, bigger and bigger. And then I was fed more of this type of content because of the algorithms. So the beast just kept getting larger and larger for me.
And that's when I realized, Oh, I actually don't want to identify. this way very often. You know, sometimes I do, but for the most part, I actually don't want to be really immersed in all of this hardship.
I realized in that moment that it's incredibly valuable to have spaces that create content that you frequent that shows up in different ways.
Life is a series of ups and downs and ebbs and flows and highs and lows. lows and what you want to be doing is getting a well -rounded and worldly outlook of it all even if it means you know Challenging the feelings that you currently hold or the ideas or the opinions or the thoughts that you currently hold This means both within you know single accounts that need to offer more versatility within the content that
they create in that one account but also it means that we, as the consumers, have to be very on purpose so that we can choose many different accounts to consume and making sure we're spring cleaning enough all of our socials and all of our content consumption so that the algorithms don't get the best of us.
It's really difficult to accomplish, truly it is, because, you know, algorithms, they freaking smart. smart. It is much more possible to do that when you're regularly doing a spring clean of the content that you consume and the way in which you're consuming it or the habits you've created around that.
This idea of spring cleaning almost needs to be done on a quarterly basis, like every season, right, like a winter clean and a spring clean and a summer clean and a fall clean, because then the algorithms can actually start showing you different things.
My advice that that really works for me was to start choosing some platforms or some accounts where I'd only consume sporadically.
These may be accounts or platforms or forums or videos that massage a certain part of our belief system or values that we don't want to lose or,
or maybe something that we want to feel affirmed or validated in, but that we don't necessarily want to focus on. on. We also have to choose the places that we want to consume frequently.
They're two different spaces. The ones that you consume frequently, these are the spaces that make you feel like you're highest self. The epitome of the person you actually want to be,
and it might be sprinkled with validation, connectedness, affirming content in regards to, you know, maybe like low or negative. feelings or thoughts, but that it's not necessarily the monofocus of it.
You choose where you want your focus to go and you got to consume accordingly, and a great way to do this, in my opinion, is also to consume long form content.
Hear me out here. We have to allow our brains to actually think and with long form content. we're actually able to do that with short form content like Reels,
TikTok videos, like all the little snippets, right? It's almost impossible to do that because we're only looking at something or reading something or absorbing something for seconds or like maybe a minute at a time.
And so our brain is so overstimulated that it kind of just like shuts down and it moves along to the next thing. thing. And this is like doom scrolling to its best because that's why we can feel like we get lost in this mindless scroll because we don't actually absorb anything.
We're just kind of like physically there with long form content like audio books, documentaries, podcasts, radio shows, book series, those all offer longer amounts of time to absorb what you're consuming.
and in my opinion, it feels like a healthier way to do it. So maybe frequenting those types of long form content and then sporadically using the short form versions like those tiny little apps on our phone that we have.
Really being mindful about what are you sporadically going in search of? What are you frequenting often? and what types and what forms of content are you consuming short or long?
We have the world at our fingertips. We can look things up in an instant, like anything, which is so amazing. But on the flip side of things,
really overwhelming. And there are two really big dangers that I think happen when it comes to having the world at our fingertips at any second of the day. The first is that I don't believe the human brain is meant to digest as much information as we're forced to in a day.
No wonder there are staggering numbers of increasing anxiety, overwhelm, comparison. Although it's a really beautiful thing that we're exposed to so much more of the world,
when we're not careful enough, I think it becomes incredibly overwhelming for our brains. brains, or maybe it's just mine, I don't know, but my brain is like, it is tapped out sometimes.
We might not always connect it, but you know, when we're feeling things like stressed out at work or really snippy with our kids, or annoyed that the house is such a freaking mess, I think a portion of that is because our brains don't ever get a break anymore.
We need to give our brain a break. break. The second danger of having all of this information at our fingertips all the time is that we also have everybody's lives and what they're doing in their lives or what we think they're doing in their lives at our fingertips as well.
And I think this creates the comparison game, which is the second danger I wanted to talk about. Comparison is the thief of joy. We know this. When we're looking online.
and we're like, oh, that mom's kids ate quinoa and black beans and eggplant for lunch Why are they eating quinoa's black bean and eggplant for lunch and mine will only eat fishy crackers and fruit snacks or Man that person's weight loss journey like looks so darn easy.
Why is mine taking forever or that person? They've got got way more support in their life than I do. How is that fair? Like, look at all the support they're getting.
Where's mine? Or that person's finances must be so abundant if they can afford that thing or that trip or whatever it is. Or even it might just be as simple as,
"Frick, why is she laughing today? "The world sucks." We have so much more ability to see into everyone's everyday life. and what's happening is we're focusing on that more than we're actually focusing on us.
We're not focused on growth or happiness or joy for ourselves because we're so concerned about what everybody else is doing. And not because we actually think we're concerned with it, but it's almost like it's subconscious.
We're doing it without even thinking anymore. We have to make sure that we take it all with a grain of salt. You know, it's not. the whole picture. It's not the whole story. On the flip side of it, this brings me to my next point.
Maybe we should just try hard not to compare good mad or good jealous when we see someone's good day. Why does that put us out of sorts so much? I can tell you it's because our brains overwhelmed,
right? And why can't we just accept or like be excited, like, okay, someone else is having a good day. That's actually good. I want to be surrounded by that energy. I want to sense that joy and get a little piece of that vibe.
Like, shouldn't we be excited by that? Why are we so annoyed by it? It's such a big question to ask ourselves. This is kind of where what I'm trying to say, I think becomes tricky to explain.
So I am hoping that, you know, what's in my heart and what's in my brain is coming across to you. It's kind of a weird doubt. dichotomy. It's like a back and forth all the time. And I'm the first to say that if someone online or in real life,
doesn't matter where, if they make you feel inferior and it's triggering or it's bad for your mental health, unfollow. It literally is that easy. I mean, it's that easy in the online world. It's not like that person is showing up on your doorstep in the flesh every day,
shoving their ideas in your face. Well, you know, maybe they are, maybe you've got somebody in your life like that. too. But generally speaking, most of the time we're actually going in search of those opinions or those ideas,
we're clicking on that content. We control that. What energy do we want to manifest in our life? And let's be clear,
we can mute too. That's an option. So if you don't know that that's an option, I'm telling you it's an option. You can mute either. either someone's posts or someone's stories or unfollow or unsubscribe to a podcast for a little while and then subscribe back again or then,
you know, unmute the person. You do you girlfriend, get rid of the feelings that aren't serving you and incorporate the things that are and be open to changing that up to spring cleaning that up a little bit every couple of months,
not everyone and the content that they share in for everyone. So let's, okay, let's take my account on Instagram as an example, okay? The content that I create is a reflection of the things that I love because those are the things that I choose to focus on.
Do I have bad days? Fuck yes. Do I always share them? No. And that isn't because I want to make this super clear. clear. It isn't because I don't want anyone to know that I'm having a bad day or I'm trying to show this unrealistic view of my life.
It's just because most of the time, I don't want to sit in it. I don't want to perpetuate it. Sometimes I do. And those are the times where you will see me show up in a little bit of a crusty way.
For the most part, if we want more of the things that make us feel good. that make us feel joyful, we have to focus on those things. I love laughing. I love funny things like when people fall downstairs,
as long as they're not hurt. Or when toddlers do something weird that you never would have thought possible. I also love love. I love joy. I love equality. I love women's well -being.
I love learning about my hormones and about myself as a woman. I love learning about parenting. I love baking and finding new recipes. I love cooking. I love moving my body and I love a really good quote.
I'm not saying that those are the only things I consume. I'm just saying that for right now in this specific part of my life, that's what I am focused on. There are other accounts that I don't necessarily frequent,
but that, you know, I check on purpose every once in a while or a podcast that like I don't listen to every episode, but when a title comes up that intrigues me, it's like, okay, I'm going to click on that one. Right? That, that's what I'm going in search of.
And maybe it's because I want to learn about new things or I want to, you know, become a bit more well versed in a current event or an issue or, you know, I simply just want to learn the opposite of what I currently already know and feel.
That's really good. I'm not saying to only consume things that make you feel like sunshine and rainbows, but what are you? frequenting? That's the difference. (upbeat music) We can and should consume things that are thought provoking,
that are intelligent, that are challenging to our beliefs that are unknown to us, and we should go in search of that. And sometimes if the algorithm's in our favor, it'll randomly pop up for us.
If we want to show up as the most joyful version of ourselves, we also need to figure out how our content is either allowing us or not allowing us to do that.
And then to purposefully step into the spaces online more that are allowing us to do that. So we can be showing up in the way that we want. To make big impact at large,
we each need to focus on ourselves and we can't show up the way we want to when we're constantly feeling weighed down, overwhelmed, inferior, jealous and perpetuating this like constant state of negativity from other people.
'Cause then really, truly what's the point? I know I'm not everyone's cup of tea. (laughs) I get unfollowed all the time, seriously. Seriously. And sometimes I'm like, "What?
Where did those six people go? Who are those six people that just don't follow me today?" In the grand scheme of things, I'm like, "Okay, good. That means that people who are here,
who are consuming the content that I'm sharing or creating, they're here because it's aligned with their values. It's helping them to show up in the greatest version of them." Similarly,
if I'm not everyone's cup of tea, you're not everyone's cup of tea either, right? And the point is we all just need to dip ourselves in the tea that feels right. When you feel good, you do more.
You are more, you give more. And I feel like that's what we need more of in this world. But it can be really tricky with social media because it's this fine line, right? It's this fine line between creating and consuming content that feels real and authentic and it's not just a highlight reel,
but also doesn't sustain or extend or perpetuate the parts of us that aren't making us feel good, that aren't aligning with our highest vibrations because the online world happens to be part of our greater sum now.
And I really think the key is it's in the diversity of what we're we consume and the frequency of what we consume and the places that we consume them. And we just have to be mindful of all of that.
I did think of a story and I thought, you know, I'm going to share that because I think it kind of breaks this idea that I have in my brain around Consuming content, yes, that affirms and validates and is real and authentic,
but also not just bombarding your brain. with things that also don't make you feel like the highest version of yourself. I think I have a story that can kind of like illustrate that in the real world.
So here we go. I was once told by a colleague of mine that I was too positive or too cheery or I can't remember the exact word that they chose,
but it was in the lunchroom one day. They basically said something along the lines of stop being so joyful. joyful. Don't put a positive spin on that. Granted, it did come from someone who basically emanated the exact opposite vibe as me.
It really bothered me. It bothered me, I think, because I thought, why does someone think that my good attitude is somehow a detriment to the people around me?
And I really sat with that comment for like a really long time. Have you ever had that happen before, you know, one thing? thing that's probably said in passing that they haven't thought about like for a second afterward, it sits with you for years.
Anyway, when it first happened, when it was first said to me, I really tried to onion it and what I mean by that is like pull apart the layers on it. And I started to think to myself, okay, maybe this person thinks that my positivity is not genuine,
or maybe they think that it's not realistic, that it's just a version of the highlight. reel like this chronic happiness right and that it's annoying and then I thought to myself okay if that is maybe what they're thinking is that true for me am I actually choosing never to share my sad or deflated or confused or angry versions of myself enough and to be honest at that time maybe I wasn't you know I was younger I
was less evolved, less aware, much more of a people pleaser. In general, I'm a pretty positive person. My nickname as a child will tell you this. I like came out of the womb smiling.
Everybody called me Smiler. Or I don't know if it was everybody, but my mom did. Smiler. My grandma's nickname for me was like Golden Sunshine. Like just like, I just seemed to have a positive outlook.
like I'm a pretty positive person in general what's also true about that is I'm also a more private person with my deep feelings I'm also known as deep water to my mom I guard them I safeguard the shit out of my feelings whether they're positive or not I really offer the really deep feelings I have only to people I trust and the really really deep ones or the really really dark ones they're like saved for the very
few. That's gotten a little looser as I age you know as I've started this podcast as I've learned more about myself and trying to step into the highest form of myself. I do think now I probably am more vulnerable than I was in the moment that that comment was said to me.
I have an outlook that still rings true when I look back on that comment and you may disagree. with it, and that's okay friend. I want to start by saying it's okay. In fact, it's really healthy for us all to have different views.
I do feel I've learned to probably share more of the ups and the downs. I think that's actually pretty clear here with the overall messaging behind the joyful flamingo, you know, the different hues,
the different times, my paling, what it looked like for me, what feels the most aligned with the version of of what I want to be is joyful.
And so my greater sum has to ring joyful as much as possible, not all the time, but as much as possible. So I choose to surround myself in that because it feels most like me.
And if I'm having a bad day, generally, I said this, like, I don't want to stay there. Maybe for you, that's different. Maybe processing something for you feels different. Maybe maybe sitting in it feels the best for you.
I wanna, yes, validate how I'm feeling, but I also generally wanna find my way back to joy. And I feel like lately it's very easy to get kind of into this circular rut of negativity online,
specifically for me. That's why first and foremost, what I always try to put out into the world is joy. [BLANK _AUDIO] Some may think it's not genuine. Like that person who made that comment all those years ago,
maybe others see me as too positive or unrealistic or as not sharing enough about the hardships. I always go back to, okay, what do I want to feel?
What am I choosing to feel? And so what do I have to focus on? And the content that I'm creating is what I'm focused on. Again, it's the difference between between frequent,
like if I'm creating it, I'm frequenting it, right? Versus sporadically, what am I going in search for? Are there times where we're going to have a good cry, commiserate on things? Absolutely.
Do I make self deprecating jokes or comments? Of course. What's true for me is if I'm going to be the sum of someone's five, like if I am one of your five, I'm going to try to at least contribute as much.
much laughter, joy, and positivity as I can. I want to be a break in the doom scroll. This is the problem with social media. I can't possibly show up as everything you need me to.
I can't show you all the things I feel all the time. I mean, maybe I could but I choose not to. I save certain things for myself certain things for just me or for just me and my husband and that's okay.
Others may choose not to do things. that way, but that's what's best for me. And here's the deal. It all comes down to knowing yourself. One of the questions on last week's episode of 20 questions that a woman has to ask herself is,
what's your non -negotiable? Or what's your deal breaker? Tuning into my joy as much as possible. It's not always going to happen, but as much as possible is my deal breaker.
Your call consumption is a huge reflection on how well you know yourself. That was good. That was good. I'm gonna repeat that.
Your content consumption is a huge reflection on how well you know yourself and if you're feeling like it's not aligned, you got to do a spring cleaning. Get clear on that shit.
Do you know yourself? What do you want to feel on a daily daily basis? What are other topics that are maybe important to you, but that are maybe going to be something that you just choose to go in search of sporadically instead of being bombarded with?
You get to choose all of that. We spend so much time in our online digital world that we might as well make it as meaningful as possible by paying attention to who and to what matters most to us.
These days, it changes all. all the time. When I do a spring clean, what I'm looking for to frequent or sporadically look at is gonna be different. But these days, my content consumption consists a lot of accounts,
articles, like long form, short form, whatever it is that talk about things like hormonal balance, slower parenthood methods, amazing recipes, comedy accounts,
and tips on people. on regulating our nervous system. These are the ones that are put into my feed because I frequent them the most.
And the ones I go and search for aren't necessarily in my feed, but I've got them written down. And this is a key piece of advice to take from this episode too. Have a running note on your phone of the things that are places and areas of content consumption that you want to go in search of,
but that you don't necessarily want in your feed, write them down because then on a random Friday night when you do have a little bit of extra time where you're like, okay, what am I going to do? You could maybe go and check those pieces of content instead of being bombarded with them.
And you can choose to absorb them because you're feeling capable of absorbing them. I want to leave you with a few tips on how to spring clean your content consumption.
This is both the content itself and also the way in which you consume it. So the habits you've created. I do want to say, if you're a business owner listening to this, the reality of needing to use social media as a tool to communicate with your audience,
it's necessary in this day and age where you're running any sort of business. The tricky part for business owners is finding the balance between using it as the tool you know it can be to grow your business.
while also not getting totally consumed by it 24 /7. These tips that I'm going to give you maybe are even more important for people who use content creation as part of their business growth strategy.
So just know that and spring cleaning your content consumption is maybe actually even more important. But anyways, I've got, I don't know, I think there's like 10 or something like that. The first one, go and log on to your Instagram account.
Take a look at the first 20 stories from left to right on your Instagram home feed that come up for you every morning. These are the ones that you see the most, right? They're purposefully placed there for you.
Are these accounts exuding the type of feeling you want to start your day off with? If you didn't get the itch to just click on it, like if you really took yourself out of it for a second and looked out.
what was being shown to you on any given morning, is that what you want to see first thing in the morning? If not, mute. You can mute people's stories, mute, or unfollow.
On Instagram, second tip, you can also click on, okay, at the very top of the screen, it shows you in your account, and then it shows you how many people you're following and how many people are following you. When you click on the people you're following,
it's gonna bring you to a new page. and it's going to categorize the people you follow with either least interacted with or most shown in feed. I want you to look at those,
does it seem right to you? Or are there accounts that maybe you feel like you're missing out on because you haven't seen them in a really long time and they're really good for you? Or are there ones that maybe you're like,
oh my gosh, I cannot believe that that is shown most in my feed? that I engage in that content the most. Why am I doing that? Maybe I need to unfollow them. And when you're trying to decide for yourself,
should I unfollow? Should I not? Should I mute? What should I do? Ask these questions to yourself. Do you care about what this person says or posts? Do you enjoy seeing their posts?
Do you skip or scroll past their posts without even looking at them? And does this person generally post things that give you a good vibe? Ask yourself those questions and then maybe do a big spring clean and weed out the shit you don't need to see.
Next, go to the platform that you listen to your podcasts on, whether that's Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you listen. Which ones are in there because you follow or subscribe to them?
And is there any versatility in what you're listening to? Or is it a lot? the same stuff? If not, maybe think of the things you want to know more about so that you can go in search of that content right now and help spring clean out the other things that you maybe don't need to listen to on repeat.
Also, go on to Netflix or Prime or wherever you do a lot of your TV watching and see what's recommended to you. Is it all the same stuff?
Is there something that you have big interest in that's like just not there? Go to the documentary section. See if there's something that's really intriguing to you. Try to understand that the algorithms of all of these things are showing you specific things for a reason.
Do you need to squash that and move in a different direction? The other thing I want you to do make a vow to yourself to stay out of the comments on larger accounts.
Okay. So somebody who has generally like under 5 ,000 followers or something. I'm not talking about those accounts that you follow. I'm talking about the ones that are like millions or hundreds of thousands of followers. If you click on the comments,
oh my gosh, it spirals into negativity so quickly because of internet trolls. Make a vow to yourself. Stay out of the comments. Stay out of the comments. Focus more on long form content rather than short form content.
We talked about that. Take a week off and this is like, it's so funny coming from a person who creates content that I want you all to see, but I'm telling you, take a week off on download the apps from your phone for a stint of time,
spend time with family, get rid of the, you know, habitual reflex that we have to just always reach for your phone. If you can't take a week off. week off fully,
put a timer on the apps that you use on your phone most so that you can limit how much time you're actually using to consume that real short form content.
So you can actually go into the settings on your phone and create, you know, I'm going to allow myself 15 minutes on Instagram per day. And then once you reach that limit, your phone will tell you,
hey, you've run out of time. And then you actually have to mind. say, "Oh no, ignore my time limit. I'm going to go mindless scroll for much longer now," and it like at least gives you the knowledge that you're doing something that maybe you don't want to do.
Stop bringing your phone into your bedroom. Don't allow yourself online in the last 30 minutes or the first 30 minutes of the day. This is harder to do than I say, I swear. If you can do it,
try to do it. It's so good for our brains. Make a habit of going in search of content rather than mindless scrolling. Okay,
just like remember, okay, what do I want to go in search of? What do I want to learn more about? What do I want to feel instead of just mindless scrolling and allowing the device to choose for you?
No, two more tips if you wouldn't want your kids to watch. or absorb what it is you're looking at. Don't watch it while they're around.
And this is the difference between content consumption in this day and age versus like when I was a kid. When I was a kid, we were in the day and age where lots of families households just had their TV on all the time.
But I do feel like there's a difference in that because the TV was more of like an experiential thing, you know, it's community based like everybody will be watching the same. thing at the same time. Parents at five PM would not be putting on Outlander,
which is like soft -core porn at the time that their three and four -year -olds are sitting down on the couch beside them, right? There was more of an awareness about that, whereas with phones, it's so individualistic.
I feel like it's really easy for us to be like, oh, they can't see this, hmm. They are listening to everything, everything, everything. So if you wouldn't want your kids to absorb it,
don't absorb it yourself while they're around. And then lastly, this is a really good one. Find a hobby that's mindless. I actually recently had somebody say this to me, I don't know,
a couple of weeks ago and I was like, that's brilliant. They had recently taken up a new hobby, it was knitting. And she was like, it's amazing because it keeps my hands busy. It's something that I can do that I enjoy that's calming the kids.
be done like around my kids that also prompts me to get off my phone and do something else. (upbeat music) Maybe it's knitting,
maybe it's adult coloring books. And like when I say that, I mean like really difficult ones that are like super detailed, like not like soft -core poor ones. Adult coloring books, or maybe it's painting,
or maybe you just like you love CrossFit and you're gonna get out of the house four times a week to do that. Any sort of tactile hobby that keeps your body or your hands moving, do that to unwind in the evenings before bed,
instead of feeling like you need to just scroll on your phone. It reminds you that you've got other things you enjoy doing that maybe are also mindless, but that make you realize,
oh, I don't automatically need to go into mindless scrolling. Those are my tips. Spring clean the shit out of your week. And I'm going to argue if you're going to start anywhere for spring cleaning,
pick up your phone and do it there first. You'll feel so much lighter. You'll feel like you can actually tackle the shed because it's going to feel like nothing in comparison after tackling your phone.
And if you're listening to this on the week that it actually airs, which is the last week of March in 2020. 2024, know that I'm doing it with you. I'm actually doing a version of my spring cleaning on my phone this week.
And it's going to include going off media consumption for a week with my family. That's going to also include for me, not putting out a new episode next week.
That's intentional. That's for me. I hope you do something intentional for you this week. And in the meantime, know that I'm so flipping great.
grateful for you all. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being part of our joyful Flamingo Flock. Until next time. Just a reminder,
Flamingo Flock, that I am not a medical or psychological professional. Each one of my episodes has been inspired by my own experience and journey through life and has brought to you through my own opinions and lens. Any suggestions or advice offered here do not forget to leave a comment below.
I'll see you in the next episode. Thanks for watching. proper conversations with your own healthcare professionals for either your physical or mental well -being.