Three Ways to Prevent Your Phone from Sapping Your Creativity

In my creativity building workshops, I hear over and over again how our smartphones are getting in the way of creative inspiration and stealing time away from creative outlets. Your phone can sap your creativity in a plethora of ways, but there are two main avenues I see as the most damaging creatively.

First, smartphones generate an endless stream of content which puts us in a consumption state, not a creative state. When we are constantly consuming other people’s content (social media, news, tv, podcasts, etc.) or demands (email, texts, calls, etc.), it is challenging to enter a state of creation. Creation and consumption use different pathways in the brain, and have an inverse relationship; meaning the more you consume, the less you create and visa versa. It is true that we can find inspiration from other people’s content, but we have to consume it in an intentional way rather than based on whatever the algorithm shows us. Another way smartphones rob creativity is by acting as the default time-filler. Rather than grabbing knitting needles or paints, we grab our phone to occupy our downtime. People say they don’t have time to work on their creative projects, but if they looked at their screentime data, it would tell a different story.

Luckily, we don’t have to let our phone dictate our creative capacity! I would like to share three boundaries I have implemented to prevent my phone from sapping my creativity.

1) I have strict social media limits. I know this is obvious, but I hear so many creatives share how social media breeds insecurity and unwanted comparisons. You can set up app limits, and I recommend only 30 minutes total across your social media apps a day. This is plenty to be able to share your content and keep in touch with friends, but doesn’t allow for too much mindless scrolling that will send you into a state of consumption and insecurity. I would also encourage you to evaluate which social media apps really provide value in your life. For me, I only use Instagram and Facebook. Figure out what apps and time limit allows you a healthy balance.

2) I have 12 hours of scheduled downtime in my phone settings. For me, this means that my phone doesn’t let me open any apps except for my meditation app and calendar. Yes, this means even calls, texts and emails are inaccessible (I do have one emergency contact that I can communicate with). I have my downtime set from 9pm-9am and it is the best thing I have ever done for my creative habits. It means I am never using my phone in bed, and I don’t start my day in a state of consumption. I have time before work to go for a walk, meditate, write in my journal, and make a nice breakfast, all of which fuel creativity, unlike laying in bed on my phone. This will feel really restrictive when you first implement it, but you will quickly learn to love the freedom and time it gives you. I happen to be a morning person, so find what 12 hour stretch works best for you based on your creative habits.

3) I limit the interruptions my phone creates by preventing certain calls from getting through and adjusting notification settings to be unintrusive. Trust me, we check our phones enough to not miss anything important, but when you are in the creative flow, the last thing you need is a telemarketer interrupting you. Additionally, each time you get a notification you are prompted to look at your phone, which often starts with responding to a message and ends with opening your favorite time-sucking app. Preventing constant notifications and advertising calls can allow you some much welcomed quiet time.

I have been able to shift my relationship with my phone by using the methods I have shared. Now, instead of stealing my time and promoting consumption over creation, my phone acts as a creative tool to capture reference photos, research what interests me, connect with loved ones, and share my creative outputs. I hope that you can set healthy technology boundaries that work for you, and begin to embrace your free moments and quiet time with a creative outlook.