'Making Things' as a New Default Activity

I have been going pretty hard into a YouTube spiral recently. Conscious of, but unable to escape the well of unintentionally spent time. Bouncing from video to video to video. From vapid short, to valuable essay. All without really wanting to be there. There are things that I had planned to do today. Things I wanted to get done. But I’m just sat here, amusing the time away.

This might be something that many of you are familiar with. Be it doom scrolling the algorithmic socials, Tik-Toking, or falling down the YouTube rabbit hole like me. Whatever your poison, you often find yourself stuck in this semi conscious freefall. Helpless. Trapped in the content.

It’s a feeling that I don’t enjoy. Something I have tried combat in the past with little success. I have made some strides in curtailing the number of platforms I am a member of ¹. But I still find myself in the grip of the algorithm more often than I would like.

I have been thinking recently about ways that I can more sustainably fight this. Ways I can be more intentional about my time. Spending it on my terms.

The first idea I had was to cut out the algorithms and try and use these platforms in a way that was the norm 10+ years ago. In short “only consume content I subscribe to”. Essentially, the idea is to only watch the things that appear in my subscription box. The things made by the creators that I have actively made the decision “I want to watch the things they make”.

This has a few problems. YouTube has become notorious for deprioritising the subscription box in favour of suggested videos.Taking my subscription as a mere “suggestion” rather than a firm commitment of my desire to watch the things someone is publishing.

This paired with a sprinkle of algorithmic magic in even this sacred feed, means that these days the subscription feed is not what it used to be. Having moved from a reverse chronological list of all the content uploaded by the people you subscribe to. To a algorithmically sorted list of some of the things your subscriptions have up uploaded, other things you may like, and ads. Don’t forget the ads.

Not ideal.

And that doesn’t even account for the way you are bombarded with what to watch next in the sidebar and end card of any given video. This means it would take a mountain of self-discipline to only ever watch things you have subscribed to.

The second thought I had was trying to make the unintentional intentional ². Allotting a block of time in the day to freely scroll and watch whatever the I felt like. The very fact I am making the decision to do the thing, means that I am under control rather than being controlled. I think this could be a good start, but only a part of a solution.

Naturally, if you have an allotted time to for “content” you are freeing up a bunch of other time. So what do you do then?

Making things! That is the final piece.

Not sure what yet. But they should be little projects, that I can take from start to finish. Tickling some itch of curiosity, touching on a new interest, or just some free thought ³. I think all of these would be a better use of my time. Time spent with an output (no matter how trivial). Something to look back on.

So that’s the plan. “Make things” will be my new default activity. And sharing them here (if I’m brave enough) will be the proof. We’ll see how it goes.

Welcome to the internet - Bo Burnham