Churn to Earn

The 13 commandments for social media I laid out earlier this year received positive feedback from folks.  

Today I'm double-clicking on commandment number four: Use social for personal reasons after a "perfect" day. Perfect = daily goals & non-negotiables completed.

The perfect day commandment centers on creation vs. consumption. It feels good when we're scrolling up and down Instagram and Facebook, consuming all the entertainment and messages we agree with (and shaking our heads at the ones we'd never agree to). In reality, though, we're merely staring at a piece of glass, not creating a damn thing (except more anxiety, maybe).

I'm making a straw man argument against social media. It can be a tool to learn, express, and connect. But let's make sure what needs to get done happens before we spend our free time outsourcing attention to an app. Let's earn the right to scroll by creating first.

I've titled this post Churn to Earn, and I'm not talking about churning butter. Instead, I use the phrasal verb of churn, meaning:

produce something routinely or mechanically and in large quantities.

In our case, we aim to complete essential tasks on a routine basis before we consume the work of others.

Creating before consuming creates positive feedback loops: First, you create a sense of urgency to check-off mundane tasks and reward yourself. We all love the notifications and drama found on social media, so let's use that as our carrot on the stick when sprinting to get our to-do list done. Second, the days you don't complete your non-essential tasks and do not allow yourself time on social media make time for recovery and reflection.

There have been countless times at the end of my day with unchecked to-do's, and all I will allow myself to do is sit on the couch and read or do nothing at all but think. Other times I think about my to-do list and re-evaluate what's essential and what's not. I didn't earn the right to go on social media, but I got the chance to take a step back and understand why that was the case.

When reflecting, ask yourself, what am I creating? Have I created a cleaner house? A better system at work? A better exercise regimen for my health?

You can track your essential to-do list as simple as a piece of paper or index card (I used to write down three daily tasks and would rip up the paper and throw it over my shoulder to celebrate in college), or you can get a little more complex with a spreadsheet template or an app such as Strides. Tracking what you get done and what you create makes it clear if you had a perfect day or not.

On perfect days, it's still essential to add constraints and pair your social media use with the following commandments to avoid scrolling until you drop:

• Fifth commandment: Personal social use is limited to 30 minutes on perfect days.
• Eighth commandment: Stay off the home feed; I know what's helpful more than an algorithm.
• Third commandment: Don't have social apps on the phone; laptop only.

Bonus: If you consistently find yourself not getting essential tasks completed and don't allow yourself social media for an extended time, it's an opportunity to reflect internally and externally. Say to your partner, friend, or family member, "Hey, I haven't been on Facebook in a while. What's going on? What are you seeing?"

Getting their perspective of the world lets you see their online consumption through their eyes. Since their Facebook is not your Facebook, learning, understanding, and connection can happen.