Capn Design Archives: Resolution: Less Input, More Output

Resolution: Less Input, More Output

December 31, 2007

I've spent plenty of time pondering the glut of information available to us, but this post isn't about that. Instead, I'm publicly declaring that I'm going to cut down on magazines, tv shows, movies, etc. and work hard to start making more stuff. As those now painfully annoying IBM commercials say, society is run by doers. While, the earliest years of your life should be about soaking up data and learning to process it, I'm ready to put down my Guitar Hero axe (for a little while) and spend some time making a bigger dent in the world.

Sure, my life is 90% output from 10am to 6pm during the week, but I have a greater sense of ownership of the work I do on this blog or projects like The Movie Binge. I don't pretend that Capn Design could make much of a dent on society, but it makes me feel good knowing I've contributed something. And like all aspsects of the world, those first, small steps could lead you just about anywhere.

Strategies for Making it Happen

I do have a couple bigger ideas to work on, but I'm going to focus more on making every input bear fruit. This means I'll only see National Treasure: Book of Secrets or listen to This American Life if I'm willing to spend time finding something interesting about it. It may suck some of the enjoyment out of my free time, but I need to train my mind to be more critical.

What may be even more important is taking the time to write things down. Some friends were leafing through my 100 page notebook I carry everywhere and we realized I'd been using the same one for over 4 years. While I do jot down ideas on the computer, far too many go the way of the Dodo Bird.

While cutting back on input helps, it won't give me the time I need to get things done. I've already started improving the systems I use to process data, but in the end it comes down to setting aside time to just think. To start, I'd like to have an hour of time to create something every night. It's not much, but I think it will get me going on the right path, which is what these resolutions are all about.

Comments (4 comments so far)

Comment #1:

In National Treasure II, how many plot holes can you catch? What things get brought up but aren't resolved in the movie? Are these items present simply to get us interested in NT3 in a few years? Or am I simply not suspending my disbelief and looking too deeply at a piece of entertainment?

Posted by Michael Clark on December 31, 2007 at 12:34PM

Comment #2:

pussy! my new years resolution is to consume more crappy media, not less. i'm already up to 12 hours a day of NY1, and with god's help and a little faith, i bet i can bring that to 16 hours per day by the end of the year.

Posted by jake on December 31, 2007 at 1:33PM

Comment #3:

happy new year! i resolve to master the drums on rock band.

Posted by kara on January 01, 2008 at 12:15PM

Comment #4:

Hey Matt, just stumbled upon this via Kottke's links. I had this resolution last year, and one thing I learned is that observation (and documentation) != creation. I kind of hoped that observing and documenting everything would create an inescapable urge to respond by creating things, but it didn't.

That's not to say that observation and documentation are useless. I've learned a lot over the past year doing that. It's just that creation is another beast, and you'll need to create another set of plans to make sure you create things. One that I'm trying is that every time I'm tempted to read blogs, to actually to sketch a drawing instead. Speaking of which...I'd better go =)

Posted by Bob on January 06, 2008 at 9:05PM

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