Have you ever done an audit on the things you consume? And the resources you devote to what you consume – time, money, etc?
I think about this a lot, and admit to being somewhat unconscious about my consuming. I feel sometimes a bit obsessive around books, movies, TV shows and podcasts. I am a culture junkie, and I love being connected to the world through the things people create.
And sometimes it’s just too much. How to know what’s too much?
Many of my coaching sessions revolve around how my clients spend their time and resources. Writing a book or starting a business takes a lot of energy. Most of us are already maxed out, so something has to go.
If you made a list of all the things you consume, including mindless scrolling online, where might you find time/energy/space for your own projects?
Something came up last week that forced this issue for me, and I am excited to share it with you.
I follow Scott Galloway, a professor and author whose Pivot podcast with Kara Swisher always informs me and makes me feel more human.
Scott has launched Resist and Unsubscribe, a simple yet powerful Economic Strike that gives us a way to take a stand. Scott believes – and I am with him – that in the US the thing that has the most power is our ability to decide where we spend our money. Resist and Unsubscribe gives us a way to say no to the billionaires who are driving a dehumanization on a mass scale.
Resist and Unsubscribe is also a stand against companies that are directly funding ICE efforts. The website is here, including links with instructions for how to unsubscribe.
This helps immediately
The impact of unsubscribing can reveal things. How much are we spending, perhaps on things we don’t use or want? How the spending we have perhaps unconsciously continued actually does not reflect our values and how we want to live. What would we be doing with our precious resources of time and money if they were not going to billionaires who don’t even respect us?
Steve is going to work in the mountains today. “I’m going to end it today,” I told him.
“What?”
“I’m going to pull the plug.”
“On what?”
I pause. Saying it means I have to actually do it.
“Cancelling Netflix.”
I have already unsubscribed from most of the subscriptions Scott mentions. The hardest for me is Netflix.
Since 2020, I have been a couch potato in the evenings. It’s time to relax and unwind with Steve. If we aren’t doing that, will we lose some connection while we are in our separate spaces? I would like to be in my studio some evenings, but my time with Steve is precious and I want to have as much of it as I can.
I spoke with a client yesterday who has the same relationship with Netflix. But she was able to pull away and devote more time to reading. Yes! I thought. I have all these books I want to read NOW:
If I am honest, my relationship with Netflix has been 50/50. The endless scrolling to find something we want to watch is draining.
What I really want to watch is Ken Burns’ American Revolution show. We’ve seen a couple of episodes and I have learned so much. And the artwork is stunning! No photos from that era, so it’s mostly paintings used to depict events.
Thank you for being you, for being with me in this creative adventure, and for helping me stay honest. I’m going right now to unsubscribe from Netflix and subscribe to PBS.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Share what you’re unsubscribing from below.
I’ve unsubscribed from NF, Amazon Prime, Chat GPT Plus, and removed my ebook from the Kindle store (it was published over a decade ago, somehow still bringing in $5/month, so no big sacrifice).
If I didn’t have to have Meta accounts for my day job I’d ditch those, too.
Like you, my partner and I love relaxing at night with a series (we were in the middle of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Prime), so we’ll have to figure out something else to keep us entertained (Arté actually has some nice programs).
Maybe we’ll realize we don’t actually miss those streaming services. In any case, these are such small sacrifices we can all make, I just hope enough people participate to make these tech bros pay attention!
Thanks for this, Heather.
Whether you unsubscribe from EVERYTHING or not, you are aware of the impact these companies have.
The evening ritual is hard to abandon! But Scott’s point is do it now, for February, and go back to it later if you want.
Maybe it’s a Valentine’s month experiment to see what your relationship is like without it?
I do believe enough people will take action now to make a difference.