Reflections on Good Consumption
on maximizing my summer
This summer, I lived the slow life - I became obsessed with heirloom tomatoes and adopted the sleep schedule of a grandma. Clearly, not much happened and I do not have a single life update but I fell into a couple routines that have been working for me and I have been very intentional about my “diet” (in the most all-encompassing sense of the word). To make sure that I don’t lose this newfound knowledge as the seasons change, I thought it would be worthwhile to document and reflect on what I’ve been doing this summer.
There are a few main consumption categories where I made changes this summer: Routines, Food, and Cognitive.
Routines: Following a morning and evening routine was completely unintentional. I pretty much only do most things when I feel like it - journaling, running, calling friends, etc. I’m not sure what shifted in my brain that made me want to stick with routines this summer, a craving for stability? The influence of a new friend who’s very disciplined? A lack of friends in close proximity to offer last minute plans? In case you’re curious…
Morning routine: Wake up when the sun hits my eyes around 6, play a meditation on the Peloton app in bed and pretend I’m not still sleeping, get out of bed, brush, pull coconut oil while I walk around the garden & look for any produce that’s ready to be harvested, 20 minute Peloton stretch, make my coffee with raw honey and mint or lavender, write a pleasure list if the mood strikes or read an essay from one of my email subscriptions, make my to do list for the day.
Evening routine: Veg out on my laptop, make dinner, language practice, Peloton workout, eat dinner & my blueberry peanut butter banana pea protein smoothie (6 pounds into this tub and it is still vile - unflavored pea protein powder is NOT for the weak), post-dinner family walk, Peloton sleep meditation, knock out around 10.
Overall, having these routines regulated my time. I knew what I should probably be doing and what I could be doing so I spent less time thinking about what I should or could do - thinking that would usually lead me to my phone to consume ideas and content ! Full circle: having routines reduced my need to consume. Having just googled it I now know that it’s very well studied that routines reduce stress and improve mental health so you might thinking duh, but I totally missed this memo.
Food: Food took up a lot less of my brain space. I cooked based off of what was ripe at the farmers market or in the garden and I really cut down on watching food-centric content (what I eat in a day, new vegan-friendly restaurants, etc). I was still intentional about eating produce and enough protein but I saved SO much time and felt just as good about my diet. Are we all thinking about food a little bit too much? It is just sustenance…
Cognitive: I set a bunch of rules around my digital consumption this summer and some worked better than others.
The biggest change was not letting myself rewatch SATC and New Girl. I needed a break from dating culture content and this really helped me reflect on how these shows shape my expectations around dating. And I had more mental space to think about my own life instead of characters from a TV show.
I have a severe case of information fomo. I want to read everything and end up subscribing to too many newsletters and they pile up in my inbox. Sometimes I will sit down for 3 hours and read a gazillion emails and while it’s satisfying to read to the bottom and hit delete, it’s just information overload. I don’t process anything, and it doesn’t leave me feeling any smarter. So, I deleted all of the subscription emails in my inbox, made time to read my favorite ones every day, and unsubscribed from the ones that I wasn’t getting to. My inbox is emptier and so is my mind (lol). This and the limited TV rule left me with so much more time to read books which makes me very happy.
I kept Instagram off my phone and told myself I could only download it when I wanted to post. This was a nice thought but when I did download the app I scrolled an unbelievable amount and then kept re-downloading to check my notifications. This was completely ineffective but I still want to post so I need to find a better alternative. 🫠
I started using a large rose gold photo frame as a bulletin board to offload my brain. If a thought comes into my head, like something I want to learn or buy, I write it down on a sticky note and throw it on the board. It really helps to store these somewhere outside my brain so that I’m not constantly in a cycle of forgetting ideas and remembering and panicking to get them done. And it’s less stress inducing than a to-do list.
I didn’t go into the summer planning to go on this information diet, but I did take some measures to achieve more stillness of mind. The past few months were a gentle re-calibration and I’m not sure how much of this will hold when I’m back in the city and minutes away from my friends and potential experiences, but I really did love this summer “diet”. ☺️
fave books from the summer and garden highlights:
