Creation, Consumption, & the Fluidity of Attention

I was tidying my desktop files last weekend (LONG overdue) when I noticed my eyes drifting to the subtitles on my show.

You know...

The inspiring documentary I’d put on for... “background atmosphere” had shifted into something a bit more dense and emotional...

And it was now demanding my full attention.

My grip on the mouse kept loosening.
The cursor slowed… And stopped.

I could feel my attention dividing, like trying to pour water into two glasses at once.

It actually made me pause right there and ask myself what I was even doing.
Or more honestly: what I wanted to be doing.

I didn’t want just any video playing near me while I worked. I wanted to actually watch this one. Fully. Not half-watching while attempting to be productive on a screen.

That same question followed me into the classroom last week.

Before my first class of the new semester started, I asked a few early arrivals what I thought was a simple question:

“Did anyone create anything cool over the break? Or did y’all d completely into consumption mode?”

You know that ol’ holiday rhythm. Eating, binge-watching, scrolling, catching up on feeds after months of intense making.

One student, a talented designer and prolific artist, paused and said, “I always consume while I create and create while I consume.”

I can’t say I was surprised, because I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this modern-day screen-juggle.

She explained that she’s almost always making something with her hands (drawing, sketching, painting) while also watching a show or listening to music. The working doesn’t stop. Her attention moves between input and output without either one necessarily crowding the other.

I recognized myself in some of that.

Admittedly, I'll sometimes work with something on in the background. During my workday, I might pair my creative work with music (often without words) or a familiar podcast. Sometimes it’s ambient, house, drum and bass, or other rhythmic jams that create a beat beneath my creative focus.

Music, especially, works well for me because it doesn’t compete for my visual attention.

Because I've noticed a very clear line in the sorts of things I can consume while I also create...

The moment that background “input” demands my full attention (subtitles I have to read or emotional depth that pulls me in) my creative work stalls. My hands stop and the words won’t come.

It’s not that I can’t multitask. I think my attention just has its limits, and when I exceed them, everything I’m doing seems to suffer.

Like, there’s no universe in which I could compose (or edit) this post while also, fully enjoying an episode of Severance.

I can barely email coherently while eating lunch at my desk. My attention splits between the food and the work, and neither one gets what it deserves.

That’s an advanced level of attention mastery I do not possess.

Hello, (diagnosed) ADHD, my old friend.

I realize the tension isn’t actually between pure creation-mode and pure consumption-mode.

I’ve found the juggle to be like most things... A spectrum.

It’s more about the blending of input and output. Of attention and intention.

Not all manner of media consumption are the same. Mindless scrolling fractures my creative focus in a way that’s completely different from reading in bed while scribbling notes or taking pictures on a hike while listening to an audiobook.

And not all creative tasks ask for the same depth of focus. Writing, editing, or designing something new from scratch requires something very different from organizing files, color-correcting photos, or sketching on my iPad.

I've noticed that as I move through different creative modes, each one has a slightly different relationship to how I pay attention to external input:

Pure creation is solely for deep, focused work. Sometimes even instrumental music feels like too much. This is when I close all the tabs, silence notifications, turn on DND, and dissolve into a creative flow state, losing all track of time.

Paired creation is when my hands are busy, but my mind can be (gently) accompanied. This works well for mechanical or familiar production tasks, like file revisions, organizing, photo-editing, or even cleaning my office. This is where an inspiring podcast or fav’ playlist can actually support my creative momentum.

Pure consumption is for genuine creative resets and real rest. This is NOT about half-scrolling Instagram while feeling guilty for not working. This IS about permission for fully focused absorption. Watching an art film that demands my complete attention. Reading a book outside while my phone stays inside. Stretched out on my bed listening to an album all the way through. This is the sort of consumption that refills my creative well.

Creative friction shows up when I ask one mode to do the job of another.

When I try to rest while keeping an eye on my inbox... When I try to do deep creative work with a dozen open research tabs... When I consume mindlessly out of creative exhaustion and end up feeling emptier instead of nourished...

So lately, I’ve been practicing noticing the differences between my modes of creation and consumption.

Before I put something on in the background, I find myself wondering: What does this dedicated time and space for my work need right now?

Here are a few hints and #NotesToSelf about what I've discovered works for me. Please feel free to experiment on your own. 😄

• If I’m creating something new, like writing a first draft, pure silence and limited distractions are often most helpful.
• If I’m editing photos and feeling restless in my chair, maybe a favorite playlist or a desk dance party is exactly what I need to fuel my next hour of work.
• If I’m genuinely tired or feeling creatively burned out, maybe what I need is NOT to half-work with something random playing in the background, but to fully consume something beautiful or inspiring (or just step outside without a screen altogether) and let that recharge me.

Here’s my creative inquiry.

I’m doing my best to ask myself things like:

• Is what I'm consuming right now feeding this work, or fragmenting it?
• Am I procrastinating or avoiding my next creative step? Or will this help me prepare for it?
• Am I just... tired?

Resting isn’t always procrastinating. Very often, the work I make after allowing myself guilt-free time for genuine rest is far better than anything I force myself to do out of creative depletion.

There aren’t right or wrong answers to these questions, I know.

For me, this is simply a creative practice of awareness around input and output. Learning to listen to my attention, my energy, and the actual creative needs of each project and each moment.

Being productive in my work isn’t about being in “pure creation mode” ALL. The. Time.

I do think it’s about learning how to navigate more intentionally between creative focus and creative rest; silence and stimulus; making and receiving.

Maybe the most helpful creative skill we can hone isn’t how to produce more efficiently or more often or more beautifully or just... MORE.

Maybe it's learning how to create more sustainably. And learning to pay attention to our unique creative processes in ways that honor our innate patterns and rhythms, so we (and the work we make) feel supported and nourished and are able to make another day.