Productive/Creative – Analog Man in a Digital World
Every day that I spend scrolling through never-ending feeds of inane drivel is one more day that I’m not enjoying life.
Hi. My name is Jeff, and I hate the internet.
More specifically: I hate social media, and the effects it has on my brain, to the point where I’m considering whether I should even be using the internet at all.
Yes, really. Here’s why: Continue reading “Creativity Vs. Distractions”
If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you probably know that I am very enamored with Minimalism, especially Tech Minimalism.
I have several reasons for this, but mainly it comes down to Privacy, and Mental Clutter.
If I preach against Big Tech, but I’m still using their platforms, does that make me a hypocrite? Yeah, kind of.
Problem is, how do you get out of it once you’re in? And I’m here to tell you, it isn’t easy- by design. Continue reading “Practice What You Preach”
I have spent my entire life not fitting in. When you realize as a child that you’re not like everyone else, it changes the way you think. It leads you down very dark roads, constantly searching for something that will make you feel “normal,” and never finding it.
I’ve been fighting against ADHD my entire life. For decades I saw it as something I had to “work around” or “learn to live with.” I was also smarter than everyone else in my classes (that’s not a brag- I just was). All the school system was geared towards the average learning child, which means it wasn’t suited to me at all. I was constantly bored, ostracized, and miserable. The only time I was happy was in music class. For some reason, my brain absorbed music like a sponge, and I had no problem focusing on it. And then I grew up.
As I’ve recently expounded on, my brain is most creative when I’m away from a computer, and the internet as a whole. As it turns out, external influences mostly distract me from creativity, not inspire. Can I get inspiration from a video or song? Sure. But when I’m in the heat of creation, those things pull my attention away from what I’m actually making.
There has been a resurgence over the last few years to make “DAWless” music- i.e. recorded and edited without a DAW, or computer. I’ve seen quite a few Youtube channels using old Fostex and Tascam cassette tape recorders to make albums. If you go on eBay or Reverb, you will see prices for these long-in-the-tooth machines skyrocketing.
Why? Is it the “sound” of analog recording? There might be some validity to that, but what I think is more likely is this: people are learning how to create without computers again. Continue reading “Computerless Music Production”
You may have noticed my blog’s rebranding over the last few months. This obviously wasn’t an accident- so what made me choose the words “Productive” and “Creative” connected this way?
“Productive” means the ability to produce prolific output.
“Creative” means the ability to create something original.
“Productive/Creative” is the idea of creating something original, but with consistent, ongoing output. What’s the point of being creative if you can’t consistently produce things? And what’s the point of producing output if it’s just the same old stuff over and over?
Productive. Creative. Get it? Cool.
But how are they related?
For years now, I’ve been writing about how the rapid advances in technology have backfired on us as our brains have been unable to adapt to keep up.
Creativity is simple- unless you obfuscate it with layer upon layer of unnecessary complexity. This is what the modern “web” has become- a nearly unusable mess of advertisements, cookies, javascript, and plugins. What’s worse is that the internet, as a whole, is rapidly becoming connected to every single aspect of our lives, whether we want it to or not.
When your entire existence is “online” then what part of it is real?
As I’ve said before, I’m not completely opposed to technology- just the way it’s being developed and used. Is there possibility of life apart from the internet now? What would that even look like?
I’ve been pondering that question for years. And I’m slowly (very slowly) having to admit that I am not compatible with the “Information Age” (not technology itself). I like technology when I need to fix something, or create something. They are good tools, in a lot of ways.
But as a lifestyle, “always connected” is not how I function. It’s not how anyone functions. We’ve become so addicted to it, we live in a constant state of limbo- trying to force our analog brains to assimilate more digital information than we’re capable of processing. Continue reading “Death Of The Information Age”
As I recently wrote about, I’m looking at getting away from computer-based music production, for creativity’s sake. I’ve recognized that my brain just doesn’t come up with original ideas when I’m staring at a computer screen.
So understandably, my attention has turned to finding alternatives to making music with a PC. And I’ve discovered there are a lot of alternatives out there- which is both a blessing and a curse.
There is almost certainly a device out there that will serve anyone’s need for music production. But with so many choices, the problem becomes: which one do you choose? What style of device suits your creative workflow, when you don’t know what that is yet?
Over the last few weeks, I’ve discovered something about myself: I have an analog brain.
By “analog” I mean that in the figurative, not literal, sense of the word. My brain functions by sending and receiving electrical signals, but those signals don’t really determine how my brain processes that information.
Interestingly, the idea of having a figuratively “analog brain” means that you think in analog patterns, and process information in very non-digital ways.
So what does that have to do with Productivity and Creativity? Everything. Continue reading “Analog Brain In a Digital World”
Have you ever felt like a failure?
I know I have. More than I’d like to admit, honestly.
And if you feel like you’re not successful in life, it’s easy to blame circumstances and try to absolve yourself of any responsibility. But you know who’s really responsible for your failures?
That’s right… you know who it is. Look in the mirror.
For years, I told myself I wasn’t a success because I hadn’t succeeded. I blamed plenty of things, including stuff that wasn’t true and didn’t exist. I just assumed the world had it in for me, and that no matter how smart or creative I was, I couldn’t succeed. Because if I could succeed, why wasn’t I?
So what’s changed? I didn’t just wake up and become an advice guru. Didn’t dive into self-help books and “your best life now.” I had to define what the word “success” meant. Plenty of people want to “succeed.” But what does that mean? Continue reading “Success And Failure”
One of the biggest changes in technology in the last ten years is a shift from software being bought by end users to being leased by corporations. Almost everything has gone from “buying a copy” to a subscription-based model. Companies that have replaced licenses with subscriptions include:
Of course, there are many others. But simply put: the reason these companies have switched from purchase-based to subscription-based models is because they make more money that way.
And if companies are making more money with subscriptions, that means customers are spending more money. Continue reading “Reclaiming Your Technology”