Mindful Consumption

This is going to be double edged.  

1.  I was sitting down to watch my list of "Watch Later" videos and realized that even at double speed I had 2.5 hours of watching.  That was not how I wanted to spend my sabbat.  

You know you are consuming more media than you are aware of.  You are on your phone more than you think.  You are watching more tv than you think.  You are spending more mindless time online than you know.  

Stop it.

Be aware.  Mindfully choose how much time you are willing to spend on this particular item.  We are a quarter of the way through the year.  

Have you knocked out 1/4th of your goals for this year?  Are you spending enough time on you, your rest, and your recharge?  No to both?  You can find time to rest, recover, and nail your goals just by trimming down your media consumption.  

2.  I did a no buy in January and have continued it forward.  I have been very mindful of what I purchase and my desire to purchase things.  I have been nailing this goal.  

And then I blinked and $150 was gone in 2 days.  On splurge foods.  $150 on splurge foods in 2 days.  

There are families barely making it by with $150 food budgets for the month.  I had to feed a growing family of 9 on $75 a month food budget back in the day.

Part of me is really upset with myself and the other part is seeking to know the why and how to counter this.  First, I don't have a strict food budget.  If I did, this would have prevented this.  Second, we tend to gain control in one area and lose control in another area.  

How are you consuming and how are you a consumer?

Can you set rules around these areas?  Can you automate things around this area?  

I will keep an eye on my money spending and if it happens again, I will transfer my grocery shopping to online shopping so that splurge foods don't have the opportunity to jump into the cart if I need to and switch to budgeting foods for the month.

Have a back up plan.  Set yourself up for success.  Block sites from your browser.  Uninstall apps.  Set app timers.  Carry cash.

Everyone's schedule and rules around consumption will vary.  The biggest thing is knowledge and being mindful of what is happening.  

Knowing is half the battle!