I read an really good article that mentioned having a balance between creating and consuming. Unfortunately I can’t seem to be able to find it any more. I think the reason is that the concept didn’t hit me straight away… I remember reading the article and then perhaps a day or two later I got it. Basically (and this is all coming from memory now), it was about balancing the time you spend creating things with the time you spend consuming.

For example, in my context, I’m referring to web development. Specifically the time I spend developing, and updating web sites (creating content) versus the time I spend learning new skills and technology (consuming). The point is to move more towards creating, and allowing the time spent consuming to compliment what I’m creating.In other words, there’s no point learning everything I can about web development, if I don’t actually build or update any web sites. Pretty obvious stuff, but like many things, I never thought about it consciously. In fact, I know I sometimes procrastinate on something I should be doing with the excuse that I need to do a bit more research.

I’m not saying you should just dive right into things. I’m just saying, you should honestly ask yourself this question: what are you doing towards your goals right now, creating or consuming? And if you are consuming, do you need to be, or is there something you can create right now?