I recently found myself wasting hours of my life away on YouTube and K-drama. I was spending most of my free time veggying out in front of screens and to be honest, it felt good for a while before it started sucking the life out of me.The truth is that we were not created to spend so much time on our phones and or TVs. Instead, we were created to make and enjoy meaningful relationships, to spend time by ourselves with God and to make a difference, however small in the world. While doing these three things, I discovered three ways to beating my content addiction.
First is to discover your purpose and to devote yourself to it. I like to think of my purpose as the overarching goal of my life. It is not just something I’m passionate about or something I’m good at. It is what I was created to do, at least for this season of life. If you do not know your purpose, that is the first motivation to reduce mindless consumption. Take time in prayer, self-evaluation and research to discover what you’re meant to be doing here and now. It does not have to be something grand that will change the whole world, but however small it is it needs to be important.
The next step is to commit to your purpose. To devote time and energy into it. To replace the hours you have been spending watching videos online with your new found passion. Here, you will need to create a sense of urgency around it. In the Bible, we see Jesus working prolifically and tirelessly until his death and resurrection. His motivation was to end the suffering of the people He helped and to glorify God. It was especially urgent for Him because He knew He only had three years. The truth is life is always changing, and so we must do as much as we can in this season before the next season comes and we cannot do the things we should have done.
Finally, Rome was not built in a day and you shouldn’t try and do everything all at once either. It is enough to commit an hour or two or even just 15 minutes to your purpose. It is better to do a little everyday than to go too hard in the beginning only to burn out. Slow and steady wins the race.