The 700-hour question: What becomes possible when you redirect your attention?

What if those 700 hours went toward something you're proud of?

What if you could replace the 600 - 700 hours you'll spend on social media in the next 12 months with working on something deeply meaningful and satisfying like a book, program, research project, zine, website as a world, a collection of essays etc? What could current age you + one year have created in 12 months that you would be really proud of?

A creative project that you'll be really proud of can replace hundreds of hours of social media over the next 12 months.

This has the added benefit of reclaiming your attention, curiosity and self-determination (ie do whatever the hell you want with your own time that isn't governed by the algorithm and tech billionaires profiting off of your free data).

This is actually a choice you can make

The reality is that we spend literally hundreds of hours on social media each year. Even if we conservatively estimate 500 hours spent on social media each year, that’s still the equivalent of 12.5 average work weeks or more than a quarter of your year.

And it's not your fault that you get sucked into platforms like IG, TikTok, Facebook etc - they're designed to keep you there for hours. There's also nothing wrong with wasting some time watching cats and dogs who love each other, political pundits and my personal favourite, this guy who sings to zoo and farm animals. You're allowed to enjoy these things and want something more for yourself.

But the point is that it's time to wake up and ask ourselves if we're really willing to continue to give that kind of time away with little to no reward.

If the answer is “no” then let's explore what becomes possible when you redirect even some of that time.

Three elements that make this work

Pick something you want to work on

Replaces: The belief that you need a fully formed plan or the "right" idea before you can begin AND the pressure to pick something impressive or marketable instead of something genuinely interesting to you

It doesn't have to be your life's work (although it can be) but it should be something that you'll have to make extra effort for. Think about what would stretch you without breaking you. Too far outside your comfort zone and you might never start or give up when it gets hard. Not far enough and you'll finish feeling 'meh, that was fine I guess.' You're looking for that middle ground where the challenge is real enough (new skills, emotional vulnerability, added complexity) that completing it will mean something. Here are some ideas to consider:

• A creative you’ve been dreaming about like a graphic story to communicate your big idea
• A spinoff of something you've already created because you’ve realised it can stand alone as an e-book or workshop
• Building in public to take your audience on the journey of your pivot

For me, this looked like transitioning from 1:1 client work to developing group workshops. I'd been doing individual consulting for years, but I knew something wasn't working anymore. My 1:1 clients wanted systems built for them - their priority was running their business as they transitioned from Founder to CEO (which made sense because I was pitching myself to meet my potential clients in this place) but over time, it became clear that I wanted to do more education and coaching and this wasn't what my 1:1 clients needed.

It was scary. There was real financial uncertainty in making this shift. But it felt aligned enough that I moved forward anyway. I'm currently in the middle of my second workshop and getting really good feedback and affirmation from participants. I'm so much happier in the work I'm doing now. Do I still question whether I can pull this off? Absolutely. But most of the time, I believe I'll get there.

Paint a picture of the finished product

Replaces: The idea that you should just "trust the process" without any sense of destination

Define what complete is, close your eyes and imagine that the paint has just finished drying on a canvas you filled, the article you want to pitch to your favourite publication has been edited, proofread and is ready to go out, the last section of your program curriculum has been developed and the launch sequence is set to go live. How do you feel? Nervous? Excited? Proud? Scared?

A really aligned goal can anchor us in a way that gets us through the more challenging moments. Picturing the ending can help us imagine what that pride and satisfaction will really feel like.

You can do as much or as little with this exercise. This can be a purely imagination-led exercise - you can just think about it deeply while lying on the couch or out walking your dog - or you could write about it in narrative form.

Sit in your office / favourite room / outdoor spot. Close your eyes and imagine you have just come to the end of what you planned. Maybe you hit send, maybe your first workshop call just ended, maybe your program curriculum is finally complete. 

• Where are you?
• What time of day is it? 
• Who is around you? 
• How do you feel? 

Once you have this image in your mind, relax your body and smile with pride.

Make a commitment to yourself

Replaces: The notion that you need someone else to hold you accountable to make progress

Some people will tell you to share your plans with someone else so you can be held accountable. If this works for you then great.  But if you're like me and this sounds like a terrible idea then you have my permission to tell exactly no one.

Either way, I want you to make a commitment to yourself to embark on this venture*. Commit to it for reasons that make sense to you, find reason and meaning in it - it's what will keep you going when you want to give up. 

• Do you want to improve your self-confidence by proving to yourself that you can do something hard? 
• Do you want to launch a program for the first time because it's been a long-term dream? 
• Do you want to make a zine because it's what cool kids do and you've suspected for some time that you're a cool kid?

It doesn't matter what the reason is, it just needs to matter deeply to you.

A meaningful commitment is sustainable because it can get you through those rough patches. It transforms "This is too hard. I don't want to do this, it's not going to work anyway" into "This is too hard. I don't want to do this but the destination and the reason I chose this still matters deeply to me so I'm going to do it anyway." Making a commitment and following through helps us build self-trust and confidence.

*If you are a recovering perfectionist, you already know what adjustments you need to make here.

You're not just making something - you're reclaiming yourself

Since I began shifting away from so much time on social media to give my attention to my own curiosity, the changes have been gradual but profound. I'm more engaged with the world around me - watching, reading and listening to more long-form content instead of the short-form stuff that exacerbates my anxiety and promotes shallow consumption. I'm generally more calm throughout the day and throughout the seasons. Making decisions to create something intentionally anchors me, whereas before I felt like I wasn't making choices - I was just swept up by the algorithm, going wherever it told me to.

Working on meaningful creative projects in a way that makes sense for how my brain works and how my energy ebbs and flows has given me that sense of self-determination I always craved. The feeling that knowledge is mine for the taking outside of traditional education institutions, most of which operated to foster obedience rather than curiosity.

I always saw myself as a cog in a wheel, but now my confidence as a creator is growing. Every day I am more and more rooted in my own sense of agency. I'm becoming my own best teacher and I get to share this with others through my workshops.

Those 700 hours? They're not just time spent making something you're proud of. They're an investment in your own education - one that you design, that honors how you actually learn and work, that builds your agency instead of eroding it. They're hours spent reclaiming yourself.

What's your next step?

If you're feeling a spark of possibility reading this, start small. Spend a few minutes today thinking about what you might want to work on. Don't overthink it - just notice what comes up when you ask yourself "what would I be proud to create?"

And if you want to share, I'd love to hear from you. Hit reply and tell me: which of these three elements feels most aligned for you? Which one feels scary? I read every response.

Those 700 hours are yours. The algorithm doesn't get to decide what you do with them. When you redirect your attention toward something that matters to you - something you're genuinely curious about, something that stretches you in just the right way - you're not just making a thing. You're proving to yourself that your learning, your growth and your creative work can exist entirely outside systems designed to keep you small and compliant.

That's what becomes possible when you choose yourself.