I’m currently doing The Artist’s Way for the second time, and if you’ve ever dipped into this mildly cult-y creative self help book, you know that there’s one week that inspires terror, tantrums, and resistance in most people: Media Deprivation Week.
If you’re unfamiliar, The Artist’s Way is a book based on the classic 12-step program with the goal of unblocking your creativity and essentially helping you get out of your own way when it comes to making art. I’ve written before about how my experience last year was truly life-changing, so I was excited and curious to see what a second round would feel like.
Last year, I didn’t know Media Deprivation Week was coming. Originally, the author framed this as Reading Deprivation Week, but it’s been adjusted and adapted for the modern era. I'm doing this with some friends, so the things we decided to quit were:
Novels, comics, and books of any kind
Movies and TV
Podcasts and talk radio
Reading any kind of article or newsletter on the internet (except when absolutely required for work)
The first time I tried this, I completely freaked out and broke about halfway through because I was having a bad day and thought mindless TV was the only thing that could help me (spoiler alert: it didn’t make that much of a difference).
This time around, I found myself looking forward to a week without media. I’ve been struggling with burnout from working full-time, being on book deadline, creating social media content, and having a few other creative projects simmering—in addition to just trying to be a human with a social life. I was binge-watching TV and finding myself hours deep in TikTok scrolls as a way to “recharge,” but in reality, all the mindless media consumption was draining my batteries.
Last week was one of my most relaxing in recent memory. I realized very quickly just how much of my day is eaten up by reading articles and being on social media. When I couldn’t retreat to a book or TV, I worked on creative projects and found myself drawn to often-ignored hobbies like drawing and playing music. I took a lot of long walks. I ate and slept really well. I hung out with my friends. I absolutely crushed through my to-do list with time to spare.
When I told friends and acquaintances who work in digital media about this, they were shocked. But you know what? Nothing bad happened when I didn’t post on social media for a week. My career didn’t falter because I let a few memes and microtrends pass me by.
When Sunday rolled around, I actually wasn’t all that eager to get back to my old habits. I waited as long as I could to turn it all back on. I broke my media fast with a movie I was really looking forward to watching (Wolfwalkers! So good!!). And by the middle of my first week back online, when I found myself mindless thumbing through my phone looking for a distraction, I deleted the apps again.
For many people, and especially if you work in media, going offline is a luxury. So while it’s not something I can do all the time, I’m going to be looking for ways to be more in the world and less on the internet. I haven’t figured out exactly what that looks like, yet. For now, it’s keeping social media apps off my phone, and limiting my usage to a few days a week. It’s setting time limits on websites where I know I can get stuck reading articles for hours. It’s installing a break timer on my computer that forces me to get up and look away from my screen every 25 minutes or so. It’s taking a beat to think about whether I really want to watch a third or fourth episode of a TV show.
If you’ve never experimented with going offline, even for a few days, I highly recommend it. You might be surprised by what you learn about your unconscious habits.
And now, everywhere I ate in last week’s video (double edition!)
E Noodle House (Manhattan Chinatown)
Sing Choi Kee (West Village)
Karazishi Botan (Carrol Gardens)
Travelers, Poets & Friends (West Village)
All’antico Vinaio (Times Sq)
The Astarita (Sunset Park)
Kopitiam (Manhattan Chinatown)
La Pecora Bianca (Soho)
Ikigai Fruit Event at Momoya (Soho)
HMart Food Court (K Town)
Kith Treats (Soho)
Postcard Bakery (West Village)
Touchy Coffee (Troy, NY)
Van’s Vietnamese Restaurant (Albany, NY)