It may come as a surprise, but I talk to myself a lot. Over time, I’ve noticed that I’m not designing things in my head nor focusing on world building or testing dialogue with the mirror in my bathroom. Normally, it would be healthy, or at least considered healthy, that I have ceased speaking to myself. Except, I leverage these moments to figure out things for my writing. A ton of ideas have poured from me when I just let the train run off the rails.
Therefore, it is a problem that I am not doing these crazy things anymore. At first, I thought it was because I had become self-conscious about appearing insane. Then I realized what it really was… podcasts. Instead of letting my brain do its own thinking, I was blocking it out by playing a podcast. I had lost the ability to sit by myself in silence and just think. Now, I listen to history podcasts and learn from them, but I stopped just having ideas flow from me.
As such, I have ceased my podcast consumption at home and I’ve immediately benefited from having my mind do its own thing. It’s a shame, I truly love learning and podcasts are a very easy way to do that, but I also like letting my mind think instead of be squawked at.