image-title-here Source: Catalin Avram - photo taken in lovely Brașov, Romania, Dec 31, 2022

Intro

I have recently made a claim which states that I want to produce more than I consume this year (and going forward). This needs to come with some clarifications on how to actually measure this consumption and production. I thought about all aspects of daily life and here are my guidelines

Food and Water

Obviously I do not produce my own food and water and it would not be reasonable to do so. But one way I look at the whole consumption / production is cooking. I will consider that fast food or any kind of packaged food falls into the “consumption” category and home cooking (or even going to restaurants that use only fresh products) falls under the production rule. I do not produce the raw materials, but I produce the meals.

As a rule of thumb, when I eat food I try to think about how long it takes to prepare. In general, it should take me much longer to prepare the meal than to eat it. This rule of thumb will eliminate most junk food places. As I said above, going to a (good) restaurant is different because the food is cooked on the spot.

Speaking of restaurants, I really don’t like restaurants where the kitchen is hidden somewhere at the back. I exclusively prefer the restaurants where the chefs and other people prepare the food right there. I am not only talking about Korean BBQ places, but even regular places that have the kitchen as part of the dining area.

A lot of Mediterranean restaurants, especially in Greek taverns have this. It basically shows mutual respect between the people creating the meal and the ones eating it.

Similar for water, basically try to avoid bottled water and just use a filter at home or straight from the tap if it’s ok where you live.

Books, podcasts, documentaries, interviews, research papers

Reading books is great and it’s one of my favourite things to do. Lately some of the reading time has been replaced by listening to some podcasts or interviews. All of these mediums are consumption of course. So I decided that in order to offset this consumption, I will write about the ideas in these mediums and about my own thoughts on certain subjects. One can read a few books and write one essay about the collective ideas and I would consider that a net gain (production)

I consider any paid work to be a net positive production. Whatever is done at work you are producing something for someone else, and I consider that production. This is valid for the type of work I do, perhaps it is different for other fields, but I can’t think of any field right now where I would consider the work a net consumption.

Personal and Hobby Projects

I think these are total production. You create something just for fun, with no financial considerations, this is the ultimate production.

Video Games

I would split video games into Single Player, Multiplayer and “Social/Casino” Games. I think Single Player games are the same as books and movies. If you just play the game and don’t create something about it (like a blog post, a video commentary, etc) then you’re just consuming. But if you’re combining playing a video game with talking/writing about it, then it’s a net even, perhaps slightly on the production side.

When I say “talking” or “writing” about it - I also don’t mean to write a blog post or make a youtube video necessarily about the game. I think it’s enough to just talk to friends and tell them about the story of the game and so on.

Multiplayer games (with friends) I think are a net even on the production/consumption scale because you are playing with friends and you can talk about the game afterwards and it creates joy.

Multiplayer games (with strangers) is a net consumption because you don’t get to share the joy with people you know in real life.

Social Games, Casino Games, endless runners, etc are a complete waste of time.

Board Games, Team Sports

These are totally production events. You create a game with other people, in real life, some of them have health benefits, and you are in that made up world for the time while you are playing. Whether it is Catan or Soccer, I think these are production activities.

Solo Sports, Running

I think these are activities that have a net producing effect. Even though you only consume (calories, oxygen, etc) while you’re doing the activity, the result is an increase in mood, health, life longevity, which allows you to spend more time doing production activities.

Art, Playing Instruments, Drawing, Writing

These are all production activities, not much to add here.

Listening to Music

I think this is a net consumption, unless you walk or write about the experience.

Facebook, Instagram, Netflix…

The only way you are producing on these platforms is if you follow 2 people and are followed by 2k+. If you’re not producing, you’re consuming. And most people are not producing much on these platforms

Meeting with friends

Complete production because you are creating bonds and good memories. The place matters too. I think clubs and loud bars where you can’t hear yourself talking are mostly consumption, while meeting in a coffee shop or for a drink in a quiet place is more productive.

Creating a Successful Video Game

I left this one for last. I think that in today’s world, creating a very successful video game, especially if it comes from the indie scene (ie, no big budget AAA game) is the ultimate creation capacity. It requires so many different skills both technical and artistic to create a successful video game. You have to learn a lot of things in the process, read a lot of books, go through research papers, and do engineering. It really touches upon everything.

In conclusion, there is no magic formula. Drink lots of water, cook your own food, don’t doomscrool on social media, write or talk about the books and articles you read and have fun with friends!