Ask HN: How do I switch from being a passive consumer to an active producer?
I&#x27;m going to say something that might be wildly unpopular among ambitious people: If you have a full-time job, you are by <i>far</i> not a passive consumer. You presumably contribute &gt;40 hours every week of creatively demanding, high-quality labor to society.<p>For <i>most</i> people, the premise of this question is wrong. Procrastination, when you don&#x27;t obviously have a lot of available time and effort, is a symptom that most of your creative energies are already spent elsewhere and are unavailable for other high-energy pursuits. I commend the effort to organizing your remaining free time to produce something of societal value, but for most people this is an exercise that will in the long run lead to burnout. Your mind is already subconsciously telling you this.<p>I know some people who have energy levels that allow them to sustainably burn the candle at both ends, but they are a small minority. I am quite envious of this group; they appear to have a big leg up in accomplishing great things, but there appears to be a component of either genetics or upbringing that leaves only a small portion of people with this capability.<p>If you are not in this minority and you strongly desire to produce more creative output outside of your full-time job, there are two options: You can set small goals, e.g. spending 3-5 hours a week of dedicated time towards your pursuit, or putting everything else in your life on pause for a year or two while you go at it with all your effort. The latter course of action will likely not be sustainable, and you have to listen to your mind and body when it&#x27;s had enough of it.<p>My preferred choice would be to get a job that pays enough to sustain your lifestyle but has much smaller hours (e.g. 60% or 40% of a full-time position), if this is at all possible. Most places, sadly, it isn&#x27;t an option. If you can organize this, you free up a significant portion of your creative energy, which can then be used for other ambitious goals.