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Hey {{ first name | there }}! Welcome back to The Flow by Flocus. If you’re new around here, welcome! 👋 You can catch up on our previous editions right here.
This week: Another fresh Flocus Original take! There are so many different frames for life’s responsibilities. Today, we’re bucketing them by inputs vs. outputs and breaking down real examples of each, how they impact your life, and a nifty, video game-esque visualization technique for whenever you need to rebalance.
🌊 Inputs vs. Outputs 101
📥 Inputs include things you receive, like:
🖋️ Items “submitted” for your approval or opinion. These can be more obvious for decision-makers like parents, teachers, and professionals, but young people have plenty of “submissions” on their plate, too, from messages to assignments.
📲 The quality of the content and information you’re consuming. “Input” is synonymous with “social media / the internet” these days. Just like food, the quality of whatever your brain “eats” helps determine how you feel overall.
🍜 Stuff you have to process, act on, or otherwise do something with. Aside from what’s on your own list, inputs also include events that you witness and other things that simply happen to you (instead of with you).
🙇♂️ Both overt and invisible pressures from peers and society. How much of the “inputs” you receive each day are truly coming from others, versus the stories your emotional mind makes up about them? Or those unspoken social rules we’re expected to follow?
📤 Outputs include things you give, and they’re:
🪫 Always a drain on your energy, and potentially your resources. If you’re giving or expending any amount of energy on something, that’s an output. They include the physical work you do as well as whatever’s living “rent-free” in your head.
🪢 Often tied up with complex, difficult emotions. We’re bound to be emotionally invested in anything we spend time on. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in our examples so far, our emotional minds aren’t always exactly rational, which can cause problems (see next point).
⛓️💥 Not always aligned with our inner world or philosophies. Ever felt like you’ve broken down or lost control in an intense moment, leading you to behave in a way you normally wouldn’t, or that doesn’t align with who you want to be? It happens to everyone (and we’ll talk about it more in a sec).
Now that you know what inputs and outputs are, let’s explore a few things to be aware of before digging into the how-to’s.
Now, a quick word from this week’s partner!
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Our partners support our tiny team at The Flow, allowing us to continue delivering value to your inbox.
Now, here’s how to start rebalancing!
☝️ 5 Things to Know Before You Start Rebalancing
🌀 Expect some overlap between your inputs and outputs.
A single task or item, especially anything collaborative, can involve a mix of inputs and outputs, which won’t always fit neatly into one bucket.
😞 A lot of life’s inputs will feel unfair, undeserved, and unprecedented. And it sucks.
No, seriously, nothing will wreck your whole day like a disturbing “input” (such as witnessing a distressing event while you’re minding your own business).
Often, the only thing you can do in these situations is just mind yourself. We’ve got some battle-tested tips on how to do it in the next section.
🙂↔️ Not every input will be true / useful / worth your attention / in need of a corresponding output.
Your perceptions based on your past and beliefs; your assumptions based on biases and incomplete info; the stories your emotional mind concocts; unwritten social rules: These are just a few examples of inputs that are often better left to float on by without a response.
🫂 Undesirable outputs are inevitable, and they don’t mean you’re a “bad” person.
Everyone makes mistakes, so please give yourself grace with any outputs that you’re not exactly proud of.
Remember, if it was as simple as “doing better once you know better,” we’d have achieved world peace by now (and there’d be no need for our newsletter).
📴 You need time for absolute zero inputs and outputs.
Since our subconscious mind is always “on”, this can be nearly impossible to achieve, even when we’re asleep.
But that’s precisely why intentionally trying to switch off, even for a few breaths, is so important our sense of balance and self-regulation.
Speaking of which: Scroll on for this week’s 4-step process for rebalancing what you give and receive.
💞 4 Steps to Rebalancing Your Inputs & Outputs
Including a fun visualization created by yours truly, inspired by our favorite video games!
🌊 1. Visualize them as a flowing ocean, not stagnant buckets
We keep saying “bucket” your inputs and outputs, but this isn’t the most accurate or useful imagery.
Because there’s no bucket in the world that will ever feel big enough to hold all of even 1 person’s inputs and outputs. So things will always be overflowing from this viewpoint.
Instead, picture your life’s inputs and outputs as 2 literal streams of water, diverging from a single “ocean” (representing your inner self / soul).
If it helps, visualize that higher self standing on a bank above or between the fork in the water, observing and directing the currents.
👂 2. Pause and pay attention
With our water metaphor from step 1 still in mind, now’s the time to listen out for the messages your environment (both internal and external) has for you.
As you keep imagining your higher self standing above the currents, listen out for:
🚨 Sirens or alarms = Where are the emergencies and truly crucial things happening? Which direction are they coming from? Which ones are loudest and most urgent?
⚓️ Anchors, boulders, and obstacles = What’s stopping, disrupting, or slowing down the flow of your streams?
🏴☠️ “Enemy ships” and natural threats = What are the true, real threats? Where are they located? What equipment and reinforcements are they carrying on their way to you?
🏖️ Ports, lighthouses, and places of shelter = If you need help, where can you go? How far away are these safe spaces? What kind of support can you realistically expect once you get there?
📋 3. Take stock
Now is the part you might’ve been expecting to come first: tallying up your life’s real inputs and outputs in some kind of note (er, captain’s log).
For now, just list out the inputs and outputs themselves, as many as you can think of. (It probably won’t be a complete list; you can always add to it later.)
Do whatever works best for your brain here, although we recommend getting it all out of your brain in some fashion so you can physically see any imbalances.
🏰 4. Bolster your defenses
Hopefully by now, you’ve got a clear picture of how your inputs and outputs are flowing, including the real-life threats, obstacles, and emergencies that need tending.
But, if this were a video game, your character would probably stock up on health potions, brush up on battle training, and invest in some heavy armor before setting sail and starting the battle, right?
This is exactly the mindset you should have here: What real-life tools, skills, and practices are in your arsenal for when the waters get rough?
List them out, make copies if you need to, and keep them handy so you can expand and tweak as needed. (Scroll on for 3 handy tools to help you in this week’s Flocus Picks!)
🪅 Flocus Picks
A curated list of things worth sharing.
How to Make Life Feel More Whimsical (The Flow Archives) — Our visualization exercise today is just one example of how creative whimsy + productive processes = a more balanced life that feels fun and engaging
Firefighting 101 (The Flow Archives) — Another common visualization for life’s responsibilities? Having “a lot of fires to put out” at any given time. If this resonates with you, this Flowback is a must-read!
How to Clear Mental Clutter (The Flow Archives) — A lot of things masquerading as inputs and outputs are really just things that need stashing somewhere for safekeeping. How to tell the difference, plus our favorite techniques for expanding your brain’s (naturally low) “hard drive space”.
✨ Flocus: Your Personal Productivity Dashboard
Taking stock of your inputs and outputs is easier when they're not all floating around in your head. Flocus keeps your tasks visible in one calm, distraction-free place, so you can see what's flowing in and what needs your energy.
🗳️ POLL: Which feels heavier for you right now?
Getting clear on your inputs and outputs gives you a better sense of how much you’re giving, how much you’re getting back, and how to resolve any imbalances.
We know this one was a beast! But thanks for reading to the end and sharing your thoughts with us (we appreciate you! 🙏)
Until next Sunday,
Flocus Team
