It starts innocently.
You sit down to write a LinkedIn post. You stare at the blinking cursor. It’s intimidating. So you pick up your phone. "I’ll just scroll for 5 minutes to see what's trending. To get inspired."
30 minutes later, you have:
- Watched 4 cat videos.
- Read a political argument.
- Seen a competitor’s "perfect" viral post and felt bad about yourself.
- Written 0 words.
Consumption is the enemy of creation.
The "Input Overload" Trap
When you scroll before you write, you are flooding your brain with other people's voices.
You put your brain into "Reactive Mode" (judging, liking, comparing) instead of "Creative Mode" (synthesizing, expressing, building).
It is impossible to find your unique voice when you are drowning in everyone else's.
The Comparison Tax
"Inspiration" often morphs quickly into "Intimidation."
You see a post with 10,000 likes. It looks polished. Perfect. Suddenly, your draft idea feels small. Stupid. Boring. "Why bother?" you think. "This has already been said better."
That is the Comparison Tax. You pay it every time you open the feed before you open your editor.
The Solution: Create in a Vacuum
The best creators separate the Idea Phase from the Edit Phase.
1. Capture ideas offline (or feed-free)
When you have an idea in the shower or on a walk, capture it immediately. Don't open LinkedIn to "check if it's good." Just write it down.
2. Write first, edit later
Write your ugly first draft without looking at the platform. Do not worry about formatting or hashtags yet. Just get the raw idea out.
3. Use a "Feed-Free" Tool
This is the cheat code.
If you write your posts natively inside Twitter or LinkedIn, the algorithm is constantly fighting for your attention. The red notification badge is screaming at you. The sidebar is tempting you.
The solution is to decouple writing from posting.
Use a simple notes app, a Google Doc, or a dedicated writing tool that doesn't have a feed.
When you write in a "quiet" environment, you aren't reacting to other people's content. You are just focusing on your own.
You can write, draft, and polish a week's worth of content without ever seeing a single cat video or political argument.
Reclaim Your Brain
Creativity requires boredom. It requires silence. It requires space for your own thoughts to bubble up.
Stop outsourcing your thinking to the algorithm.
Next time you want to write:
- Put the phone in the other room.
- Open a blank editor (like Broadr).
- Write what you think, not what the feed tells you to think.
Your best ideas are already in your head. You just need enough quiet to hear them.
Ready for distraction-free writing?
Broadr offers a focused workspace for creators who want to ship, not scroll.