imagine a writer writing more books than they read.
imagine a film director directing more movies than they watch.
imagine a software engineer writing more code than they read.
imagine a musician writing more songs than they listen to.
... etc etc
imagine a film director directing more movies than they watch.
imagine a software engineer writing more code than they read.
imagine a musician writing more songs than they listen to.
... etc etc
Spend more time creating than you do consuming.
The only one of your options examples that doesn’t then make more sense is the software developer, and as a software developer myself, I’m very content with not putting my creativity against those other examples.
I wonder if writing is the same in an attempt to be more concise?
Good creators are always assessing and perpetually 20% dissatisfied with their output so experiencing how others have honed their craft and made great stuff should serve to make you more dissatisfied with your own progress on your own projects. But if you are 100% dissatisfied and 0% productive then you've lost balance and are in a writer's block.
However, what if I spend more time on Instagram and Twitter (consuming that won't lead to creating) over writing code. What if I spend more hours watching cat videos on Youtube over actually learning or making something?
Consumption in this context are what I'd call "empty calorie" consumption
That doesn't sound that bad in itself. In my experience falling into this trap many, many times over my life, it's something that's rather easy to recognize as harmful—just difficult to climb out of if it's an established habit.
So—consumption of unproductive content per se strikes me as less of a problem than a) addictive consumption and b) the illusion that consumption can replace a sense of self.