Mental masturbation

Have you heard of the phrase mental masturbation? There are a few different definitions and contexts in which this is used, but this is the one I am referring to: engaging in intellectually stimulating activities but with little or no practical purpose. I realized I do that with self help books and podcasts. I will at times, listen to, or read a self-help book, but not implement the learnings.

This is actually worse than not having engaged with the content in the first place because: 1. you have spent the time and energy to listen/read this content, and then 2. chosen to ignore it. You would have been better off just not having touched that content in the first place as you would have saved yourself the time and energy and were probably better off doing nothing.

A couple of people called me out on this recently. I was re-reading the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown, and they both pointed out at the irony of me reading this for a second time. They observed that I was still running around being busy, yet wondering if I was making substantial progress on any of my main goals. I also re-read Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris and a keen observer said that time reading the book would have been better spent working on projects that yield results to key milestones I have coming up. By re-reading (really great) self-improvement books, I was telling myself I was being productive; when in fact, I was engaging in intellectual masturbation.

So, the lesson is to stay focused, and ask oneself: Am I taking action? Or am I using a mental trick and telling myself I am being productive and making myself feel better, when in fact I am not accomplishing anything? Am in engaging in mental masturbation? Do you engage in this? What are some of the mental tricks your mind has played on you?