We learn more and better when we combine less consumption with more reflection and synthesis. But, that seems like a tall order when we’re surrounded by content and media companies or personalities wherever we go. One approach I’ve found helpful is to guide your consumption by making a commitment to creation.
Imagine you are interested in healthcare technology and aren’t finding the time or bandwidth to read and synthesize what is happening in healthcare tech. My suggestion would be to consider committing to sharing one blog post or social media share every week on a healthcare related topic.
To make that share happen, you will have to read more healthcare related content, reflect and synthesize. And, in a few weeks, you’ll begin doing this at a rate you’d never have thought possible.
There are three reasons why this will happen. First, you’ll begin forming a habit around reading and thinking about healthcare. Second, you’ll begin to distinguish between things you absolutely need to read and things you don’t. And, finally, as you learn and synthesize more, you’ll find yourself understanding more thanks to the mental models you develop. When we sense progress and insight, learning becomes fun.
The idea that you need to “stay on top of everything that going on” is a ridiculous idea made possible by the marketing efforts of media companies. You don’t. You need to stay on top of what you want or need to stay on top of. And, you can do that by committing to creating content on topics that matter.
A Learning a Day 