Why limit ourselves by creating dichotomies between reading and doing…or planning and doing…or being creative and doing…? Doing may be necessary, but it isn’t sufficient. Yes, we may occasionally find ourselves doing something unplanned that turns out to “productive” (in whatever way we define that at the moment — including giving the brain/mind a break.) But if we balance planning and doing, or better still, planning/reading/doing/etc. , we have more of the whole package.
I’ve found it useful to combine a series of “actions” that begin with the question of what it is that I want to accomplish…what would I like to see happen? I then reflect on what my role might be in contributing to that goal. What are my strengths? Where can I put my energy so that it will have the greatest impact? And from there, I choose my path and begin “doing.” That often includes reading because I recognize that I need more resources. But when I read, it’s with the question, “How can I use this? In other words, what can I DO with it? (I also read strictly for escape and enjoyment! — a reward for having DONE what I planned. :-)
As a teacher, I used much the same process. I began, not by thinking about what concepts I wanted to teach, but about what I wanted the learners to be able to do as a result of their learning. Then I would reflect on what might be the most effective way to curate their learning environment so that they could reach that goal. What did I already know? What did I need to know in order to make the learning even more effective?
Everyone is different in the way they process information, but for me, I’ve always found it more effective to start with “the big picture” and then use questions to “zoom in” to my part in that picture. Just a thought…
