Read. Watch. Listen.
An Agile Approach to Improving Yourself
In the last two years, I was so focused on starting two companies that I’ve lost track of the importance of educating myself outside my day-to-day concerns.
I was disorganized. The things I wanted to consume were jotted down in a variety of places – Email, Evernote, pieces of paper, notes on my phone, etc. Even when they were in the same place, they were hard to prioritize. Copying and pasting to reorder a list every day isn’t ideal.
As a result of being disorganized, I was overwhelmed.All these things I wanted to learn, nowhere to start.
Following that, I would consume other types of media. Instead of watching an introduction to a new programming framework, I’d watch a TV show. Instead of reading a book, I’d read HackerNews. Instead of listening to a podcast, I’d listen to the radio.
In moderation, these are not bad uses of time. However, I’ve never gained deep insight into a topic or learned something life-changing from a blog post, whereas there are a few books that have profoundly changed my life.
I was looking to shift the balance away from spontaneous consumption of bite-sized media with little impact towards information with greater effect on my life-long education and improvement.
Then it occurred to me: Why can’t I take the agile approach that we use to deliver consistent value to our clients every day, and apply it to my ongoing education?
I’ve started a list in Asana. If you’re not familiar with Asanap, it’s a web and mobile-based task management tool that combines the speed and simplicity of plain-text editing with powerful features like tagging, projects, assignments, due dates, and more.
The list is divided into four sections:
Next Up: This is the backlog of items to read/watch/listen.
In Progress: Three items that I’m focusing on. This should be one to read, one to watch, and one to listen to.
Summarize: After I’m done with an item, I will go back through my notes and write an executive summary that I can refer back to and share with others.
Done: This is an implied stage that the item enters when it’s marked as “completed”.
Everything that I’m even remotely interested in is entered into the list. This takes the anxiety of forgetting a book somebody mentions in passing.
There are never more than 3 items in progress at any given time. Limiting my work in progress helps eliminate bottlenecks and enforces that I finish an item completely before starting the next one. For example, I cannot start reading the next book before summarizing the one I’ve just finished. Focus in crucial, and staying motivated when you’re reading 5 things at the same time is impossible because of the lack of visible progress in each item.
After I complete an item, I re-prioritze the entire list. This is dead-simple in Asana, as you just select an item (or multiple) and command (control) + the arrow keys to move it up and down.
I carry the book I’m reading everywhere I go alone. There are ample of opportunities to read while waiting, or when you have a little downtime during the day. Granted, this is easier with a paperback than Benjamin Franklin’s 600 page hardback biography. (Sidenote: As a software developer, I spend sufficient time staring at pixels and therefore prefer printed books).
Trello is another noteworthy tool that’s a great fit for this approach. You could make lists called “Next Up”, “In Progress”, “Summarize”, “Done”, and move the cards between the lists as they progress through those stages.
I believe the best way to achieve something is to have a system. This system, although very simple, works incredibly well for me. I stopped wondering what I’m going to learn next. I spend less time on info-porn like Twitter and HackerNews and more time studying topics in depth. I’ve learnt a few great things already, and can’t wait to learn more.
