When I started out this week’s blog post, it was on a different topic. I was writing about how to come up with content ideas for marketing and it got me thinking about reading. I’ll admit, I’m like a lot of Millennials, the phone is connected to my hand and I’m scrolling through stories and reading a lot.
What do you read?
What I read isn’t important it’s more about ingesting information. I read about my favorite sports teams or business headlines and news headlines. Then I check out celebrity news and gossip. Click links within articles because I’m curious. When I have a question I Google it and I see where it leads me.
On the one hand, this makes it very difficult to get things done. I’m all over the place and sometimes I forget what I was looking for. I’ll remember 15 minutes later and then I’ll have to stop going down the information rabbit hole so I can find what I was actually looking for.
Variety is key!
On the other hand, it’s the best thing I could do. When I read I’m gathering information and filing it away for later. I’m storing it and remembering highlights. If there’s something I really like, I copy the link and I put in the notepad on my phone. Or I email it to myself. Sometimes I create files. Jot notes to myself about possible story ideas or things I want to try out. Constantly I’m learning and amazingly, that leads to creating content.
I’ll admit that 95% of the stuff I read never develops into anything useful, but that 5% is gold.
Better than all that, it feels decadent. This isn’t your high school reading assignment. There is no test at the end. There is no required reading just the requirement of reading. You follow the links you want and skip the links that bore you. If you’re like me, that path will eventually lead you to something useful.
So the next time you find yourself falling down the information rabbit hole, let it happen and see where the fall takes you. You might be surprised at how beneficial it really is.
Written by Erika Towne