September 3, 2017
(An entry in my Diary of Reflection)
“One of the most useful podcast episodes I listened to a few days ago while taking a walk after lunch around my in-laws’ expansive and lush garden in Bangalore was from The Accidental Creative with Todd Henry. In this particular episode, Todd makes an urgent plea to his listeners to make time for reflection.
We are putting so much information into our brains every day. We are constantly stimulated. We read blogs, websites, newspapers. We watch movies. We listen to audio books and podcasts. And on and on.
When do stop and actually take the time to reflect on what our brains have just absorbed? Without reflecting on what we take in, it remains as just information piled up in our brains that jam our cognitive capacities. A virtual garbage dumping ground.
If, however, we do pause to reflect, to connect the dots, to wonder, then we have attempted at least to start turning the information into knowledge.
I can relate with this very much. I love to read. I read so many non-fiction books and even novels. I am eager to not only get through the books but also soak it all in. But what listening to Todd’s podcast made me realise is that I have not built any daily practices to let the ideas in my head marinate by writing them down therefore giving them a greater chance to be loaded in my memory."
The above passage was from my reflections exactly five years ago! I had written it down in a notebook which is why I can reproduce it word for word. I fished it out because in this week’s newsletter from David Perrell he asks us to take our minds from “a stagnant swamp to a flowing river.” That triggered my memory of having come across this idea earlier. David’s core message being that if we keep taking in information but don’t put it out through writing then we are blocking our creative force rather than giving it passage to flow freely like the river does. What a wonderful idea for this week’s newsletter is what I said to myself!
Todd Henry’s podcast episode many moons ago had spurred me to start my diary of reflections. It’s a notebook that I sometimes open up often after reading an insightful article or listening to a valuable podcast. I know I must whip out my notebook when I can feel my brain buzzing with ideas. I note down key facts, memorable quotes, insights and most importantly, my takeaways. When I am walking on my road in the neighbourhood and come across something worth noting, I stop on the side, grab my phone and open the Notes app to quickly capture the information. I don’t do it as often as I like and should. David Perrell’s newsletter has made me want to jump back into this practice with gusto.
I also read that a great way to improve yourself in any area is to diligently write down reflections after an activity. For example, at our agency, we do a lot of pitching to clients. If we maintained a log of all the things that went well and equally all the mistakes we made each time, what a valuable document this would be to improve our performance. You can use this method to lose weight, improve your presentation skills or for any other activity in which you seek to do better.
Journaling is very popular in culture right now.
Professionally, you are advised to write in your journal before you start your work day to prime yourself with key goals. And then write before you close for the day to reflect on your observations and learnings from the day. A CEO of one of the listed companies of a diversified conglomerate we do work for shared with me that the single biggest impact on his development as a leader has been “writing to learn.”
Personally, I am a big fan of Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages about which I have waxed eloquent in previous editions of my newsletter. I can’t recommend this enough as a way to keep in touch with your subconscious and spill out all the noise in your mind with which some gems will emerge as well.
Gratitude journaling can also be life transforming. You only have to try it for a few months to see the impact on your overall wellbeing. I did it regularly through the second half of the pandemic and can vouch for its efficacy in tuning negative emotions into neutral and positive ones.
And then there’s taking notes to learn more deeply about topics. Writing on paper trumps typing on the computer no matter how much Gen Z will argue on this. There are three main methods summarised nicely in this Infographic on The Ultimate Guide to Note-taking. The most important bit is to review your notes quickly. Easier said than done for sure. More than 60% of the information is forgotten within 9 hours!
To sum it up, get into the habit of writing in order to learn and grow your knowledge on anything.
Over to you now:
How often do you write to learn?
What method do you use for note taking? How does it compare to the three popular methods from the guide?
Do you have a system for organising your notes so you can access your insights easily?