Below begins a piece I started writing before bed. This is the first occurrence of what will be a huge game-changer in my writing process. It's something many writers love preaching about, I just never took the method seriously enough to implement it myself.
I wanted to do things my way, as I've always done them.
Well, that was until I read this piece on Medium.
It's called 'In 1911, a genius revealed a forgotten science of how to be 50x more productive without working more hours'
The title's lack of capitalization kind of freaks me out, and the article is pretty long, containing at least 5500-6000 words, but the piece is a major find.
This author single-handedly raises the value of Medium as a whole.
As many great writers as we have, this piece was next level, and I'm eternally grateful to have made its acquaintance.
The following text is just to show you the moment where I officially switched over to more efficient workflow.
You can see in the beginning as I immediately jump into finding sources to tie in with the information I'm sharing, which in the moment wastes time and creativity.
Then you can see as I embrace the general idea of flowing, knowing you can come back and fix things later.
Obviously, the moment of realization will be taken out of the final cut.
But I really wanted to share it with you.
Future early-access pieces demonstrating my working process will often be made available to paying followers only, but this turning point felt worth sharing with all.
If you take this close an interest in me, know I think that's pretty cool.
As long as you do it for yourself.
I'll strive to make this more plausible over time.
And without further ado, please enjoy this following splendid moment in history, and take care.
Learning
Study Up — Then Dearly Try to Forget All About It
Embrace the Oblivion pt.2
Every moment, your brain produces new brain cells. Over time, these fresh little buddies will dedicate themselves to whatever you value; it’s pretty nifty.
What you value, sticks.
Just as if something doesn’t mean anything to you, it’ll safely be forgotten.
“[The brain] filters out the stuff [it] deems unimportant.”
Notably, ‘value’ isn’t always about enjoyment. Above all else, we value all that relates directly to our sense of survival.
When it comes to simple learning, it’s a good idea to review the next day, then again days after that, gradually and continuously increasing the time between reviews.
This reinforces in your brain the extent to which you value the information, from the short term, to the long.
Something learned this way will also take advantage of our brain’s myelination process, in which well established neural patterns become more deeply ingrained within us.
But in the immediate moment, definitely just be openly grateful and forgetful about the information.
Love it in the moment, even visualize its use in your mind to add further new neural connections for it, and eventually do come back to it.
Flashcards are honestly amazing.
I use the collapsible blocks function in RoamResearch to replicate the notecard effect, where the main block represents the front of the card, and the expandable bullet points beneath it making up the rest of the information.
Since the program is accessible on any device that can handle an internet browser, it makes it really easy to write my notes on a laptop at my desk, then to study them anytime and anywhere, right from the convenience of my phone.
But in that moment of forgetfulness, don’t dwell.
If circumstances allow, you can review the material right where you are, or you can leave it be, knowing the information is in there, just not sufficiently ingrained yet for easy access.
Oh ya, I’m writing this freely, research links and such can be added afterwards.
I finally understand the importance of doing things this way.
One can easily write 50x more if they focus on writing in one shot. There’s no reason to break the flow by transferring back and forth between the writing and the source finding.
As long as I’m confident the information is accurate while I'm writing it, otherwise I'll still double check before moving forward...
Excellent!
That's where it ended before I jumped straight to this page. 🙏
I was just propelled by such an intense feeling of excitement and joy for this new understanding of the process, that I could no longer focus on the original topic, and wanted to write something about that specifically.
I came here because I remembered it was the ideal place I had set up to do things like this.
In all cases, I'm required to sleep now.
Seriously, don't mess with your sleep routine too much, it opens you up to more illnesses and impairments than I care to think or talk about.
I don't believe it's healthy to give such ideas much energy, which is why I'd rather focus on the pure value of the sleep itself.
I also look forward to that feeling of comfort one gets while relaxing their body on a mattress.
I say these things recognizing the high level of privilege and opportunity I've been offered automatically in life as a middle-class Canadian.
I've done little to deserve such luxury as peace and comfort at night, it just is.
It's why I also believe in a matching sense of responsibility.
Over the last four years, I've made much progress in taking care of and restoring my own mental health so that I can take fuller advantage of my external circumstances to help others and the world.
Given the chance to continue in this direction, I will be continuously grateful.
Alright, take care for real this time! 😁🖤
- G