How I Actually Remember + Apply What I’m Learning
I talk a LOT about minimizing and simplifying for the sake of clarity and sanity and living a more stress-free life…
…but have you stopped to think about how to apply this same philosophy to your digital life?!
To be honest, this can go wayyyy into depth with different ideas, systems, and hacks. But the number one thing I find myself lose control of quickly without a few guidelines in place is educational content.
01. What I’m consuming now and how to actually apply the dang thing to my life.
(Because truly, what’s the point of taking time to read and watch and learn if you’re going to forget the main point within two hours?)
02. What I WANT to consume in the near future.
But first, a disclaimer:
In your business, it is far more important to prioritize serving your people WELL in a way that you know works for your business and your lifestyle than it is to constantly be shifting strategies in order for quick, short-term gain. There’s a TON of content out there promising quick wins, but only you know what is worth pursuing and will have a positive impact on your mission, audience, and clients/customers.
Content I’m Currently Consuming
I’m a reader. (When I’m intentional about it and not in brain dead mode at the end of a long day with the girls.) And that means that I constantly have books “in progress,” as well as an endless list on Amazon of books to buy, rent, and read.
And more importantly, I’m a non-fiction reader. I like to read in order to learn. It’s not escapism for me so much as it is a personal, relaxing, growth endeavor.
So that means I’m constantly learning as I’m reading — and honestly, the same rules apply for me when it comes to articles on the web, YouTube videos, and podcasts.
After binging this valuable content for awhile, though, I realized I was barely retaining the lessons learned… and I certainly wasn’t applying them to my life.
So from that perspective — what’s the point?
I finally put a simpleee system into play that has been a GAME CHANGER. Here’s the deal.
I highlight the books I own. (Don’t @ me; I plan on keeping them and it helps me quickly reference my favorite points throughout.)
I use sticky notes to mark pages with notable points I want to remember in books I don’t own.
At the end of reading the book (AND ONLY AT THE END; this doesn’t work if you tell yourself you’re going to do this throughout as you’re reading), I create a new note on Evernote and spend 20 minutes typing up the important points I loved/highlighted/marked throughout the book.
THEN, I go through and pull out my absolute favorite 1-3 points that I actually, literally, right now want to apply to my life or business. And I take action on those.
And what I’ve found through this practice?
It’s so much more valuable to read fewer books while applying a single main point that you learned in that book to your life or business than it is to read countless books for the sake of “checking them off” and then never applying a single principle or point from that book.
I’ll use this same strategy for articles, videos, podcasts, reels, and more.
It doesn’t matter which app or platform you use. It just matters that you’re somehow learning, documenting, and applying the good stuff to better yourself and your business as you most desire.
Content I WANT to Consume
I sign up *all the time* for super valuable freebies with info I want to read, learn, and understand.
And likewise, literally always coming across posts and reels on Instagram with valuable advice I want to spend a few minutes with.
But I don’t always have time in the moment to dive into these materials… yet I also don’t want to lose them.
How I stay organized with the stuff I want to learn?
Two folders on my computer:
01. Educational Files to Review
02. Educational Files I’ve Already Reviewed and Loved
(Not with those exact titles, but those are the functions of each.)
So basically, I keep a folder on my desktop with PDFs, screenshots, links, and more of the content I WANT to check out and spend some time with.
And then filed within my business folder is a separate folder for educational content I’ve already consumed that I would like to continue to reference in the future.
Now here’s the thing: just because the file was originally in my “to review” folder doesn’t mean it’ll make it to my “reviewed and loved” folder.
I don’t hold onto everything. Just the best things. The things that are actually valuable and relevant and necessary.
Know this: not all content out there is worth applying. My rule is to take what resonates or works for you and remove the rest. We’re already bombarded with a TON of information these days and we need to help our brains understand what’s a priority.
These two practices together of pulling out the MOST IMPORTANT INFO in content I’m consuming and organizing content I WANT to check out help me stay organized in a sea of information — and also helps me better my life by applying what I can in the most effective, simple, non-overwhelming way possible.
Just like with any piece of content, I recommend you take one thing that highly resonated with you from this post and apply it to your own life or business.
