Thoughts On...

Over Consumption and Under Production

A couple of items sparked my thinking surrounding over consumption. Particularly, my current over consumption of media in comparison to my production. I’ve made reading part of my of lifestyle thanks to my handy iPod Touch. In combination with the Amazon Kindle App and my Audible account I’ve been able to read one and a half books per week this past year. For the past few years with my older iPod I’ve been consuming at the same rate using Audible audio books and iTunes. Now that I have my iPod Touch I’ve noticed my consumption increase. I read magazines using Zinio, Listen to Audio Books with the Audible app, read books with the Kindle app and watch documentaries with the Netflix app. The increase stems in part to me having the device on me at all times so it’s become habitual. When I’m on the train I read a couple of pages, when I’m at the gym I’m listening to a book, etc.

I love learning and I guess I’ve made the connection in my head that the more and more I consume the more and more I’ll learn. This is assumption is false. Whoever told you knowledge is power lied. The practical application of knowledge has power. Not the knowledge itself. If what you’ve learned isn’t applied or synthesized in some fashion it is not as valuable. I have decided to change my habits a bit and incorporate mobile production into the mix. I’ve set the goal of writing twelve “substantial” blog posts per year. This will allow me to at least synthesize some of my findings if there is no avenue to apply the new knowledge in my daily work. Tweets, Re-blogs, Quotes videos, etc. do not count as substantial blog posts. What does count is something I’ve taken the time to think through and hopefully provides value to others (Ex. my startup lessons learned). Now I know why the VC Fred Wilson has made a commitment to writing a blog post everyday. My friend Andrew wrote a post in a similar vein to this one and highlighted the following quote from Fred “I write every day because it makes me think every day”.

I would like to tip the scales closer to the production side of things in my spare time. When one consumes more relative to what what they produce in economic terms they are in debt. If it is a nation they run a deficit. I’d argue that over consumption on an intellectual level creates a cognitive debt. If the consumed material is not applied or synthesized you wind up doing a great a disservice to yourself and the people around you. When read you something in a book you know of it, when you apply it in the real world you know it.

Also, with the ubiquity of mobile devices and all the distractions that come with it, it becomes very easy to consume and becomes more difficult to produce something of substance. Nicholas Carr, when he wrote “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains” had to hide away in the mountains in order to limit his connectivity. How long can you go without checking your BlackBerry or iPhone? I’ve checked mine a couple of times while writing this post.

So here is my “lifehack” that will help develop my new habit. Seeing as I have my iPod Touch on me at all times. I can now write on the go using Evernote, with a premium account so I can write offline and sync once I get wifi access. Why I’m using Evernote. I can write on multiple devices and sync. That way if I get started on something on my laptop I can continue to work on it via my iPod touch and vice versa. I don’t ever have to worry about where my files are and waste time finding them. They are all in the cloud and can be easily accessed using Evernote irrespective of location and device. Once I’m done I can upload using the Tumblr app from my iPod Touch. In my spare moments I will try producing vs. consuming. I will most definitely write my 12 blog posts. 11 more to go :). Once I reach this milestone I will double it for the following year.

I have also signed myself up for the following goals as well. Produce one new application per year and help one startup per year in my network.

I’ll keep everyone updated on my progress.