Asynchronous Learning and Why I Bookmark First

Whenever I come across an interesting article or piece of writing, I add it to my reading list.

I don’t read it right away.

I’ve trained myself to do this in the interest of time and my own discipline. Usually, when I’ve come across an article for the first time, I’m very interested in the topic. Alas, there is an insurmountable stack of other articles in the other five newsletters I’ve just received that deserve my attention equally. So, I add the piece to my reading list and return my attention to culling the list of recommended pieces further. This way, I still have time and the drive to finish parsing the remaining links.

There is another benefit of not reading pieces immediately. I don’t think any of us are especially good at predicting what we will interest us in even the near future - this is especially true in the fast feeds of today. At least, I know I have looked back on several hours spent reading a think-piece in regret. By sending every new article into my queue, I give myself a day or two to change. Subsequently, I can review my list when I have a nice drink and throw away more of the selected pieces that no longer interest me, or the ones about popular, fleeting topics of iridescent, ultimately-insignificant culture.

This asynchronous learning lets me actually get through the torrent of sites and such thrown around each day. It also allows me to remain changeable and keeps my time valuable. I usually end up sending pieces to Narro, but I’ll save that next step for a later post.