#12 My life changing discovery in 2021
I know what you are thinking. Yes, I should have made it as a reflection post before the new year. Also, the first post in this year should be a quintessential new year post. Describing the plans and approach to a productive, fruitful year. But this post is a leftover of 2021. I am sharing this hoping that it will still be relevant for many.
Technology and information are all around us. In your figure tips, accessible and almost free to use for everyone. However, we choose some over others and ignore the unopened world of different platforms. As a person with a fear of missing out, I used to make an account with every social media platform. When whats app changed its policy many people decided to move to signal. So did I. However I could not abandon WhatsApp as many family members use it for regular communication. Now I have both !. But my discovery is not about any new social media platform. It’s about the new world of information and entertainment. Something so basic, but ignored.
How do you get the news? Either by TV or reading it on a news website? Or are you one of the rare species who read an actual newspaper? What about other information. Detailed analysis of a recent incident. About a bill in the parliament or climate change report from IPCC. Again you may have some magazines (online or offline) or you may read blogs or newsletters like this. One step further, what if you want to know deeply about a subject? About the cold war, or history of genetics or perspective on evolution? The choice is obviously to read a book. But all these methods need dedicated time.
The opportunity cost, which I discussed in the last episode about habit formation, was one of the main things limiting me from reading more books or long-form articles. I need to sit down and read while I could have done a 5K running or cook food or clean dishes. Same with the video lectures where I need to be hooked to the screen for hours and I am not sure whether I can commit to that. YouTube is an amazing platform where you can find solutions to all of your problems. With YouTube resources only, you can pretty much learn anything up to a certain level of mastery. But do you have time to watch 2 hr lecture on a random topic?
The audio platforms
Let me cut to the chase. 2021 is the year I discovered the power of audio platforms. I can tell with certainty that this changed my life. These platforms were always there. But the accessibility and availability of an ocean of content make it more and more appealing day by day. I can listen to a book while running 5K. This not only reduces the opportunity cost of reading. On the other hand, encourages you to run more.
I started this by listening to podcasts. That was a new world for me. My initial consumption was some of the BBC podcasts. Every day I chose to walk to the university instead of taking a bus so that I can listen to the podcast. The bonus is I can get the 10K step target easily. Once I tasted the poison, I wanted more. So naturally, I approached audiobooks. I missed the old times when I used to pick up a random book and read. Many gave me surprises and the discovery of new books was exciting. But now I am too cautious when picking up a book. There is always a cost-benefit calculation in my head for reading a new book. As a result, I started reading only books that are “famous” or appreciated by the people whose opinions I value. Even then, I failed to try more just because sitting down to read a book takes continuous effort. But now, I can taste a book by listening to its audio. You can also “read” the entire book on an audio platform.
This was a game-changer for me. My inhibition towards picking up a new book or podcast on a new topic is gone since I don’t have to give dedicated time for them. At the same time, I am no longer bored doing cleaning dishes or a long walk or waiting! I can improve my world knowledge, get a new perspective or have a laugh from anywhere anytime.
The concern on focus
Multi-tasking is not always a preferable way of doing things. By multitasking, we often fool ourselves into being effective, while taking a long time with lesser perfection for different jobs. This is one of the main concerns when you choose audio platforms. It is proven in many studies that active learning is the best and most long-lasting form of learning. Your active engagement is higher when you read than watching a video or listening to the content. The effort you make to comprehend the written words will make you understand the subject more. On the other hand, listening to someone narrating the book is less effective. The structuring of the verbal statement, the grouping of words and stressing on some phrases or pausing at different points are the effect of the first layer of understanding. This is done by the narrator in the case of an audiobook. Podcasts on the other hand do not have this problem. They are built for audio platforms and casual hearing. Moreover, you may lose attention now and then and the narration will go on in the background. You may end up neither learning something new nor cleaning the dishes in time. I noticed that when I am listening to something I take much larger time for cooking or cleaning. But it works well for going for a walk or run.
So how do you escape the shallow readings? First, avoid doing it while you are operating heavy machinery, that is your mind! If you have muscle memory for doing things, say driving or cleaning, you can listen to a podcast just like you listen to music. Though you may not pick up all the facts, your brain will filter interesting and relevant information. We should not be too worried about retaining all the information that we take in. If you accept it or not, more than 80% of the info you receive will be forgotten the very next day.
One of the tools I use is reflection. After 20-30 mins of listening to the book, you can reflect on the content and even make a note if you feel it is important. In this way, you can actively engage with the content. Every day when I cycle to work, I used to listen to the book or podcast for 10-20 mins. I can spend 5 mins taking down the bullet points of the content if I feel it is useful in future. Many would argue it is a waste of time and we are not going to read it later. One, it may not be true and when you want to refer to the book in a relevant context you can go to your notes. Another thing is that by taking notes in your language, you are internalising the content. It will stick with you more than just listening or even reading.
The joy of not listening
Let me warn you that audio platforms are addictive. You may end up fixating the notion of “I am being productive all the time”. One day I forgot my earphones and I found it disturbing to cycle. What a waste! And it led to immediate guilt of being less productive. Once I switched to music for a change. The experience was unbelievable. I don’t have to comprehend anything and I was enjoying the song for the sake of enjoyment. Why don’t I do it often?
Things can get quite repetitive and mechanical over time. As discussed in the previous post we need to make things routine while reflecting on them now and then. Now I used to take an off day from listening to books or podcasts. Looking around, sometimes talking to myself. Otherwise, I am always occupied with the narrator. You will only get the “ahh” moment, only if the experience is not a routine”. So you can have the unexpected pleasure of listening to your thoughts.
Enough talking, show me the good stuff
We have limited resources in terms of time. So I can’t say I have explored this platform enough. But I can share what I found interesting.
Podcasts
I like this platform since you can casually listen to different conversations which approach many subjects from totally different perspectives. You can listen to podcasts from Spotify, google podcasts, apple podcasts, Gaana etc. Here is a list of podcasts that I used to listen to regularly
The seen and the unseen: I have mentioned this podcast many times in my newsletter. I have attended a course “art of clear writing” by the podcast host Amit Warma which inspired me to start this newsletter. The podcast episodes are long insightful discussions on politics, economics, language, history, writing etc. Most of the episodes are based on a book that the guest has published recently. Many authors like Tony Joseph, Manu Pillai, Kavita Rao, Kavita Krishnan, Steven Pinker etc, came as his guests. The podcast gives a highly curated book suggestion by the best intellectuals of our time. I strongly suggest diving into one episode (maybe in 1.5x speed) and starting your journey from there. It also comes weekly ( like the way how this newsletter is supposed to do !) so that you can regularly expect something to listen to each week
The knowledge project: This is an interesting podcast which is a conversation with scientists, CEOs writers etc on their work and the approach to productivity, wellbeing, mental health etc.
No such thing as fish: If you spot me running while laughing aloud, I am probably listening to this podcast. Insanely funny show with 4 people discussing interesting facts from last week.
Hardcore history As the name suggests this is a well-known history podcast, I just started to listen. I will update you later with my favourite episodes.
Pen positive podcast This is a podcast from one of my friends Vinod Narayan who is a constant creator from Kerala based in SF.
Dilli Dali This is a Malayalam podcast I enjoy a lot.
Sleep tight stories: Podcasts are not only for adults. This is a story podcast for kids. We have limited reserve for telling a bedtime story. So I used to put this for my 5-year-old. Parents, it is a game-changer
Audiobooks
Suggesting an audiobook will be similar to a book suggestion. But I like to do some honorary mention where the experience of the audiobook was surreally better than reading.
Order of time by Carlo Rovelli: This is a popular science book about the concept of time in physics. The content was not so novel to me. However, the narration was so poetic and it was read by none other than Benedict Cumberbatch. The experience was magical.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott: This is a book on writing in form of a memoir. The narration is by Susan Bennet, an amazing audio artist who is the voice of Siri.
One more mention is about a great app called Libby. Nowadays, almost all libraries have digital content, and you can access them through Libby if you have a subscription to your library. I had (still have until July) a subscription to the Singapore national library which had this awesome collection of ebooks and audiobooks. So I could listen to many amazing books without paying extra money. There are other paid platforms like audible or storyteller where you need to subscribe but can access unlimited content.
I was planning to write a short piece, but it went kind of long. I hope you will try some of these audio platforms if you haven’t yet. Have a good one!