Digital consumption keeps me from getting better at my job

> When you are sitting at a keyboard with other people, there’s no chance you’re going to browse. You and everyone else involved will be 100% focused on the task.

The ADHD community calls this body doubling and yes it works.

The problem with fast consumption is it's shallow, and the only way around it I've found is the 1:3 rule. For every ten minutes of information consumption, you'll need at least another thirty minutes of tinkering about with your hands, keyboard, pencil and paper, etc. to have any chance of really absorbing and understanding that information.

However, this is much harder and more demanding of your concentration and focus than just passively absorbing some interesting online content, particularly if the content relies on some background knowledge that you're missing, in which case it may take much, much longer to get up to speed on it.

Note that LLMs are an incredible aid to grasping new material. Ask any decent LLM "what are the necessary background prerequisites for understanding this statement: " and it will usually point you in the right direction.

Good post, fwiw I feel basically similar to what you wrote, and this jumped out at me as this has been my main problem point - “I relaxed the rules, observed myself increasing the amount of content I consume over time, and now I'm back here”

I haven’t found a solution yet but how to find one is in a lot of my thoughts lately.

I feel similarly as OP it seems that this cycle is actively getting in the way of my job sometimes. I can go cold turkey/flip phone life and it works as in I don’t miss the content and adjust, but I work in tech it’s hard to not engage with the platforms and also do well, engaging in the platforms is like being a drug addict at free drug convention with a few helpful booths about work, and rinse/repeat.

At periods it’s been such that I put some thought into if I had undiagnosed ADHD, because some times it veered a bit too close for comfort to where I really needed to focus on adult stuff and I just couldn’t.

But, generally I speculate it’s an information diet thing first and foremost, but I’d rather sort that out first and see if it works.

Tricky topic! Interesting to see discussion on it, it’s the first I’ve ran into with similar sentiments as my experiences.

On the flip side, I do think that passively consuming "edu-tainment" content is better than consuming, say, fictional sitcoms or dramas that are intended to appeal to the masses. Not that there's anything wrong with consuming "mindless" entertainment either, just that in a conversation about productivity vs non-productivity and "consumption"'s effects on it, I think it's fair to rank the content in question.

I watch a ridiculous amount of this type of content. As a "maker" myself, I get inspired by watching other people make stuff .. and I pick up a few tips and tricks along the way too.

But, the trap here that a lot in the comments seem in-tune with, is the trap of deluding yourself into thinking that you're being productive by consuming content ... as opposed to, well, producing stuff.

My wife and I are part time performing magicians, and when it comes to our magic act we fall into this trap a LOT. Because I make good money as a software engineer, I wanted to create for us a "library" where no matter what we want to write or create we will have resources that will empower us with method possibilities. Sounds great on paper, until we look back on what we accomplished in the past weeks and all we can come up with "Well, we read a bunch of books... and some are super expensive and hard to find out of print magic books that only have No, it doesn't. Some of the most innovative inventions and artistic creations have been borne from scarcity and limitations. An over-abundance of information is not necessarily bad it's just that we tend, as humans, to find ways to trick ourselves into thinking we're accomplishing something when we're really being passive.

To circle back to my original point, while watching "edu-tainment" content on YouTube is still being passive, at least there is the capacity to gain high-level knowledge that can give you a head's start when you're ready to actually start diving into doing something.