{"id":584,"date":"2008-01-24T10:00:28","date_gmt":"2008-01-24T17:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/24\/keeping-to-learn-lists\/"},"modified":"2019-03-08T05:45:16","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T13:45:16","slug":"keeping-to-learn-lists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/24\/keeping-to-learn-lists\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping To-Learn Lists"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bookshelf.png\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure most people are familiar with a to-do list. If you\u2019ve been reading this blog for any length of time, hopefully you have at least one of these on the go, tracking your tasks on paper. But do you have a to-learn list? I recently decided my self-education system needed a bit of cleaning, so creating a to-learn list seemed like a natural result.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re reading a few books a month, you\u2019re already way ahead of most people. But just because you feel you\u2019re doing better than average doesn\u2019t justify a poorly organized approach to teaching yourself. I\u2019ve set up a to-learn list as a way to ensure that the best books are at the top of my stack, not just the ones with the most current hype.<\/p>\n

Benefits of a To-Learn List<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve just started with this to-learn list but already some of the benefits I see:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Focus on great ideas versus the most popular ones.<\/strong> It\u2019s easy to buy books only from the front of a bookstore. Saving your ideas can get you to push into different subjects that might take more searching.<\/li>\n
  2. Split up your interests.<\/strong> If your self-education isn\u2019t organized, it is easy to pick your favorite subjects even if 90% of the book\u2019s material is old. Keeping a to-learn list allows you to explore subjects that are on the fringe of your current understanding.<\/li>\n
  3. Create a more varied reading diet.<\/strong> Keeping a to-learn list can help you balance fiction with non-fiction, science with literature and blend different types of books so your reading list doesn\u2019t get stale.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To-Learn Versus To-Do<\/h2>\n

    A to-learn list can\u2019t work the same as a to-do list for a number of reasons. The biggest is simply that a to-do list typically involves things that must be done. Going to work, cleaning your house and picking up the dry cleaning are all necessary. In theory at least, each to-do item you check off means one less to do.<\/p>\n

    Not so with a to-learn list. Each book you learn opens up the possibility for more learning. If you make a typical checklist format for your to-learn, then it could easily explode in size far faster than you could ever read.<\/p>\n

    Instead of a checklist, my to-learn list has two parts. The first is a huge brainstorm where I\u2019ve written down everything I want to read and learn from Shakespeare to cognitive psychology, martial arts to being fluent in Hindi. This entire pool of ideas is unmanageable as a list, but it gives me a solid base to work from the next time I need to get more books.<\/p>\n

    The second part is a stack of about 5-7 ideas I want to chew through next. This is a little over a months worth of reading, and about the size I would need to take from the library or bookstore.<\/p>\n

    Bookmark It!<\/h2>\n

    Whenever I get an idea for a subject I\u2019d like to learn more about or an author I haven\u2019t read yet, I write down those ideas on my notepad. I can then add this to my to-learn pool for more ideas of books I could read in the future.<\/p>\n

    To-Read Versus To-Learn<\/h2>\n

    A to-read list is a good idea, but it only encompasses one form of self-education. Keeping a to-learn list means you also need to add in subjects and ideas that you can\u2019t get from a book. Cooking, martial arts and foreign languages can\u2019t be grabbed entirely off the page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019m sure most people are familiar with a to-do list. If you\u2019ve been reading this blog for any length of time, hopefully you have at least one of these on the go, tracking your tasks on paper. But do you have a to-learn list? I recently decided my self-education system needed a bit of cleaning, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[682,661],"tags":[29,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-nc-learning","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-learning","9":"tag-organization","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKeeping To-Learn Lists - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Most people know about to-do lists, but do you know about to-learn lists? 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