Knowledge on-tap
When is it still handy to retain info in our brains?
TLDR: We still need to invest in our future selves and having knowledge and info readily accessible is part of that; there’s no better means of making the time to learn than…timeboxing.
Word count: 656 words
Read time: 3 mins
This is the third of a six-part series on Not-forgetting. Please share this email with friends who might use their time more intentionally. And if you reckon you’re not going to get to the end of these 750 words, just do the 1-minute asterisked exercise at the end.
So much to learn, so little time…
We don’t need to retain information as much these days. So much of it is stored in the cloud and accessible within seconds from smartphones. A 2011 study claimed that The Google Effect, our tendency to forget facts we can readily look up online, is real and strong.
Yet it seems obvious that learning and knowing (interspersed with doing, as Roberto Ferraro’s artwork, above, reminds us) still play an important role in the life of the modern human. So in this part of the Not-forgetting series I’ll scratch at the surface (how Adult’s Learning Projects is a big topic - experiential, chunking, hands-on practice, reflection, collaborative, self-directed, mentoring, scenario-based, scaffolding, multi-modal, role-playing, mind-mapping, story-telling, learning-by-teaching, and much more) of when and how we need to learn and know.
This is my day job. As many of you know, I run a learning technology company called Filtered Techologies. We develop algorithms to assimilate learning content (courses, articles, videos, podcasts, etc) in terms of a company’s priority skills to help their workforce learn and upskill on the right materials, faster. We’ve been hearing about what works, what’s important and what’s not in adult and corporate education for well over a decade.
Learning and knowing is certainly still a big deal. For example:
Tests and exams. Perhaps, the most obvious example of when recall (and some understanding) is a requirement.
Live, in conversation. Steer the conversation in the direction you deem important, back up a point with evidence, look smart. We see a lot of this, for good or ill, in live political debates.
To test ourselves. Of course it’s easy and tempting to just find the answer on our smartphones. But isn’t it so much more delicious and satisfying to piece a theory together from the disparate morsels we have?
For deep expertise. Info and knowledge is not a sufficient condition for mastery but it is necessary.
To problem solve. Rapid decision-making and problem-solving very often rely on a solid foundation of relevant knowledge.
Emergencies (medical/first aid). Immediate recall of critical information can save lives when technology is not accessible and seconds matter.
Public speaking. If you know the material, you’ll deliver it much better, more smoothly, more naturally and without recourse to notes etc. This was my main pointer for delivering presentations in this recap of my experiences earlier this year, when the book came out.
I see two types of use case, even from amongst this small sample.
(Before you read on any further, what do you see?)
The first is that we need knowledge on tap for live, in-the-moment situations (#1, #2, #6). The second is that we need it to develop and convey deep understanding and sense-making of a domain.
A short blog isn’t the place for how we learn. But I will take another perfect opportunity to point out how germane timeboxing is to any of these situations.
Investing in your future self requires some time commitment now or soon, and regularly. Timeboxing gives you exactly that. How else will you learn Japanese or to play the guitar?
Spaced repetition is the technique whereby the student revisits subject material at specifically, deliberately spaced intervals. Spaced repetition can be made to happen at just the right times via timeboxing.
Finally, for those of you having just finished exam season and for everyone else who remembers them vividly and painfully (I’m one of those people that still has dreams about exams now, 30 years on)…what is a revision timetable? It’s just a particular use case for timeboxing. Set the intentions. Specify them in time, make timeboxes. Do them.
**So, think of something cool to learn (six ideas lie in wait for you, below), do your current and future self a favour, right now: create a timebox in your calendar to learn it. And make sure you keep learning it by making the timebox recur, daily, weekly or even just monthly. Do not forget!**
Next up in this series: Part 4: Communication — replying to friends & family, colleagues & contacts.
Six cool things to learn
Wrap up conversations smoothly and elegantly (11 ways).
Be able to answer the question, ‘What’s your favourite joke?’
Links you may like
7 days of Timeboxing (the free email micro-course)
Timeboxing, the book (US)
Timeboxing, the book (UK)
My Insta for shorter-form content
Connect with me on LinkedIn (I will say yes!)