Hi, Hello! My name is Sarah - the writer behind redgregory.com.
The Collector's Fallacy & What I Do About It
Planning fatigue is when one uses a great amount of energy to plan only to find themselves not following through with those plans.
- This is the feeling of accomplishment without doing anything.
Similarly, there's something called the collector's fallacy.
- This is when you're faced with say a book to read and you want to take notes, however, you find yourself jotting down pages worth of insights you deemed noteworthy while reading, but really, aren't of much value.
- I call this clutter, or non-actionable info.
Collecting information for the sake of collecting.
- To know about something doesn't equate to knowing something. To have a lot of books doesn't make you well read.
It's satisfying to collect. It's nice to look at a library of books, or to have a full binder of tags and documents ... it's aesthetically pleasing.
I bookmark information out of fear it will never return. That the information will disappear forever if it isn't saved.
- This is probably true.
- The information that isn't deemed necessary to me right now will fall away.
- Chances are though, even if I do bookmark it, I'll never return to it, seeing as I have no discernible use for it.
I have a junk drawer in my knowledge system. It's where I hoard non-actionable information out of fear. I find myself emptying it regularly. Maybe 5% of this folder is actually used.
- Bookmarking so many pages drowns information into its own void.
- It becomes just as unattainable as its pre-bookmarked status.
Am I still going to use my junk drawer? Yes, most likely, but here's what I don't do inside this drawer anymore. I don't tag these notes.
Smallest units of knowledge.
This is how anyone should approach understanding new concepts, by breaking down concepts into its smallest units of knowledge.
I find that clutter doesn't just come from non-actionable tid-bits of information or excessive web-bookmarks.
- Clutter can also come from these fragmented actionable notes, and dead reference notes that are no longer in use.
- Of which, tags are implemented to organize, creating something like a web of ideas.
- And deleting notes, yes deleting them, may be necessary.
Highest Performing Tweet
Mood The Past Two Weeks
This is a copy of a Medium article I published here
I had a Zoom call with a fellow content creator last week (my anxiety was unbelievable. I wanted to cancel this call several times). After an awkward introduction, I warmed up and he gave me a lot of advice that I’m incredibly thankful for. Here are a few:
ON EDITING
- Don’t sweat the small things.
- Every video should improve incrementally, and there will always be new issues to deal with in the beginning.
ON COMMUNICATION
- Choose what comments to respond to. Some don’t require a response.
- Answer emails within 3 days. (my biggest issue, but I’m happy to hear I’m not alone in this)
ON HAPPINESS
- We went on for the entire call about happiness, purpose and disappointment. There were no particular takeaways other than a two-way therapy session. I very much appreciated it.
ON DISCIPLINE
- I tend to take things too seriously. I asked him “how do you deal with small mistakes that are so public?” His answer was expected but still valuable. “don’t take it personally.”
Published The Past Two Weeks
