Continuous Learning vs. Overwhelm: How to Speed Up Your Learning Without Burning Out
Sculpture of reading figure with a book.
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Deep learning becomes difficult once a faculty career settles in due to acute time poverty. By building a systematic micro-learning ritual, you can stay on the cutting edge of your field in just 15 minutes a day.
When was the last time you had an extended period of uninterrupted “working” time? Between the meetings that could have been emails, the meetings that got sidetracked because there was no agenda, drop-in conversations with colleagues and students, and the never-ending demands of everything else, there’s no time to just sit and think.
As faculty senate chair in 2019, I was in A LOT of meetings. Around this time, I also co-founded a research center, which required more meetings to secure buy-in and approval. And as I stepped down as faculty senate chair, I also became the interim director of another research institute on campus. I was busy.
The Tyranny of the "Someday" Reading Pile:
Amid all these commitments, I needed to continue my research program. To stay on top of the latest research, every morning I flagged interesting articles from the various listservs to which I belonged and added them to my “reading pile”. I also made multiple files and lists for “someday” research projects.
When I was prompted by a student meeting, I would glance through these tabs and share possible ideas. Otherwise, I was just “tab hoarding”, which is the practice of keeping multiple tabs open with the intention of returning to them later. According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, while people were initially anxious about closing these tabs, having too many open made them feel worse. The tabs were a reminder that they weren’t making progress on what mattered most.
I am sure that most faculty can relate to these feelings.
The Micro-Learning Framework:
As we discussed last week, I got into this job to solve big problems alongside the people around me. I did not get into this job to attend meetings that don’t move the needle and feel frantic. So how did I begin to regain time to pursue the knowledge needed to solve the problems that interested me? Micro-Learning.
Micro-learning allows you to acquire knowledge in small chunks, each taking no more than 10 minutes to complete. This approach to learning can happen through short readings, videos, apps, games, and infographics. Importantly, it is an evidence-based way to get into a topic.
There are a variety of apps available to help organize the learning process, but it doesn’t need to be complicated. All you need is a few minutes of uninterrupted time to absorb the information.
Protecting Intellectual Margin:
This begins by setting hard boundaries against administrative creep to preserve your processing time. I know this is easier said than done. So, here’s how I started:
1. Review your calendar for standing meetings and ask, “What do I need to be at?” Start by asking for the meeting agenda; if it doesn’t exist, ask whether the meeting time can be shortened. Eventually, you might ask if the meeting is even needed. This is wildly uncomfortable at the start, but as I sat with that discomfort, I got back HOURS of my week.
2. Use time blocking for emails and administrative tasks
Time blocking saved me. I am very good at sticking to what my calendar tells me to do. Now, in just 30 minutes, I can clear out most of my inbox and check my calendar for the coming weeks. Scheduled administrative time also relieves me of the stress of having to respond immediately.
3. Think about how you like to learn
I LOVE long-form journalism. So, I focus on articles from places like The Atlantic, The Economist, and The New Yorker. These publications often include links to original research, don’t take long to read, AND now have AI-generated spoken versions that I can listen to on the go.
One last thing: start slow and be steady with your efforts. Rewriting how you approach your time will take, well, time. And, like any habit, you will need to give it time to stick.
In the meantime, here are a few articles I’ve read recently:
1. David Brooks in The Atlantic, “The people who will thrive in the AI age”
2. David Epstein in The Atlantic, “The secret success to ‘monotasking’”
3. Helen Ouyang in The New York Times, “How AI might change the way doctors think”
4. Adam Grant, Marissa Shandell, and Courtney Elliot in The New York Times, “The secret reason bosses want everyone back in the office, every day of the week”
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