Your Investment In Reading Blog Posts

“That blog post was too long.”

“That newsletter was way too long.”

“I’d read your stuff if you could just give me the summary.”

Some blog posts are long. Some blog posts are short. But the length of the post is no representation of its value or the investment you should make in reading it. Your investment in reading a blog post (or newsletter) isn’t just the time is takes you to read it. Your investment in reading is far more significant.

Your investment in really digesting something you read is the time it takes to read it + the time is takes to answer the questions that the author asks and answers + the time it takes to explore the answers to the questions that you come up with as you read + the time it takes to figure out how to apply any part of the idea that you find useful.

You aren’t reading just to check the box “I read Seth’s blog,” or “I read Chris’s blog,” or “I read Dave’s blog.” Deriving value from reading is a more significant commitment of time and an even greater commitment of energy.

If it isn’t the right time for you to make the full investment in exploring an idea, then don’t worry about it. The ideas that live on the web will still be here when you need them. If you don’t have time to read something, bookmark it and save it for later. I save important posts to Evernote and tag them so I can retrieve and study them later.

If you’re going to take the time to read, invest the rest of the time you need to apply what you have read and learned. If something isn’t useful for you right now, discard it and invest your time on ideas that will benefit you.

Questions

Why do you read blog posts and newsletters?

What do you hope to get out of the time and energy you invest?

What was the last idea that you read and took action on after having read it?

What are you going to do with the next great idea you read instead of glossing over it and moving on?