As an extension off yesterday’s post, not only do I think it’s better to read several pages from one author versus one page from several different authors (emails and blogs included)… I also think it’s better to read one page from one author and really think about what it said (and do inner work with what thoughts it evoked) versus reading a bunch of pages from one author filled with bunches and bunches of what they think with no time to think about any of it.
Inbox zero is tempting. Getting the book checked off your list is appealing. Sucking up every idea and insight available to you in every moment of every day can feel deceptively productive.
But the reality is, as I was alluding to yesterday, tons of insight plus zero processing space pushes those insights out of your brain just as fast as they’re getting sucked in—because our short term memories can only store so much… which is why we (I) can spend an hour watching short videos, feel good about them while I’m doing it, and finish feeling like I took nothing away.
The key takeaway from this is that insight isn’t instantly integrated. Insight needs processing space—inner work time—where it can simmer, settle, and melt into your being.
Otherwise, it’s in one ear and out the other… in one eye and out the other… in one side of your brain and forced out the other… letting it linger is what allows it to stay within. And lingering happens only when there’s nothing else pushing it around and out of the way.