Sometimes I find the more I read of _other_ people’s ideas, the less space I have in my own brain to have my own ideas. I am like you, I am an information addict! I LOVE to learn about almost everything, and can never just be reading about one topic! I really enjoy learning about how others think about a controversial topic by reading their blogs. However, in terms of behaviors that stimulate new ideas, I find some of my best ideas emerge when I’m engaged in repetitive and relaxing physical movement like running or swimming, or when I’m doing something “brainless” such as washing dishes, or when I’m writing!

However, reading followed by _discussion_ of ideas that I’ve read about with others _is_ a very fruitful method for me to create new ideas. Which is one reason why I really enjoy your site. You foster generation of new ideas by encouraging interaction among your readers– kudos!

Yep, blogs are highly addictive, and the amount of content just keeps growing. I was away for a week, and now my feed reader is filled with over 1000 posts waiting for me…

Thanks for all the great content you have here!

Groove Momma’s last blog post: 15 Minutes a Day

Coding is too close to reading. I’ve tried several times, don’t work for me. On the otherhand, making fancy Powerpoint slides with pictures and stuff works fine :)

Nah, just kidding.

For me the “how” part is pretty much the fact that I read all kinds of stuff, and many books at once. That way if I get stuck in some book, I can switch to another for a while – and so on.

But if you’re not interested in reading in the traditional sense, I think you’re right – audio books would be a good idea.

There’s nothing wrong in learning by doing – except that you can’t learn everything that way. It works really well for practical stuff like coding, but not that well when it comes to understanding how the world functions – topics like philosophy, economics etc.

@Reko: Yeah, books that are divided to clear tips or lessons are easier to leave aside for a while, and while I am reading many kinds of books at once (including novels and also some biographies every now and then) not all books are quite as easy to leave to rest…

When I get started on a really good novel, the other books often have to wait until I’m finished with the novel. But not always… :)

I’m constantly reading biographies, history or fiction – I get so involved with those that I don’t want to drop the ball on what it’s telling about. Therefore, I’m pretty hesitant on having even two books unfinished at the same time.

With guidance etc. books I guess it’s easier since you can just read a “thought for a day” -type of thing, think on it and move on. It doesn’t necessarily have to connect with “what happened before” in that particular book. Somewhat like reading parts from Art of War from here and there.

I remember reading some books while travelling to work. It was back then, when I used subway to get to work and back home. Nowadays when I drive by car, I think I could listen audio books, but I’m too lazy to get them on CD’s so that I actually could use them in my car.

Since reading is so difficult I have to learn by doing and learn by experience instead of reading. Perhaps in the future we all can learn by doing nothing.