Daily Learning Series
I want to document every piece of media I consume. If I have to consume less content in order to document that which I do consume, I think that’s a good thing. I’ll be less stressed from information overload, more mindful of what I consume, and better able to learn from those things I choose to consume.
18 April 2020
Today, I watched 4 videos, read 2 blog posts, completed one quiz, and read from a book for a while.
Videos
- First, I watched James Zap with Beardbrand cutting his own hair. My hair has become unruly since I have not trimmed it since January or February. This video inspired me to pull out my trimmers and trim the sides and back of my head.
- Also, James Zap on thinning a beard bushy beard. I currently trim my beard very short so I don’t have to worry about bulk. In the past, my beard frustrated me because of how unruly and bulky it became whenever I grew it out.
- Vince Sant’s promotional video for V Shred. The video was long, in my opinion, especially for a promotional video. He has you complete a quiz about your body type (which he doesn’t tell you at the end. I’m a mesomorph, by the way). Then, you find a video. In the video I found, Vince talks about three principles. He discusses Time Under Tension (TUT), carb cycling and flexible diets, and High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). He says the correct combination of these three principles is the key to lean bulking. Then the promotion hits: you have to pay to learn “the correct combination.” I don’t know enough about those three principles to comment on there effectiveness for fat loss and muscle growth or the need for V Shred’s products.
- The last video I watched was “Will Life Ever Go Back to Normal?” by Eizelganger. In the video, Eizelganger discusses the concepts of the normal and the new normal. He says that people are generally dissatisfied with the “normal” present while it’s here but yearn for the “normal” once it’s gone. Lastly, he says there is not really a “normal” because everything is always changing. He presents the idea of “normal” as relevant to the rate of change. This means that a slower rate of change reflects a perceived “normal” time and a faster rate of change reflects a perceived abnormal time.
Reading
- I began reading with an article on the Crash blog by Corne Van Straten titled “The UX of You.” In this post, Van Straten talks about the importance of being a great person to work with. One long quote from the post that I like is,
- “The thing is: you can deliver that amazing UX! You can be that person that is extremely reliable, that always shows up, follows through, does what they say they’ll do, and delivers quality work every time… That person that always responds quickly, that sets clear expectations, gives status updates without being asked, and never leaves people in the dark. You can be that person that always exceeds expectations, that underpromises and overdelivers, that’s never too good for a task, and that takes stuff on without being asked. You can be the person that just gets stuff done!”
- I read another article on the Crash blog today. In this article, Chuck Grimmet gives ten ways to build a personal brand. I like some ideas, such as blogging and making tutorials for or writing notes about the things you are learning. Initially, I feel discouraged whenever I read a post like this. I feel like I need to be doing all ten things on the list right now. This feeling is both daunting and impractical. I’m learning to look at a list like this and to think about the small version of one thing on the list that I can begin today. That’s something I can do. Then, over time, I may begin doing more of the things on this list. In a year or two, I may look back and realize that the ten activities that once seemed overwhelming have steadily become manageable through slow, consistent progress.
- I began reading Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse” today. I haven’t read enough to really comment on the book yet. Check out later Daily Learning posts and I may have something to say about it.
The featured image is a photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash.
