Trying to follow

When in college I was a mass consumer of information. Books, lectures, sermons, classes, magazines, papers, etc. I decided it would be worth my time to set down an intentional list of questions that I would ask myself as I spent my time doing these things.
I’ve found, though I don’t do it all the time, that this is HUGELY beneficial to making the most of your time and the information you take in.

Reading a Book, Listening to a Lecture, and Taking a Class

Why do I do these things?
To gain insight, knowledge, wisdom for life.

So…
What questions should I ask while I read, listen, etc. to make full use of that time?

Before

1. Why do I think this book/lecture/class will further my life?
2. Of what importance is this aspect (from question #1) in my priorities in life?
3. Am I committed to giving the time and effort to make this thing as beneficial as possible to my life?

During

1. Is this sentence, chapter, idea or thought, new to me? (If yes: Write it down!)
2. Does this new thought involve me taking action?
3. Should I memorize it, read it again, or research further?
4. How can I practically implement this new thing into my life right now?
5. Is there anything I did not understand? Seek to understand it. Do NOT ignore new words, confusing sentences; read again or ask for help, until I understand.

After

1. What did I learn from this?
2. Is there actions I can take immediately to implement that?
3. Did I make a mistake by choosing that thing? How can I not let that happen again?

After After

1. Has this produced fruit in my life? Is it good or bad fruit?
2. Am I giving my full energy and potential to applying this new thing?
3. Have I implemented this to were I am satisfied?
4. Can I then begin to take in something new?

(I hope my use of the word ‘binge’ is not offensive)

There are a few causes of my recent information/media binge. While Mindy was out of town I tried out a free trial of blockbuster.com, as well as checking umpteen movies out of the library. Well blockbuster made a mistake and corrected it by giving me another month free (till Feb 11th). In addition we recently got an ipod and I have been using it to catch up on the many many podcast I missed when our old one broke. On top of that I have a bunch of magazines I’m reading and I’ve subscribed to more RSS feeds then I probably should. The thing is I’m enjoying it all right now.

I realize though that this much information intake is probably not healthy. I listen to podcast whenever I’m not sitting, I watch movies as I write and read and do my taxes, and I check my RSS feeds far too much just to stay on top of them. I think it’s probably better to do one thing at a time.

Coming up Feb 11th, it’s time for a purge.