Re-building a consumption funnel
The disarray in information consumption habits and the need for more discipline in order to develop a Personal Knowledge System (PKM) and use it as an input for creative pursuits.
The disarray in information consumption habits
The bizarreness of my content consumption is neither optimal nor sustainable in the long run. My capacity to consume content is extremely large. This statement is supported by few acquaintances as well.
In recent times, the fragmented social media, increased feeds and multiple contexts have made me reconsider my content consumption approach. It is critical as large part of my day is spend staring the screen and reading streams of information.
The current rough sketch of what I consume on a regular basis is illustrated below. “Rss-feeds” is about the channels where I get a stream of content tailored to my interests. The serendipity and exploration part of topics come from the following I have curated in the different social apps now.
All the articles I read, gleaned over or saved for later will get linked to the note of the day in Obsidian. More of what information is in these streams was mentioned in this post.
Much of the skill based reading for work will be checked for believability and then summarised (most often ,not) into a tagged note that I could easily share while recommending it to others.
The reason why this system is critical is to develop a Personal Knowledge System(PKM). I came across PKM thanks to Jarche’s blog.
You seek knowledge from your work, sense it in closed communities(conversation within the specific community) and share it publicly.
My consumption funnel helped me seek the information shared publicly from different communities. Yet, it is hindering my contribution to public spaces due to lack of time processing the information.
The challenge now stems from the contexts I inhabit. Let me run you through the list along the x-axis (getting things done —> learning new things)
- There is only one formal contract I am involved in as an employee. Working from India for freight (road transportation) for EU and USA markets.
- I invest significant time understanding the new context even if the domain is familiar.
- This involves talking to any customer who is willing to spend time.
- Cold DMing people from the industry to understand the different parts of the overall sector.
- Informal but invested contract is with my previous team members about the new initiative. Both Vishal and Dinesh are building FarmPragathi.
- I recently read an excellent case study that provides concrete evidence on possibility of success.
- So, my current role is to give them the macro / micro perspective as they are head down into executing.
- Last comes the habit of reading in general which is not specific to any work-type.
- The varied feeds and people that were followed when I was a designer, entrepreneur and now operator accrued. This need to read is ongoing for the last 8 years.
- Compounding is good but this is stretching it too far. Just the overall consumption and time spent has increased so much that there is no bandwidth to think(writing).
It took reaching this stage of consumption burnout for yours truly to understand systems like PARA by Tiago Forte are really helpful.
Next, my current system is geared to consume recent content only. A sense of FOMO seeps. Instead of being consuming what is currently published, I now want to read more books. Slow it down.
I have a large enough pile of books bought but unread in two different cities, now.
I have been threatened by friends to not enter bookstores anymore until I move at least some books off the “Yet to read” list.
All in all, changing work role and different projects at play has led me to a point of developing more discipline in the most time consuming activity, information consumption.
The end objective now is to use it as an input for more creative pursuits.
Farm Pragathi
The model that I was part in helping kick-start at my previous role was termed as Fin-Tech project initially. It became public as Farm Pragathi just couple of weeks ago.
The team includes two young entrepreneurs Dinesh and Vishal. One handles product and the other handles Go-to-market, respectively.
They have been sharing nuggets of their work publicly. I am linking to a couple of them to give you a summary of the model and also the progress they made.
Digital native farmers - Women Farmer
At Farm Pragathi, we are providing women with the training and skills needed for modern farming practices. We also believe in empowering them through leadership training and support so they can take on more active roles in their families farming activities. This not only makes them more efficient farmers but also helps them become self-reliant.
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To achieve this, we regularly host online events and webinars with agriculture experts to guide our community farmers on various topics that can improve their farming practices. We've been pleasantly surprised by the positive response from our community farmers, especially the women who attend these webinars on platforms like Google Meet.
It is just the start but the project started with two fundamental “what-ifs”. One of them was community farming with women farmers. I am proud to learn it is no more in the “what-if” and turned into “what-next”.
Women Farmer’s collecting farm samples
Now the women farmers are not just participants; they're leaders, driving change by actively participating in our activities.
Last week we conducted soil sampling involving Farm Pragathi community farmers. Thrilled to see them taking ownership by learning and collecting soil samples independently at their own farms.
I am eagerly waiting from them to turn over the other “what-if” as well.
The most fulfilling part for me personally is seeing this progress. My departure looks insignificant thanks to their entrepreneurial mindset.
Operator writes but yearns operating more
Cedric Cin released his next phase for Commoncog recently. It was really exciting to see an operator write his ventures future and then culminating it with proclamation of taking a step back once it is self-sustaining.
Common Cog’s next phase
I realised. A great operator doesn’t think of operating the same thing everyday. They want newer pursuits once they set the system up to for it to sustain on its own.
If you asked me what I enjoyed more: writing Commoncog or building these things, figuring these things out, getting them to work … and then leaving behind systems and people to continue that work in my absence — I can tell you in a heartbeat: I get more joy out of building those things.
I like writing. But I like operating more.
Living between worlds
My worlds have diverged. It is currently visible on the screen, perks of remote work. Compartmentalising the work and other projects has become a top priority now.
Signing off till next time,
Vivek, abstaining from bookstores for the time being.