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5 Tips to Help You Consume Content More Productively

Consume content productivelyAs bloggers, we create a significant amount of content. But most of us consume a significant amount of it as well.

In an industry that uses strategies such as SEO, social media marketing and email marketing as key tools, we need to stay up to date with changes and trends so we can keep growing and developing. We also need to keep abreast of what’s happening in our niche to stay relevant.

Trouble is, with so much content out there we could easily spend our entire blogging work day consuming it. Sure we’re learning a lot, but we need to be mindful of how much time we’re spending and do it productively so it helps us grow our blogs.

Here are five tips to help you consume content more productively.

1. Focus

If you’ve been reading the productivity posts here on Problogger, then you’ll hopefully have set a goal for the year. If you have, you can use it to help target the type of content you read, watch and listen to. General knowledge is wonderful, and certainly has its place. But in terms of helping you with your blogging it’s far more productive to focus on content topics that will help you reach your blogging goal(s) for the year.

For example, if your goal is to increase newsletter subscribers then subscribing to podcasts and blogs that share content on this topic would be beneficial, as would reading books or listening to audiobooks that share list-building strategies.

It can be tempting to learn about every blogging issue to try and stay up to date. But this splits your attention, which means you can only go shallow on topics. You’re better off going deep and consuming content on fewer topics that will help you reach your goal than spreading your attention too thin.

2. Have the content come to you

You’ll always need to look for specific information. But if there are blogs, podcasts and vloggers you like to read, listen to and watch regularly, make sure you subscribe to them. That way the information comes to you, which you can then consume whenever it’s convenient.

There are plenty of great tools available to help you. Here are a few that work well for me.

feedly

feedly is a content aggregator that works on web browsers, as well as on iOS and Android devices through a free app. It lets you curate a news feed from a variety of online sources. You can add blogs, Youtube channels, and even Google keyword alerts that will gather the latest articles on your chosen topics from more than 5,000 of the world’s best news sources.

As you can see from the screenshot, it’s super easy to add new content.

YouTube Moz

To add a blog you like to read, simply click on the Add Content button and paste in the URL. You can also add your favourite YouTube video channels by pasting the URL into the space provided and clicking Follow.

With feedly you can scan through your preferred data sources without going to the actual source sites. This means you avoid all the distractions and ‘rabbit holes’ you can lose yourself in, helping you consume content more productively. It also means you can turn off things like Youtube notifications, as you’ll get the updates automatically in feedly.

Content aggregators such as feedly can also help you position yourself as a subject matter expert in a particular area. It can search the internet for your chosen keyword and retrieve articles from reputable news sources all over the world, rather than you having to do all the searching yourself. You can then either share these articles on your social media channel straight away, or use feedly’s Read Later function and mark content you want to save to share on your social media networks later.

Keyword alerts

Podcast apps

The podcast revolution continues, with so many amazing podcasts being published every day. Subscribing to podcasts in your niche, goal areas or areas of interest is an excellent way to manage incoming audio content.

If you use an Apple device you can use the native Podcast app. But with the changes they made to the app in iOS 11 I’m now looking at two other highly recommended podcast apps:

  • Overcast, an iOS-only app available as either a free version with ads or a paid version with no ads.
  • Pocket Casts, a paid app available on Android and iOS.

3. Take action notes

While it’s great to listen to podcasts and read blog posts and books on topics that will help you, unless you take action it’s not an effective use of your time. To ensure you put your new knowledge to use, or at least explore your thoughts and ideas on the content you consumed, take action notes.

Action notes are exactly what their name implies. After you’ve had a reading or listening session, write down the actions you’d like to take. They aren’t just general notes on things you heard or read, or quotes from the book. They’re specific action items you can take for your blog, based on the broad information you heard.

For example, if you’re focusing on increasing newsletter subscribers you may have found the Problogger podcast in your app and listened to Darren’s podcast on how to get more subscribers, follows and connections from your blog readers. With so much great information in this podcast you could easily write reams of notes. But Instead, try writing three actions you can take from what you’ve learned, such as:

  1. Create two more two opt-ins or lead magnets so they’ll be more relevant to readers, depending on the content they’ve been reading on the blog.
  2. Install a welcome mat, and track the impact on new subscribers.
  3. Write a series of blog posts, and encourage readers to subscribe so they get the latest posts in the series delivered to their inbox.

You can easily read and listen to huge amounts of information and not act on it. By keeping action notes in either your master planning document or a separate notebook, you can track and work through the action items you want to implement on your blog.

4. Share your thoughts

The best way to learn is to teach. Share your thoughts on what you’ve been reading, listening to or watching on your blog. Even if the information is different to your niche, you can build your own piece of content around it. You’ve been building a relationship with your audience, and they’ll be interested in your opinion and recommendations.

Gathering and sharing excellent content can be a great way to give value to your audience, and give purpose to the content you consume. Here are a few examples of bloggers sharing their thoughts on the content they’ve been consuming:

  • Meet Me at Mikes – Something to read: Pip regularly shares what she’s been listening to, watching or reading. In this post she shares a host of things she’s been reading – from blogs and books to menus and recipes. It’s an eclectic collection that wonderfully reflects the personality of her blog, and shares information with readers they may not have found on their own.
  • James Clear – Reading list: James is a prolific reader, and he writes super useful book summaries on his blog. James has collated his book reviews into a much-favourited and shared reading list, which breaks books into categories and top ten lists. In his full book reviews (like this one on Sapiens) he has three sections – the book in three sentences, the summary, and affiliate links to where you can buy the print, eBook and audiobook versions of the book. This reading list is a go-to reference guide for readers when they’re looking for a book to read.
  • Becoming Minimalist – Inspiring Simplicity. Weekend Reads: Joshua Becker writes a weekly post sharing content he’s either watched, listened to or read on his simplicity/minimalism niche. The format is the same each week – a short introduction, and then one or two sentences on each item he shares. These posts are incredibly useful to his readers who are exploring and learning more about minimalism, and are consistently shared widely on social media. When I last checked, the post I’ve linked to had been shared more than a thousand times.

5. Use boundaries to limit your consumption

It can be hard to stop reading, watching or listening to content that’s stimulating, amusing or informative. But there’s a tipping point to how much content we can consume. Setting up personal boundaries can help ensure we take a productive approach to our consumption.

Look for pockets of time in your day where existing boundaries force you to stop. I schedule social media and blog reading in the last 30 minutes of my work day, when I pick the kids up from school. You may not have a school pick up to do, but you might have a meeting you can do some reading before, or a regular appointment that can act as a boundary and stop you spending too much time consuming and not enough time creating.

How do you manage the way you consume content? Tell us about it in the comments.

Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

About Nicole Avery
Nicole Avery is a Melbourne mum to five beautiful kids aged seven to 17. She is the master organiser behind the popular parenting blog Planning With Kids and and the creator of the Planned & Present e-course, a step-by-step guide for mums on how to organise the chaos of family life while still leaving space to enjoy it.
Comments
  1. punittongia says: 10/27/2017 at 12:50 am

    Is there any tool like feedly for video content as well?

  2. Thanks for such a amazing information and These comments and tips are really useful, particularly in the
    context of improving skills and knowledge, and they address a very
    common ‘modern’ problem ie shortage of time.

  3. Hello Nicole,

    Great insights you have shared here regarding content consuming and make it more productive. Its really very informative and its helps me a lot. Thanks for sharing these great tips here.

    With Regards,
    Vishwajeet

  4. Really vital tips here. Social media consumption can often feel overwhelming but structuring the time you consume more makes sense and also leaves ample time for you to create too. Thank you!

    • Your welcome, it took me a while to reach a spot where I am mindful about what I consume, but it makes such a difference to how much work I complete!

  5. Jason Skinner says: 10/28/2017 at 11:56 am

    Great Post thank you for this. Valuable info .

  6. SDB World says: 10/28/2017 at 8:51 pm

    Great post its very useful for us keep posting new article.

    wishes
    SDB WORLD

  7. Deepa majusha says: 10/28/2017 at 9:08 pm

    really useful blog. thank you for sharing

  8. Awesome Nicole! Thank you for sharing this.

    Great suggestions about Feedly, it’s been a MASSIVE time saver for me. I love the fact we can have different categories of feeds, to separate any topics that we might blog about.

    Looking forward to your next post.

  9. Hey Nicole, that was really interesting and good for me because I know I spend too much time reading a lot of things that aren’t really productive. Your first point of getting focused is something I really need to work on – and I will now, thanks!

  10. Jasper Dave Dayanan says: 10/30/2017 at 1:59 am

    Thanks for the Post. Helpful for newbies like me.

  11. Lucas Smith says: 10/30/2017 at 5:06 pm

    Thanks for sharing your ideas Nicole!
    It really does consume hours of my time just by reading through contents that I find interesting. It would often result to a 70:30 ratio. 70% is used up for reading and 30% of my time is what’s left for actual creation. I even considered subscribing to a personal virtual assistant services to cope up with my work and blog management. I’ll be applying your tips and see the difference for myself.
    Cheers!

    • Hi Lucas, I always aim to make sure I am creating more than I am consuming – this means my productivity it where I want to be.

  12. SDB World says: 10/30/2017 at 5:48 pm

    Nice article keep posting my friend

  13. Disa Rastogi says: 10/30/2017 at 6:07 pm

    Hi Nicole,

    Thanks for sharing your views. It happens a lot many times that we spend time reading things that are really not productive so tools like Feedly exist in market to help us focus.

    Disa Rastogi

  14. madhu uray says: 10/31/2017 at 5:59 pm

    Hello Nicole,
    Great information and its helps me a lot. thanks for sharing this post here.

  15. Archi Agarwal says: 10/31/2017 at 9:13 pm

    very nice blog.

  16. Hi Nicole,

    I love reading, but don’t have a lot of time to devote to it. I’ve been using Feedly but picked up a couple tips on how to make it easier for me to find content that I want to read.

    I’ve gotten to the point where I love listening to podcasts more than reading. It’s easy to listen to podcasts while I spend time exercising throughout the day.

    I haven’t thought about using #4 and sharing my thoughts. This can be a great way to come up with some great blogging ideas, especially when you’re struggling to come up with something to write about.

    Thanks for these tips on helping me find more time to read. I know that I need to spend more time doing that, I’m going to start setting 30 minute blocks at night.

    Have a great day :)

    Susan

  17. Thanks for the wonderful information! I am truly agreed with the fact that the best way to learn is to teach.

  18. Nicole,

    I have to check out Feedly again. Would you say that it is time for a bit of spotlight on the content curators out there?

  19. jessic gross says: 11/04/2017 at 4:29 pm

    Useful post its very informative …..
    thanks for sharing

    Regards
    jessica gross

  20. Learn Digital Marketing says: 11/06/2017 at 8:15 pm

    Awesome work.Just wanted to drop a comment and say I am new to your blog and really like what I am reading.Thanks for the share

  21. Jasper Dave Dayanan says: 11/07/2017 at 11:06 pm

    Thanks now i have an idea on what to do.

  22. Great Blog.Thanks for sharing such a useful information. Your insights knowledge regarding social media blogs. This will truly help us in our online marketing journey. You have given us simple information that will help and guide us.

  23. Sofia jones says: 11/18/2017 at 4:20 pm

    Thanks for awesome information i am truly obelised with your blog

  24. Ozoprop Technologies says: 12/06/2017 at 11:18 pm

    This is really wonderful information..

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