Raise your hand if you download and sign up for resources, guides, courses, and other content that you totally plan on reading or watching.
Yea, I think we all do.
But I’ve found that most people don’t actually consume the resources they download and sign up for. They might skim the email or open the PDF and scroll through. After the moment has passed, it never gets an iota of attention again.
It’s tough because there’s SO MUCH content out there. A lot of it’s really bad, but a lot of it’s very helpful.
I was tired of having a bunch of PDFs and courses in my backlog, with no strategy to consume them.
So I got purposeful. I set out a system. And now I work through resources and courses at a steady pace. Always learning.
Here are the key takeaways:
- Check for quality right away
- File resources in one place (or two: one short term, one long term)
- Organize, organize, organize
- Go through periodically to clean house
- Set reminders; make learning part of your day
The Initial Download/Registration
You see a fancy headline for a resource that sounds appealing. You click, give them your email address, download the PDF, and never touch it again.
Am I right?
That’s what I used to do.
Now, when I download resources, I take a couple of steps to make sure I’m curating the best resources and not wasting my time. (And it all falls under the 2 minute rule from David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.)
Step 1: Quality Check
Anyone can publish anything on the internet, so this first gatekeeping step is important for making sure you stick to the system. If you find a bunch of low-quality crap in your backlog, you’re going to get discouraged. Kick it to the curb before it gets there.
When I download a resource or sign up for a course, I do a quick quality check. I open the PDF and do a cursory scroll-through or I do a quick spot check on a video.
If it seems legit, valuable, and what I expected, it moves along to the next step.
If it’s a piece of junk and provides me no value, I delete it right away and ensure I waste no more than that two minutes of my life on it.
Step 2: File Away for Later (or Delete)
If it seems legit, valuable, and what I expected, I file it away (see more on the filing system below).
If it’s a piece of junk and provides me no value, I delete it right away and ensure I waste no more than that 2 minutes of my life on it.
Step 3: Prepare for the Emails
I give my real email address when I’m downloading resources. I’m purposeful about downloading high-quality content…and deleting and unsubscribing from anything sub-standard.
When you download a free resource, you can expect a barrage of emails on the backend, most likely trying to sell you something. That’s how funnels work.
Some of those emails are more high-quality content; others are just annoying. I use a similar process for filtering the post-download emails as I do for the initial download. I do a quality check—is this individual email good or bad? If it’s good, I file away (more on this later). If it’s bad, I delete. If someone sends me unhelpful emails, or if I can tell from their initial email that future emails are going to be annoying, I unsubscribe right away.
I think this initial quality check and filing step is one of the main reasons my system has been successful. And that without it, there’s no wonder most people don’t consume the content they download. You never know if you’re going to get something worthwhile or something Joe Schmoe put out to sell something no one wants.
I know that when I dive into consuming these resources, the duds have been eliminated and I’m going to be reviewing something of at least moderate quality.
The Filing System
I’ve built an electronic filing system that works for me and allows me to organize the resources I download for initial consumption and ongoing use.
I differentiate between “downloads” and “courses” only in their delivery. Downloads are a file (or files) I can download to my computer and move wherever I want. Courses are the content I can’t (or shouldn’t) download, like those hosted in a course platform like Thinkific where there are often a combination of videos, text, and files. The nature of the content delivery means I have to file them a bit differently.
Downloads
When I download something, it usually has one of a few purposes:
- To learn – usually ebooks, PDFs, videos, and other content simply for consuming
- For inspiration – a resource I download out of curiosity to explore what the resource is and how the funnel is set up
- To use – usually templates or other resources that could serve as a starting point for my work
I’ve organized my folders accordingly. I have a “Resources” folder in my Google Drive (Dropbox or any other cloud storage provider works just as well) in the following categories:
- To Read/Watch
- Templates
- Swipes
- Done
Pro tip: I shared the Google Drive folder with all of my Gmail accounts so I can quickly access everything without worrying what device, browser, or account I’m in.
Once I download something and do the quality check, if it passes, I move it into the appropriate folder on my Drive. If it’s a “to learn” resource, I put it in the To Read/Watch folder. If it’s a template, I (no surprise here) put it in the templates folder. If it’s for inspiration, I pop it into the Swipes folder (I recommend everyone has a swipe file for inspiration).
I always make sure the file has a common-senses name so I know what I’m getting into when it’s time to consume it or use it.
Courses
When I sign up for a course, I do my usual quality check. If it passes, I file it in a few places:
- I add the link as a bookmark in my browser in the “Courses” folder
- I add the link and my login info in LastPass
- I save the course email(s) in my “Courses” folder in Gmail
- I add the course name and login info to a “Courses” backlog in Asana
The Ongoing Barrage
Any time you sign up for a resource or course, you’re going to get emails. I mentioned above how I review and either file, delete, or unsubscribe from each email. If the email passes my quick quality check, I move it into a “To Read/Watch” folder in my Gmail.
Then each week (it’s a task in my project management system), I go through that folder and:
- Download any PDFs/templates and file them in the appropriate place
- Delete any emails I don’t need or want
- Keep the emails I want to read or reference later
Oftentimes, the emails contain more content—a long text-based email, a link to an in-depth blog post, or a link to a video. If the topic interests me, I want to read/watch the resource, but not as each email comes in or even as I’m organizing. This file-away system gives me a nice backlog of content to consume during my learning time, which I talk about later.
I use this system to remove the pressure of a growing inbox while still making sure I consume content from the brands and people I like to follow.
The Periodic Purge
Sometimes you download a resource or sign up for a course in the heat of the moment when it seems like a good idea. It even passes the quality test. But three months later, you run across it and wonder, “What was I thinking when I downloaded this?”
That happens ALL the time to me, especially when it comes to client-related resources in random industries and niches.
You’ve seen my filing system, so you know I have a few places to go to purge:
- My Resources folder in Google Drive
- My To Read/Watch folder in Gmail
- The Courses bookmark in my browser
- The Courses backlog in my Asana
I go through periodically (I don’t have a set schedule, but I’d estimate every three months or so) and clean house. I go through everything and delete anything I won’t use.
This process is also nice because it reminds you of the content you’ve consumed, the templates you have, the courses you’ve taken. Sometimes the timing is just right where you re-discover a template that’s perfect for the project you just started.
Keeping the file system clean is important to maintaining discipline around actually reading, watching, and using the resources in it. If you run into crappy content half of the time you open your backlog, you’re less apt to keep the habit.
The Follow-through
That’s the organizing part. Now for the doing.
All this organizing and filing doesn’t do us any good if we don’t set intentions to consume the content we’re setting aside.
I have several different habits for consuming the content I save.
The Devices
I have several devices I use for learning, depending on the situation.
- Main Laptop – My powerhouse laptop with all the memory, RAM, and graphics for the work I do.
- Chromebook – A simple, affordable, lightweight laptop that lets me do a lot of my work, including writing and anything that’s done in a browser, from the couch.
- Tablet – A small (iPad mini) screen for reading content and watching videos when I don’t want to be at a laptop.
- Phone – This one feels obvious. I don’t use my phone much for learning; I prefer a larger screen.
- Printer – I have a printer so I can have physical copies when I want, but I work to kill as few trees as possible, so I mostly stay digital.
- Books! – I’ll always prefer reading a physical book to anything digital. I have many business books on my shelves, and I also borrow from friends and the library.
Those devices help me consume the content. Now here’s how I make the time.
Morning Learning
I spend 20-30 minutes each morning either reading a business book, doing courses, or reading these resources I’ve saved. During this time slot, I usually prefer a hard-copy book because I’m not in front of my laptop. If I’m working through a course, I’ll pull out the tablet, but 99% of the time, I’m working on my “morning book.” (I’m an avid reader, so I always have books in progress. Lately I’ve had one “morning book” that’s focused on business, self-improvement, or some other skill, and then one “evening book” that’s solely for fun reading.)
TV Time
Because I save the resources in Drive, I have access to them on my phone and tablet, so I don’t have to be at my computer. If I’m bored (or distracted) watching TV at night, I can pop up my tablet and start learning some stuff. I don’t usually use my phone for this, because I prefer more screen real estate, but the iPad mini works great for reading my “To Read” emails, long blog posts, and PDF downloads.
Planned Learning Time
If there’s a course where I need to follow along and do something at a computer, I set aside time in my week via my project management system to do that work.
Background Video
If there’s a video I want to watch but don’t need to focus on it, I’ll put it on while I’m doing admin work that also doesn’t require much of my brain power.
More Organizing
Once I finish a resource, I either:
- Delete it if I’ll never refer to it again
- Move it to the “Done” folder in Drive so I can reference it later or share with others
When I finish a course, I:
- Leave it as a bookmark in Chrome if I think I’ll reference it again
- Clean out the course emails and only keep the ones I need or want
- Download any files or resources I want to keep and move them over to the “Template” or “Swipe” folder in Drive
- Or if the course wasn’t satisfactory, I remove all references to it in Chrome, my email, and anywhere else
Tracking My Lessons Learned
Anytime I’m going through resources and courses, I have a notebook beside me to document the lessons I want to take away.
Some notes in my notebook are just reminders, quotes, and concepts. While others are ideas I got for things I want to try.
I find my brain is always thinking of ways to implement what I’m reading about. That’s part of why I put such importance on consuming these resources. When I have ideas, I write them in the notebook as I have them, and then later I move them into Asana or wherever else they belong (an email to a client, one of my many checklists).
TL;DR
My system for making sure I continue learning is all about being purposeful.
I’m purposeful in what I download and save.
I’m purposeful about organizing the resources to set myself up for success.
I’m purposeful about setting aside time to consume the resources.
And I’m purposeful about documenting the lessons I learn.
It took a while to build this system and these habits, but now I move through downloads and courses at a pretty good clip.
Want to Try This System for Yourself?
Here: You can download my Trade Pub PR Playbook and resources. File it away, set up your reminders, and read through it!