Synthesize What You Take In

I was being interviewed recently by Jan Davis for a book she is writing and she asked me, “why do you write a blog?”  Interesting question.  There are many answers, and I may answer in many different ways at different times in my life.

But right now, I’m consuming so many other blogs, podcasts, books, articles, websites, journals, and other industry-specific information that I need a way to synthesize the information I’m taking in.  Writing helps me to get all of my thoughts out of my head and into a format that I can understand.  The blog is my outlet.  And as I go through this little exercise, I hope the information I’m producing on the blog is helpful to others.  Jan mentioned that this type of synthesis is a technique mentioned in one of David Allen’s best-selling books, the guru of Getting Things Done.  I’m not sure which book she was referring to, but David Allen said to take time at the end of each day and write down all of your entrepreneurial/new thoughts as a way to process what you’ve been learning throughout the day.

It works really well for me.

Maybe that’s a good reason for you to start a blog.  Maybe it can just start with you synthesizing the information you put in your head.  Maybe no one will read it for a year.  But once you find your groove, the information you process into a blog may be helpful to many others needing your take on the many subjects you deal with in your career.

What do you think?  Would a blog help you synthesize information you are putting in your head?  Do you synthesize what you take in differently than writing a blog?  Leave it in the comments.

Here are a few resources on blogging:

Compelling Content in a Blog

Using Google’s Wonder Wheel to Find Topics to Write About on Your Blog

Every Blogger Starts From Zero

Tweet This (and such)

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