Welcome to 4 short-cuts to immersing yourself in a field of study, without long hours in the library, or spending a fortune on books.
As it is my field of study, after a long time in the wilderness, this post will mainly be focused on Planning/Urban design.
1: Pick the topic that you like the most:
As it is my field of study, after a long time in the wilderness, this post will mainly be focused on Planning/Urban design.
1: Pick the topic that you like the most:
The way you approach what you're interested in learning is key. If it is something that engages you, then find how it relates to the things you really love to think and talk about.
If its something that bores you, then what are you doing?
If you're a fashionista, you can follow not just the seasonal trends, but where the shops are, how they work, and how the global supply chain works. Good or bad, this is planning, this is policy, this is politics. All things big and small impact on some aspect of planning and policy. To step back and not include planning in some of these areas, leaves us with a more unhealthy and less sustainable way of living.
You hang out, and shop, where there are people. And where there are people, in a strange way, there's information. Social, colloquial (slang or urban legend), commercial, political, and even data on how we behave. Without getting too technical, when you choose what interests you, you can seek it. Once you know what you're looking for, it will stand out more.
Find what focus speaks to you within a discipline you find interesting. In terms of planning, the scope for this is nearly infinite. For myself it started with Transport. For others it may be food, pubs, housing, parks, architecture, or infrastructure big and small. It is with these little nuggets and kernels of information, where-ever you get them from, that help inform your view of the world. If you follow these steps, this focus and view may become somewhat passive, and not as active as study.
To take transport as an example, you can spot timetables, the time between services, known as headway's. You can spot how the infrastructure works, or follow a route on maps or diagrams. Follow the news and debate about future projects and investments. See how other people interact with the service, whether it's crowded, running smoothly, or a ghost town. Then ask questions, if you don't have the answers, read some more, talk some more, find what you're missing, or ask different questions.
The same information exists for Food, Drink, Cloths, Cars, and Policy. Some may be less attractive, some more nerdy or heavy to read than others. But when you find the ways of talking about it that suit you, it becomes more friendly, more casual.
One of the key origins of planning was John Snow's Cholera map of London. By mapping where sick people lived he was able to see it was clustered around one infected water pump. Those who drank at the local pub, and only drank Ale, were surprisingly uninfected. This key discovery was the beginning of public health's greatest breakthroughs in Sanitation and building for healthier populations. A step change in planning that lead to many of today's greatest insights in how we build and adapt our environment to best suit us.
Map in your mind, where you hang out, where the bargains or easier way of doing things are. Is there a new place you want to try, a new route you want to walk? Explore, trial and error, all part of collecting Data, whether we're aware of it or not.
If you want to know what new restaurants are around, what the trends are, where it may be good to get a drink, where the craic is, then you can follow it. All sorts of sources of information are available, and you can indulge in it at your own leisurely pace, as I will set out in the next steps.
2: Social Media and old media.
These days most of us are connected in some way to the wonders of the world wide web.
Social media being one of the biggest time sinks in which we devote our eyes to. But what are you getting from it? For most people it is their social life outside of real life, but it is also a source of links to content and information you share a common interest in with your friends.
So you've picked a topic, or you're following your field of interest. Why aren't you following it in the same places you are everyday, social media.
Many blogs, pages, twitter accounts, so on and so forth are devoted to things you'll find interesting.
So click like, click follow, read the links they share, even if it's just the headlines. Slowly build up a collection of these sources and just absorb what they're talking about. You don't always have to engage, begin by being aware of it.
As you take more and more of this on board, start sharing yourself. Start using this to inform your conversations. This can help you feel a connection to the information you're starting to build up. It's not essay's or notes, it's part of your daily life.
The sources of such information can vary. Believe it or not, a lot can be found on some of the most common sites.
Newsmedia:
3 Keep it, tag it, share it.
You hang out, and shop, where there are people. And where there are people, in a strange way, there's information. Social, colloquial (slang or urban legend), commercial, political, and even data on how we behave. Without getting too technical, when you choose what interests you, you can seek it. Once you know what you're looking for, it will stand out more.
Find what focus speaks to you within a discipline you find interesting. In terms of planning, the scope for this is nearly infinite. For myself it started with Transport. For others it may be food, pubs, housing, parks, architecture, or infrastructure big and small. It is with these little nuggets and kernels of information, where-ever you get them from, that help inform your view of the world. If you follow these steps, this focus and view may become somewhat passive, and not as active as study.
To take transport as an example, you can spot timetables, the time between services, known as headway's. You can spot how the infrastructure works, or follow a route on maps or diagrams. Follow the news and debate about future projects and investments. See how other people interact with the service, whether it's crowded, running smoothly, or a ghost town. Then ask questions, if you don't have the answers, read some more, talk some more, find what you're missing, or ask different questions.
The same information exists for Food, Drink, Cloths, Cars, and Policy. Some may be less attractive, some more nerdy or heavy to read than others. But when you find the ways of talking about it that suit you, it becomes more friendly, more casual.
One of the key origins of planning was John Snow's Cholera map of London. By mapping where sick people lived he was able to see it was clustered around one infected water pump. Those who drank at the local pub, and only drank Ale, were surprisingly uninfected. This key discovery was the beginning of public health's greatest breakthroughs in Sanitation and building for healthier populations. A step change in planning that lead to many of today's greatest insights in how we build and adapt our environment to best suit us.
Map in your mind, where you hang out, where the bargains or easier way of doing things are. Is there a new place you want to try, a new route you want to walk? Explore, trial and error, all part of collecting Data, whether we're aware of it or not.
If you want to know what new restaurants are around, what the trends are, where it may be good to get a drink, where the craic is, then you can follow it. All sorts of sources of information are available, and you can indulge in it at your own leisurely pace, as I will set out in the next steps.
2: Social Media and old media.
These days most of us are connected in some way to the wonders of the world wide web.
Social media being one of the biggest time sinks in which we devote our eyes to. But what are you getting from it? For most people it is their social life outside of real life, but it is also a source of links to content and information you share a common interest in with your friends.
So you've picked a topic, or you're following your field of interest. Why aren't you following it in the same places you are everyday, social media.
Many blogs, pages, twitter accounts, so on and so forth are devoted to things you'll find interesting.
So click like, click follow, read the links they share, even if it's just the headlines. Slowly build up a collection of these sources and just absorb what they're talking about. You don't always have to engage, begin by being aware of it.
As you take more and more of this on board, start sharing yourself. Start using this to inform your conversations. This can help you feel a connection to the information you're starting to build up. It's not essay's or notes, it's part of your daily life.
The sources of such information can vary. Believe it or not, a lot can be found on some of the most common sites.
- Facebook: Like news source that covers my field
- Twitter @ companyIWantToWorkFor @ thinktankexploringthistopic
- Tumblr: Photos and everything else that people enjoy sharing about this topic
- Pinterest: The aesthetics, lifestyles, crafts and consumables that are about this topic
- Instagram: Filtered shots and little tid-bits from the people who live and work at it
- Flickr- Similar but often more professional or whole albums of photos around it,
- LinkedIn - But only if your willing to "network", not a must this early.
These all have something on them that may inform and expand what you know about a topic, and how it affects your life and interests.
To recap study or get better insights, audio and video can help explain things in ways you might not have thought of. Youtube has near infinite uploads from every imaginable topic, illustrating and discussing things in new, unique, dense/condensed ways you can't get in many lectures.
The TED Talks series of seminars, motivational talks, and lectures are a wonderful source that also can be relied upon.
Similarly Podcasts can have anything from experts, to the media, to informed amateurs, chatting, debating and teaching. They're almost always free, they can be popped on with half interest in a commute or as a little relaxation on the weekend or between tasks throughout the day.
Newsmedia:
Now we get on to older forms of media, longer reads are sometimes more common, but they're nowhere near as dense in words as a lit-review or that thick book on your reading list that's almost never in the library.
I find the easiest and most condensed way to start this is local/regional newspapers. Often free, or cheaper than a broadsheet, tabloid or intermediately sized paper. Local newspapers, are an absolute treasure chest of information for Planning and Social Scientists/geographers, business, politics, and even health, illness and psychology. Simply put they're what humans are getting up to, where you live, and how they're talking about it. Whether it be protests, a Charity fundraiser, a fun run, planning permission notices, or houses for sale; it's all in a local newspaper. It can often be ephemeral, but it's a quick and easy way to orientate yourself to what's going on around you.
Then it's the wider Media. You're paper of record, you're go to opinions, the blogs and news sites you trust, even the gossip source you like. Follow the news here. Watch or listen to daily news you trust, look for documentaries and investigations that may be aired.
Even in planning or real estate, so called "property porn" programs can have value. Reality tv and reality documentaries have vastly expanded in recent years. Following people in their every day lives and/or work. Showing you the real human face of what goes on in these various fields, and how they manage to deal with what they face.
Stay current, and stay informed. But don't neglect the classics either.
Even in planning or real estate, so called "property porn" programs can have value. Reality tv and reality documentaries have vastly expanded in recent years. Following people in their every day lives and/or work. Showing you the real human face of what goes on in these various fields, and how they manage to deal with what they face.
Stay current, and stay informed. But don't neglect the classics either.
Current affairs can often seem daunting, and often it can be about certain media, political, or business agendas. But know what's going on. If the headlines get you down, then read the latest popular thinking in books. The Current Affairs section of a book store can offer easy reads you may not have considered sometimes, and cheaper prices than a textbook. The thinking contained can be just as important to you, your topic, and your field of study than you may think. A book on fast food diets, a book on water, a book on political strategy, books on real life people and what events, behaviour, and information moved their decisions. It's all just as important, even if it may seem obscure or removed. Make time for it on the side, read around connected topics.
3 Keep it, tag it, share it.
When you're beginning to read around your topic more and more often, sometimes without even noticing, then you've got to start keeping track of what's of value to you.
It can be useful to do this from the start, but that can make the process more of a chore, more like study. Find what you place an interest in. The style of writing, the information contained, the topic and how it may be relevant. Once you connect to this way of viewing your reading, without it being a daunting and forceful task, then you can assess it's worth to you.
It can be useful to do this from the start, but that can make the process more of a chore, more like study. Find what you place an interest in. The style of writing, the information contained, the topic and how it may be relevant. Once you connect to this way of viewing your reading, without it being a daunting and forceful task, then you can assess it's worth to you.
Clip articles from newspapers, use the apps and sharing options available to you on mobile or the web. Email it to yourself or your friends and colleagues.
Useful apps, webapps and extensions to take note of:
GoogleKeep
Pocket
Evernote
Shareaholic
Useful apps, webapps and extensions to take note of:
GoogleKeep
Evernote
Shareaholic
Organise it, tag it, categorise and label it. When you know what it is to you and the topic, label it. Even if it's just passing on a photo or a joke, when it's tagged, other people can find it, you can find it again. If worse comes to worst, the friends who are not interested can also avoid it.
But as you engage and value this information more, the connections within your mind, and with others will grow. The more you use this process, the further you expand your horizons and opportunities that this basic knowledge can take you.
But as you engage and value this information more, the connections within your mind, and with others will grow. The more you use this process, the further you expand your horizons and opportunities that this basic knowledge can take you.
A statistic you read, a fact someone else may not know, an outside opinion that broadens a discussion; these all build up to show you're more interesting then you may appear on a CV or on first impression.
4 Talk about it whenever you get the chance:
It's not all about being the know it all in class, or the stand out applicant for a job. It's about feeling confident in what you know. It's about bringing in the up to date, and obscure little gem that others may not have thought of.
The connection you make, from what you value, makes what you can bring to a discussion all the more important. When you're engaged and passionate about something, then you can really share what it means. You're not selling yourself or proffering an academic opinion with sources, you're talking about it from experience, from all corners of your brain, and you have a foundation that's more open to change, the more you talk about it and flesh it out.
What you read may not be the best, but when you talk to someone, anyone, in deep topic specific terms, or in every day speech, you're exploring these connections further. Your more open to re-evaluate because you've learnt it from more than one source.
To hold the "cognitive-dissonance", or conflicting ideas, without discussing them, is to limit how you see this information. Be happy to doubt what you're learning, or how it works with what you know. When you talk to someone else they bring the same as you, just another perspective, another learning curve.
Amongst all your topic and field specific information you bring yourself. You're amassed general knowledge and experiences. Your different learning curve, is what makes you unique. Build this into how you approach study. Because what makes you different is what makes you more important to future employers, to your friends, to your wider network. What's unique about you, can help you stand out. Some employers may want carbon copies, but less ideas can happen this way. The future fields of study/ research/ innovation and business are where different fields intersect. Food and Geography, Health and Technology, Web company and pretty much anything!
When you use these steps to broaden your interest and knowledge base, you get yourself closer to finding that new niche between what you're passionate about, and a new way of thinking about the world.
When you use these steps to broaden your interest and knowledge base, you get yourself closer to finding that new niche between what you're passionate about, and a new way of thinking about the world.
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