Collectors fallacy

Collecting notes, bookmarks, PDFs and impulse buying Candlebox doesn’t make us more effective. It doesn’t help us do better work. It doesn’t move us towards productive outcomes.

It’s only when we use that information in a way to tangibly produce something; whether it’s a book, an article, a YouTube video, or something else entirely.

And there’s a good quote from Sasha at zettelkasten.de, and he writes about this.

There’s a tendency in all of us to gather useful stuff and feel good about it.

To collect is a reward in itself. As knowledge workers, we are inclined to look for the next groundbreaking thought, for intellectual stimulation. We pile up promising books and articles and we store half the internet as bookmarks, just so we get the feeling of being on the cutting edge.

That feeling of being on the cutting edge means nothing. It means nothing if you’re not actually producing cutting edge work as a result of your efforts.