Do you ever get bored after learning something?

I’ve got an activity and interest curve for learning something new. I go through it all the time. First I find out something that is really neat. I voraciously learn about it, experiment, find out through trial and error what works and what doesn’t. Then I evaluate to see whether this is something that I should incorporate into my life, or put it away until I need it again.

In many cases the new information gets incorporated into my life, and I continue doing the activity, but at a more reasonable pace. Things that I have gone through in the last few years include starting businesses, building website, internet marketing, CrossFit, Paleo diet, photography, Twitter, Foursquare, Linux, books series like the Master and Commander Napoleonic era sailing thrillers.

But at some point I just get bored with it. That’s the tipping point which determines whether there has been enough positive influence from the activity to continue. I bet this happens to lots of people, because it’s tough to go through life being bored. I don’t want to mess up the important things in my life, like family, health, and work, so I avoid boredom by learning something new.

Fortunately we live in an age when learning is practically free. Blogs by enthusiasts, videos of an expert demonstrating something, and digital books available for purchase and instant download all make it easier than ever to learn something new.

But if you want to make money with what you learn, you have to know it so well and do it so much all the fun can get sucked right out it, and you are right back to boredom. So tinker around the edges until you find something you really are going to commit to doing for awhile, then make the big change.

Author: Rolf Versluis
Published at Priority Queue