Just Start: What I actually mean by "Sponge Mode"

Hey all,

Something I really believe is that a lot of the best ideas come through making connections: not just sitting down and thinking, but exposing yourself to a whole bunch of stuff and spotting the places where it all intersects in interesting ways. What this means is, when I’m running out of ideas for useful things to write or videos to make, I know it’s time to expose myself to more stuff: to spend a bit of time just watching things at random and see what happens.

This isn’t about deliberately targeted reading on a specific subject, or even just reading all the same things that everyone else recommends — it’s more about chasing ideas, going down rabbit holes, and giving yourself space to think. It’s probably something you sometimes do naturally anyway, but because I work better with clear plans (and names for things) in place, I’m calling it Sponge Mode. Here’s some of my best advice for doing it:

1. Create your own “seasons”
   When I was younger, a season of films or TV shows dedicated to one person’s output felt sort of magical: I still remember being introduced to Jackie Chan when one of the UK channels ran a whole bunch of his films over a month, and it was fantastic. With streaming services, this sort of serendipity doesn’t really happen — but you can create your own seasons by watching every film by a director or actor, or just getting really into Korean horror or Indonesian splatterpunk. I strongly recommend it.

2. DNF quickly
   There’s nothing worse than starting a book or film, hating it and not wanting to finish it, but not wanting to start on anything else. My general rule is: if I’ve watched half an hour of a film or read fifty pages of a book, it’s fine to bail. But…

3. Use “Experiments” and “Commitments”
   In a recent video, I talked about how Scott Young makes this distinction between projects he intends to follow through on, and things that he’s just paying around with. I do the same with books — if there’s a book I kind of feel like I might like then I’ll start reading it as an experiment and give it fifty pages before I decide whether to drop it or not. But if there’s a book that’s recognised as a classic in its area but also as kind of a tough read, I’ll commit to finishing it whether it’s a difficult read or not. And this comes in handy if you…

4. Follow the Lindy Rule
   Nassim Taleb gave this one its name: the basic idea is that if something’s been culturally relevant for a while, it’s likely to stay that way for just as long: so it’s always going to be worthwhile to read Plato or Jane Austen, but people will probably forget about this year’s hot books in the next twelve months or so. If there’s something new and relevant that you really want to read, then absolutely do that (I strongly recommend Kyle Buchanan’s Blood, Sweat, and Chrome) — but if you’re not sure what to go for, prioritise old stuff.

5. Have lists
   Probably obvious, but it’s worth having a big list of stuff you’ve been meaning to get round to so that when you’re in the reading/viewing doldrums, you can just pick something out and jump on it. I get a lot of my list stuff from the next idea, which is to…

6. Read from the bibliography
   One of the best ways to get off commonly-trodden ground with books is to look up what’s in the bibliography, or just make note of any other books the author mentions: I’ve found some books I’d otherwise never have heard of this way.

Sponge Mode isn’t something to be in all the time: sometimes I’m busy working and it’s all I can do to read a book every couple of weeks. But if you’re in a rut creatively, it’s always worth doing.

Have a great weekend!
Joel x

Stuff I like

📖 Book - Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger
If there’s a man who never suffers from imposter syndrome I assume it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger: going from bodybuilder to box office smash to the actual governor of California is such an insane career trajectory I wonder if it’ll ever be replicated. This was a zippy little read full of actionable, inspiring advice: and I couldn’t help reading it in the Governator’s accent the whole way through.

📝 Article - I live in an uninhabitable ‘boy room’ – can a comedian save me from myself?

I liked this piece because a) It was funny and b) It made me feel incredibly well-organised, but in the context of the stuff I talk about all the time, I think c) It makes an important point: sometimes, the stuff that will make the biggest difference in our lives is the simplest, and we just need to be told to do it. I’m not the most tidy man, but I’m far better than I was when I was single, and a huge part of it is doing the simple stuff: wiping down sideboards while I’m waiting for the kettle to boil, or tidying my son’s toys away before I go to bed at night. Simple stuff, repeated regularly. Life!

🎶 Hype Music - Blood in the Cut by K. Flay
This is just great, I really don’t know what else to tell you.

🧐 This week I learned

That the world’s largest beaver dam is twice as long as the Hoover Dam.
From Fire Weather by John Vaillant

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