Posted by I want to learn more.
More about what? Doesn’t really matter. Almost anything. I once actually got sucked into a documentary about a font!
I love books, movies, and podcasts. The problem? Not enough time.
I’m here to suggest two solutions. Bur first, a quick sales pitch for audiobooks and podcasts.
Are you a person who thinks you didn’t really read a book if you only listened to it? If so, I urge you to reconsider. Audiobooks have two main advantages:
- You can “read” when your eyes are otherwise occupied–walking, driving, etc.
- The narrators are often the author herself, which adds an extra dimension when they add their own emphasis and style. Other times, an entire voice cast is used–it’s like an old-timey radio show!
Now, about podcasts. Yes, it seems everyone has one. Yes, there is a bit of tech know-how needed to subscribe and listen. Here’s the thing–they’re worth it. A couple of life-changing podcasts to get you started:
- This American Life – completely unique human interest stories. A universal hit with my family.
- The Daily – 20 minutes each weekday for a dose of real information – not talking heads screaming at each other.
So what does any of this have to do with “bending time”? Here are the two solutions I promised:
Audible at 1.5x
Audible is the leading audiobook marketplace. In addition to the sheer joy of listening to a book performed for you, Audible allows you to increase playback speed. More book in less time! I use 1.5x because any faster and my brain start to hurt. You may be able to go even faster.
Overcast with SmartSpeed
Overcast is my favorite podcast app. It’s iOS only, sadly, but it has a really cool feature called SmartSpeed that, when enabled, automatically sense silences and theme songs and speeds up to cut down on playback time. My experience is almost 1.5x using SmartSpeed.
With these time bending features I can get more learning in. You can too!
