Agree or disagree with this statement: Learning never stops.
Hopefully you agree, because even if you’ve mastered something, you can always learn more, or work on learning something related to what it is that you’ve mastered.
I love soaking up as much information as I possibly can, especially related to the work I do, so I’m constantly reading articles, blog posts and books related to PR/marketing and social media. As much as I’ve learned thanks to all the reading I do, I started to realize that I may be doing a serious disservice to myself by only reading material related to my career. Reading about things of interest to you that are completely unrelated to what you do can oftentimes spawn creativity, as well as ideas related to your work.
Just as I made the decision to add more reading into my life that did not relate to my career, I read this post from Gini Dietrich about how reading fiction helps your career. It makes so much sense, doesn’t it?
I did some research on the best books for 2011, and thanks to a list NPR compiled, I settled on The Illumination. I just finished reading it (highly recommend it!), and while I can’t give you any evidence just yet as to show how it strengthened my career, I can tell you it was a welcome respite from my typical daily reading. It was also a good way to slow my brain down at night and tire myself out with some reading material that didn’t make my head spin with ideas for work. As much as I love when that happens, it not exactly a good idea to read that type of content before bed.
For those of you who are like me and haven’t branched out to read interesting and inspirational content that doesn’t directly relate to what you do every day, especially if your work is related to social media, I wanted to give you some suggestions from sites that have made their way into my Google Reader. I also crowdsourced some additional suggestions from my Facebook and Google+ contacts.
My suggestions:
- Harvard Business Review – Through this site and other platforms, Harvard Business Publishing aims to influence real-world change by maximizing the reach and impact of its essential offering – ideas. The site features a hodge-podge of content, but it’s all very well written and thought provoking. You will find some posts related to social media, but not that often.
- PsyBlog – Psychology studies relevant to everyday life. The content isn’t so psych-specific that it’s going to go way over your head.
- the3six5 – This site features a different story every day by a different author giving a short narrative on his/her perspective of the happenings that day. I absolutely love this site. I’m actually going to be an author on May 24 this year. It’s an item I added to my bucket list after I wrote my why I’m trading New Year’s Resolutions for a bucket list post, so I was super stoked when I was accepted as a 2012 author.
- Zen Habits – Who doesn’t need more zen in their life? Seriously. The content on this site is all about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of life. If I ever meet Leo Babauta in person, I will give him a huge hug to thank him for helping talk me off the ledge with several of his posts.
- Thought Catalog – This is my new favorite site. You’ll find it very easy to identify with a lot of the stories on this site. Many of the authors write with a very intentionally blunt and sarcastic tone, but when you read their stories, you feel like you’re having a conversation with a good friend.
Network suggestions:
- Prolific Living, suggestion from Timothy Gay – This site includes content that helps you live on your own terms – not anyone else’s.
- The Online Mom, suggestion from Christina Strickland – This site has a lot of tech/online related content, but it could serve as a really good resource for a parent to keep up with all the technology their kids use. This is different than your “how to do X with social media” site. Don’t let the name fool you. Dads will benefit from this site’s content, too.
- Joe Blogs, suggested by Justin Goldsborough – For all you sports fans, this is a blog for you. The author, Joe Posnanski, is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated.
- Peaceful Daily, suggested by Nicole Barrett – I love the site’s mantra: Think Good. Eat Whole. Walk Far. The site features daily living tips for people around the world.
- Design Milk, suggested by Michelle Martinez – Design Milk is an online magazine dedicated to modern design. You can get some really fun and creative design ideas from this site.
- The Bloggess, suggested by Rachel Esterline – You’ll get your daily humor fix thanks to this blog.
- Positively Positive, suggested by Lisa Kupelian – This site features content related to optimism and inspiration and aims to bring uplifting voices and messages to its community every day.
- Summer Tomato, suggested by Mallory Jade – The site offers healthy food tips and advice, especially for food lovers in urban areas.
- The Daily What, suggested by Bobby Mercader – The Daily What features random humor that will give you a good laugh.
- Mark Reads, suggested by Leigh Hansmann – This site offers funny, yet insightful, chapter-by-chapter reviews/recaps of books. You could find your next book on this site.
Thanks to everyone who shared suggestions!
Have a favorite site unrelated to social media that isn’t on this list? Share in the comments.