On a typical day, writers wake up, check their emails, skim through the job boards and hit their feed readers to catch up on the day’s news, events and hot topics. If we’re honest with each other, many of the items in our readers are, “have to reads.” These are key players and newsmakers in the industry – writers, bloggers, editors, niche experts, etc. If you want to get anywhere in your career you have to follow them. Right? Right?
Eh.
It is imperative that you stay current in your field. It helps you stay relevant, competitive and gives you something to talk about at those writer get togethers. It is also important that the posts and articles you spend your precious time on are adding value to your life. We all have those people in our readers that are there because we were told they were supposed to be there, but the majority of the time we skip over their stuff – or worse we read it, blink and forget what we just read.
There’s another way.
You don’t have to follow them. If it doesn’t add value, if you don’t at least enjoy reading it, then it’s time to clean the feed and find someone who drops nuggets of golden info on your desk each week. The great thing about the internet is there are at least 20 people saying the same thing, they all say it in different ways and one of those ways will provide value to your career. Your time is precious. Go beyond your area’s usual suspects and make each day a genuine learning experience.
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