Table of contents
Ruby Granger is a YouTuber and content creator whose channel was inspired by the Harry Potter character Hermione Granger. Her videos teach study techniques and offer insight into leading a productive life. She also started a company called Pumpkin Productivity to promote studying and reading in young people. In our discussion we talk about all things books, studying and our experiences on YouTube.
Here are some of the highlights from our discussion:
Reading classics is valuable because there is so much from these books that has informed and influenced culture to the nth degree. The way that society has picked up on these books can tell us a lot about how we perceive elements of our society and our world. For example, when you read Frankenstein, you can see how much it has influenced popular culture.
The things that you do in your morning will change the way that you interact with people and manage your tasks for the rest of the day. This makes your morning routine critically important and it’s important to experiment to ascertain what works and what doesn’t work to optimise your personal happiness and satisfaction.
Note taking is critical for crystallising insights and formalising our own takeaways from books. It aids in our memory of the key message from books – whether fiction or non-fiction – and it lays the foundations for long term retention.
The crux of purpose lies in having a reason. It’s important to have an awareness of doing whatever you’re doing for a certain reason and how it might have a positive impact on people – that is what provides purpose.
Mindfulness isn’t necessary in every element of your life – it’s important in areas of life that matter to you. We shouldn’t restrict ourselves to thinking that mindfulness is only about sitting quietly and watching your breathing. It’s about finding activities that help to alleviate any sense of anxiety or a preoccupation of some sort.
The idea of motivation hinges on an 'activation energy' that you’ve got to reach in order to start. But the longer you leave something the higher that activation energy becomes and so you’ve got a bigger peak to jump over before you start. Roosevelt once said, "if your first try is perfect, you waited too long" and so the key with anything, therefore, is just to get started before your activation energy becomes too high or the pull of perfectionism stymies your progress.
Most Important Lesson since starting YouTube
Ruby
"The main thing I've learnt through doing Youtube is that there is nothing more effective or fulfilling than being yourself and acting in the way that you would most like to act. With YouTube there was always going to be someone somewhere who related to who I was"
Ali
"When we have short feedback loops in the things that we're doing, it's very satisfying. With YouTube, you're instantly getting feedback and growth. Now I think about manufacturing those feedback loops or turning things into a game and shortening that feedback loop"
