You can stand at the edge and peek inside the rabbit hole. You can take one step back and promise yourself that you won’t go down in it again.
But out of nowhere, FOMO sneaks up behind you and shoves you into the rabbit hole – once again.
The act of going berserk with consuming articles, videos, and forum discussions in research of a topic is described metaphorically by the idiom “going down the rabbit hole.”
I have been down the rabbit hole many times, and I am sure you have been there too.
At the beginning of my freelance writing journey, going down the rabbit hole served me well. Now that I have made some progress in my career, I wear a safety harness to avoid falling too deep into the hole.
When To Go Down The Rabbit Hole as a Freelance Writer
Going down the rabbit hole has advantages. When you are learning a new concept, spending an endless amount of time reading and watching content can sky-rocket your progress.
It’s what I did.
Going down the rabbit hole has helped me learn many things quickly, such as:
- Freelance writing
- Trading
- Trekking
- Card magic
- Cooking
- Drawing and painting
- Playing guitar and violin, and more
When you start reading countless articles on the topic, you start coming across new terms. NOTE THEM DOWN.
Whenever I come across a new concept, I note them down and look them up online or in books, one by one. Slowly but steadily, dots start connecting, and knowledge compounds.
In one month, you can amass significant knowledge on any topic by researching it and branching out to learn other related concepts and jargon when you come across them. Shortly, you would be good enough to hold conversations on that topic and ask good questions that accelerate your progress. And then you stop going down the rabbit hole because…
After the Study, Comes the Action
A point comes when you will see information repeating itself. You may feel like you have spent hours reading or learning stuff but are not picking up anything new. It’s a signal that you need to put your learnings to application.
When I started as a freelance writer, I warded off the action phase by consuming more content, thinking that I was productive. But that was not the case.
When it was time to create my freelance writing portfolio, I spent (read “wasted”) my time reading about ways to create a great portfolio. My progress as a freelance writer would have sped up if I had spent more time putting out content than consuming it.
Anyways, the point is that the habit of going down the rabbit hole will start holding you back after a while.
Make the Switch Gradually
When you begin learning, you can start with 100% consumption. Slowly decrease the time spent consuming content and replace it with action.
Eventually, you will reach a point where your schedule consists of 20% consumption and 80% creation.
The truth is that when you try new things, the results of the first few attempts are always going to be so-so. No matter how much theoretical knowledge you gain, you can get better only through action. If you are starting as a freelance writer, research as much as you can, but keep in mind that at one point in time, you have to stop reading guide articles and watching tutorials and put whatever you have learned to practice.
Words Inbound 