I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we soak up so much stuff—articles, videos, lectures, you name it—but how much of it actually sticks? Not a ton, right? I mean, we’re drowning in info every day, scrolling through our feeds or scribbling notes in class, but when it comes to doing something with it, we’re kinda left staring at a blank page. That’s where learning through creating comes in, and honestly, it’s been a game-changer for me.
Picture this: you’re sitting there, sipping coffee, listening to some brilliant podcast or flipping through a dense neuroscience paper (yeah, I’m that nerd). You nod along, feeling smart, but then someone asks you to explain it five minutes later. Uh-oh. Crickets. That’s what hit me during my PhD—unless I could recreate an idea, tweak it, or build something from it, I hadn’t really learned it. It’s like the info was just renting space in my brain, not moving in for good.
So, I started messing around with this idea of making stuff to learn better. Like, after a lecture, I’d grab my notebook and jot down what I’d just heard—not word-for-word, but my version of it. Sometimes it’s messy, sometimes it’s just a few scribbled lines, but it forces me to wrestle with the material. And trust me, you figure out quick where the holes are. Ever try explaining something and realize halfway through you’ve got no clue? Yeah, that’s the magic moment—learning through creating shines a spotlight on what you don’t know.
I remember this one time, post-lecture, I sat down to write a little blog post. I’d just heard this researcher go on about neural pathways, and I thought I got it. But as I typed, I hit a wall. I couldn’t connect two ideas. So, I dug back into my notes, rewatched a chunk of the talk, and bam—suddenly it clicked. That’s the thing: creating something pushes you to engage deeper, not just float on the surface.
Now, I’m not saying you’ve gotta write a novel every time you learn something new. Even a quick sketch or a chat with yourself in your head works. I picked up this trick from a physicist named Feynman—he was all about teaching to learn. You pick a topic, dump everything you know about it onto a page (I love using a whiteboard for this), and then pretend you’re explaining it to your grandma. If you stumble, you’ve found a gap. I do this all the time now, quietly muttering to myself in a corner of the library, and yeah, I probably look a little unhinged, but it works.
What’s cool is how this flips the usual way we learn. Most of us just sit back, letting info wash over us like a lazy river. But when you start learning through creating, you’re in the driver’s seat. Take this one habit I’ve got—after reading up on schizophrenia for my research, I’ll hunt down real-life stories. There’s this book, The Center Cannot Hold, by a law prof who’s lived it—it’s raw and mind-blowing. I’ll read a chapter, then try summing it up or tying it to my work. Suddenly, those abstract algorithms I mess with feel less like math puzzles and more like tools to help real people.
And here’s the kicker: creating doesn’t just help you remember—it sparks ideas. Like, I’ll be scribbling notes from some expert’s podcast, and out of nowhere, I’m wondering, “What’s the next thing they should dig into?” It’s like my brain’s playing detective, hunting for the missing pieces.
Look, I get it—carving out time to create sounds like extra work. And yeah, it can be slow at first. But once you get into it, it’s less about cramming and more about connecting the dots. So, next time you’re knee-deep in a book or a lecture, don’t just nod along—make something out of it. Scribble a note, teach it to your dog, whatever. You’ll be amazed at how much sticks—and how much fun it can be. Got a fave way to learn? Drop it below—I’m all ears!
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