My Never-Ending Quest to Learn More in Less Time

(And How I Put ChatGPT to Work)

I’ve always been curious about things. Sometimes probably a little too curious. I can start out researching something related to a website project and somehow end up reading about an event from 200 years ago. I’m not exactly sure how I got there, but apparently I needed to know about it.

After nearly 30 years working online, I’ve collected a lot of information about business, marketing, technology, and a variety of other subjects. But there is still so much I don’t know. History fascinates me; I enjoy learning about great thinkers and their ideas, and I always appreciate discovering something new about the Bible.

The problem isn’t a lack of interest. It’s finding the time to learn everything I’d like to learn.

And I’ve noticed something about myself. Give me a lengthy article or an hour-long presentation, and there’s a pretty good chance my mind will start wandering. It’s not necessarily that the material isn’t interesting. Sometimes I just want the important part so I can think about it, and if it interests me enough, I’ll dig deeper.

I’ve always liked those little nuggets of information that make you stop and say, “Huh, I didn’t know that.”

Well, I recently found a way to get a handful of those every morning, and it took me just a few minutes to set up.

It Started With Another Subscription Service

I came across an online service that provides short summaries of books, interesting ideas, and personal development information. The concept appealed to me immediately. Short pieces of useful information that I could read in a few minutes. You’ve probably seen this ad while scrolling.

Then I looked at the subscription options.

Now, I’m not against paying for a good service. I’ve been in the software and online business world long enough to appreciate what goes into building something useful. But I’ve also learned to ask myself whether I already have a tool that can accomplish what I’m trying to do.

And that got me thinking.

I’m already using ChatGPT regularly for business, research, writing, and a variety of other things. Couldn’t I have it put together my own collection of short learning opportunities?

Better yet, couldn’t I have it do that automatically every morning?

Turns out, I could.

Creating My Own Daily Brain Food

I opened ChatGPT and explained what I wanted. Nothing particularly complicated. I wanted a short daily collection of interesting information from several subjects I enjoy.

We came up with something I called Frank’s Daily Brain Food.

My daily reading includes six different subjects:

1. Business and Marketing: One useful idea, strategy, or lesson that I might be able to apply.
2. History: An interesting event or historical fact that I may not have known.
3. Great Thinkers: A thought or observation from someone worth learning about.
4. Bible Insight: A verse or passage with a little context and something practical to consider.
5. Wild Card: Something completely unexpected. Science, nature, inventions, or just an interesting piece of information.
6. Classic Book Discovery: A quick introduction to a classic book that might make me want to read it.

That last one was particularly important to me.

There are countless classic books I’ve heard about but never actually read. I don’t necessarily want someone to summarize the entire book and tell me how everything turns out. Where’s the fun in that?

Take Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, for example.

I’d like to know that it’s about two traveling ranch workers, George and Lennie, trying to make a better life during the Great Depression. I’d like to know a little about their personalities and what they’re hoping to accomplish.

Then give me something that makes me curious enough to pick up the book. Don’t tell me what happens. Just give me enough to decide whether I want to keep going. Think of it as reading the back cover of a book, only with a little more personality.

The Important Part Was Keeping It Short

When I explained what I wanted, I made one thing very clear. I didn’t want six lengthy explanations. I wanted quick bites of information. Something I could read in three to five minutes while having my morning tea. Each subject gets roughly 25 to 45 words. Just enough to explain the idea, provide a useful insight, or make me curious.

If something really catches my attention, I can always ask ChatGPT to elaborate. That’s one of the advantages of doing this with an AI assistant instead of simply reading a collection of predetermined summaries.

I can ask questions. I can challenge an idea. I can ask how something applies to my business or compare it with something I’ve already learned.

I’m not just collecting information. I can have a conversation about it.

Here’s How You Can Create Your Own

If you’d like to try something similar, the setup is pretty simple.

Open ChatGPT and start a new conversation. Tell it you’d like to create a recurring daily learning task. ChatGPT has a feature called Tasks that can automatically deliver information on a schedule.

You don’t need to know how to program, create an automation workflow, or connect a bunch of different services. You just need to tell it what you want.

Here’s a prompt you can copy and modify for yourself:

Copy This Prompt Into ChatGPT

Create a recurring task called “My Daily Brain Food” and deliver it every morning around 8 AM in my local time zone.

I enjoy learning new things, but I prefer short, interesting pieces of information rather than lengthy articles.

Each day, provide six quick learning opportunities covering:

1. A practical business or marketing idea.
2. An interesting historical event or discovery.
3. A thought or lesson from a famous thinker, philosopher, or influential person.
4. A Bible verse or passage with a brief explanation and practical takeaway.
5. An unusual or fascinating fact about science, nature, technology, or the world.
6. A classic book recommendation with a brief, spoiler-free introduction to the characters, setting, and premise. Give me a reason to consider reading it without revealing important plot developments.

Keep each section to approximately 25 to 45 words. Use simple, conversational language. Avoid long paragraphs.

Include reliable sources or references when appropriate. Rotate the subjects and books so I’m discovering something different each day.

The entire collection should take approximately three to five minutes to read.

Finish with one interesting question to think about.

That’s it.

Of course, you can change those categories to anything that interests you. Maybe you’d prefer health and fitness, famous inventions, photography, music history, or interesting facts about animals.

You could even make the entire thing about one subject you’re trying to learn. Want to improve your marketing skills? Have it share six different marketing lessons each morning. Trying to understand photography? Ask for quick explanations of camera settings, lighting, composition, and techniques. Learning about American history? Create a daily history digest.

The idea is to make it useful for YOU.

Making It Automatic

Once you’ve entered your instructions, ask ChatGPT to schedule it as a recurring task and confirm the time.

You can also find and manage your tasks through the Scheduled area in ChatGPT. Depending on your account and device, you can enable email or push notifications under Settings > Notifications.

That means you don’t have to remember to ask for your daily information. It will be waiting for you when the task runs.

Scheduled Tasks are available on eligible free and paid ChatGPT accounts, although scheduling options and usage limits can vary by plan.

If you want to change something later, you can edit the task. Maybe you decide you’d rather get information about technology instead of history. Or perhaps you’d like your digest delivered at lunchtime instead of first thing in the morning.

You aren’t locked into the original setup.

My First Daily Brain Food

I decided to go ahead and have ChatGPT create my first edition rather than waiting until the following morning. I learned about the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 and how it contributed to the following year’s unusual weather. That period even played a part in inspiring Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

I was reminded of the philosopher Epictetus and his teaching about focusing on what we can actually control. There was a brief reflection on James 1:19 about listening before speaking. Probably something most of us could stand to practice a little more. And I learned about the way honeybees communicate the location of food through their movements. The classic book recommendation was Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Six completely different subjects, each explained in a few sentences.

Nothing earth-shattering, perhaps, but I enjoyed every bit of it. A couple of the ideas gave me something to think about, and others introduced me to subjects I’d like to explore further.

That’s exactly what I wanted.

It’s Not About Learning Everything

One thing I don’t want to suggest is that reading a few sentences about a subject makes someone an expert.

It doesn’t.

And a quick AI-generated book introduction isn’t a substitute for actually reading the book. AI can also make mistakes, so facts worth relying on should be checked against the original sources.

But I don’t think every learning experience has to be a deep study.

Sometimes a small piece of information is enough to open a door.

You read something about a historical event, which makes you curious about the people involved. That leads you to a book, which introduces you to another idea. Before long, you’ve learned something you weren’t even looking for.

That’s happened to me more times than I could count.

The difference now is that instead of hoping I happen across something interesting, I’ve created a simple way to introduce myself to new ideas every day. And if I miss a day, I’m not falling behind in some course or failing to complete an assignment. It’s simply an opportunity to learn something new whenever I have a few minutes.

Give It a Try

If you’re anything like me, your list of things you’d like to learn is considerably longer than the amount of time you have available.

That’s probably never going to change.

But maybe learning a little more doesn’t require finding another hour in the day. Maybe it just requires making better use of five minutes you already have. I’m looking forward to seeing what shows up in tomorrow’s Daily Brain Food.

And knowing how my mind works, there’s a pretty good chance one of those little nuggets will send me down another research rabbit hole.

At least this time, I’ll have a good excuse.

Keep learning. There’s always something else worth discovering.