Thinking and reading in the wrong order

I often do my thinking and my reading in the wrong order.

I’ll spend a lot of time rolling ideas around in my head until I come up with a point of view I like, and then I’ll come up with a great way to say it, and in the process of fleshing out my theory, I’ll go pick up a book or magazine or article to support it.

And discover that someone else expressed my theory three and a half years ago.

Now I’m frustrated because I’ve just spent a bunch of time coming up with something that I can’t really claim credit for.

The smart thing to do would be to do my reading first, and spend that mental energy building on top of theories that have already been voiced. I should remember that.

In case you’re wondering what brought this on, I just did this with a post I’ve been working on for Eat Sleep Publish.