Lifehack to reading more and better
04 Apr 2021
3 min read
I was listening to a Chinese podcast that referenced Mark Manson's YouTube video on how to read more efficiently🤓. Mark Manson is the guy who wrote The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck - I did this post on him.
I thought those tips were pretty on point, which is why I want to share a few of them with you :
1. Don't read a book from beginning to end, don't read it at all, if you don't like it
It seems like we really have this urge to read a book from beginning to end. Feeling like a cheater, if we were to skip chapters. A 200-page non-fiction book typically only conveys 2-3 key ideas and then builds proof and examples throughout the book. Read 10% of the book and you get the main ideas, then look into the Table of Content and only read those chapters that sound interesting to you.
2. Find time to read by combining it with something you absolutely do every day
Everyone wants to read more, but we have busy schedules. Combine reading with something else you absolutely must do during a day (eating for example). Everyone has 30 minutes in a day to carve out. Really. Reading 30 minutes a day, at an average human reading pace of 1 page per 2 minutes and you end up reading a book every two weeks - that's pretty solid.
3. Read several books in parallel
Getting us to read is sometimes like getting the attention of our inner child. It's hard to stay focused. Our mind wanders, we find some passages boring. Reading several books at the same time is super refreshing. Sometimes we need something more light-hearted, sometimes we feel like being deep and philosophical. Have something ready for each occasion. It makes reading more fun.
4. Talk about what you read, so that it sticks with you
I found this one the most valuable tip. I agree with Mark's assessment that highlighting, or taking notes rarely end up in me remembering anything. We remember things much better, when we have to use the knowledge. So talking about it, and sharing it with other people is how we get to use key concepts we learned from books. It is like being a tutor - when you have to teach someone, you must first internalize the material yourself. It goes the other way as well, try to share knowledge you just absorbed from a book with someone else and you end up internalizing the key concepts much better.
5. Remember where to find key concepts
Another point he had was we shouldn't try to memorize concepts per se, but rather know where we can reread them again. He compares it to a recipe book: We don't need to know the details of a recipe, so long as we know in which book to find the recipe again. Likewise, we just need to know roughly in which book we can reread certain ideas.
I am sharing this all with you, so that I internalize some of his lifehacks for reading better and recalling it better Thanks for reading this!
I thought those tips were pretty on point, which is why I want to share a few of them with you :
1. Don't read a book from beginning to end, don't read it at all, if you don't like it
It seems like we really have this urge to read a book from beginning to end. Feeling like a cheater, if we were to skip chapters. A 200-page non-fiction book typically only conveys 2-3 key ideas and then builds proof and examples throughout the book. Read 10% of the book and you get the main ideas, then look into the Table of Content and only read those chapters that sound interesting to you.
2. Find time to read by combining it with something you absolutely do every day
Everyone wants to read more, but we have busy schedules. Combine reading with something else you absolutely must do during a day (eating for example). Everyone has 30 minutes in a day to carve out. Really. Reading 30 minutes a day, at an average human reading pace of 1 page per 2 minutes and you end up reading a book every two weeks - that's pretty solid.
3. Read several books in parallel
Getting us to read is sometimes like getting the attention of our inner child. It's hard to stay focused. Our mind wanders, we find some passages boring. Reading several books at the same time is super refreshing. Sometimes we need something more light-hearted, sometimes we feel like being deep and philosophical. Have something ready for each occasion. It makes reading more fun.
4. Talk about what you read, so that it sticks with you
I found this one the most valuable tip. I agree with Mark's assessment that highlighting, or taking notes rarely end up in me remembering anything. We remember things much better, when we have to use the knowledge. So talking about it, and sharing it with other people is how we get to use key concepts we learned from books. It is like being a tutor - when you have to teach someone, you must first internalize the material yourself. It goes the other way as well, try to share knowledge you just absorbed from a book with someone else and you end up internalizing the key concepts much better.
5. Remember where to find key concepts
Another point he had was we shouldn't try to memorize concepts per se, but rather know where we can reread them again. He compares it to a recipe book: We don't need to know the details of a recipe, so long as we know in which book to find the recipe again. Likewise, we just need to know roughly in which book we can reread certain ideas.
I am sharing this all with you, so that I internalize some of his lifehacks for reading better and recalling it better Thanks for reading this!