We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn. -- Peter F. Drucker
As part of my self-planned Master's Degree in Personal Productivity I've been reading non-fiction rather voraciously [1]. For example, I usually have 3-5 books going per week, with replacements arriving regularly [2]. The topics cover productivity, personal growth, consulting, networking, and creativity. However, a significant problem I've encountered is a certain "tyranny" of reading for education (rather than for entertainment), and it has threatened to turn the process into a form of aversion therapy.
Naturally, because my goal is to learn, the reading involves work. But the question is: How can one read efficiently, capture relevant ideas in a usable way, and keep the process sustainable and enjoyable? The rest of my post summarizes the best solutions I've found, but the most useful technique comes from Jason Womack [3], and synthesizes nicely the most common ideas. In a nutshell, he says he reads the book four times:
- Table of contents, glossary, index.
- Anything in bold, titles, and subtitles.
- First line of every paragraph.
- Entire book
Here's the twist: Steps 1-3 should only take about 10 minutes. To capture relevant information he uses a note-taking scheme involving putting dots in margins, and cross-referencing them in an index in the book's front. When done, he transfers them to a text file.
After adopting his system with a slight variation (I dictate my notes into an inexpensive cassette tape recorder, then transcribe them into my system [4]), I've found it works great. I can very quickly scan a book, decide if it's worth reading in depth (steps 3 and 4), and which sections are likely to be most relevant to my goals. My only other point is to note that I seem to need a balance between non-fiction and fiction. (My current ratio of non-fiction to fiction is about 5:1, but should probably be more like 3:1.)
I'd love to hear your suggestions and tricks!
Related methods
Following are related articles, each with its own twist. The common point, though, is to efficiently find ideas that are relevant to your goals, usually via some sort of skimming. The big change for me (some slight embarrassment here) was the realization that I didn't have to read the entire book word-for-word!
In How to read a business book, Brendon Connelly suggests marking up (tagging) interesting passages with a master index at the back of the book. He also contributes tips on where to read, pens to use, etc.
The classic How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life (by Alan Lakein), suggests reading books like newspapers. The main points:
- Put a new book into your inbox every day, and take the old one out, even if unread.
- Then read the 'headlines' on jacket (most significant points).
- Then glance through it quickly, noting items of interest, taking about the same amount of time as reading a newspaper.
- The goal: Find the key ideas and understand their applicability to your situation.
- Use the preface, table of contents, and summaries at beginning and end of book.
- Read details only if a) it's meaningful, and b) it's involved.
This approach allows gaining value in a surprisingly short time. It's good because you see more books, and are more likely to see really good ones. Also, you get efficient at skipping lower quality works.
In Open Loops: A Quick and Dirty Reading Strategy When Time is Short, the section "How To Find the Essential 20%" lists these points:
- Read the title of the material.
- Read the introduction.
- Read the Table of Contents.
- Flip through the material, scanning the chapter titles and sub-headings.
- Look at the illustrations and captions. Look at the charts and diagrams. Read the pull-quotes and sidebars.
- Scan through the index looking for your particular business’ buzz words.
- Now read the first chapter (or in a shorter work, the first paragraph).
- Flip through the book and read the first sentence of each paragraph.
- Read the last chapter (or paragraph in a shorter work). If there is an executive summary, read it.
- Read any other information on the cover or dust jacket.
In How to Study and Make the Most of Your Time, an approach is presented that I found was commonly recommended to students:
- Schedule important work.
- Ask yourself questions as you read - read to answer questions.
- Use SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review.
- Try to develop an overall concept of what you have read in your own words and thoughts. try to connect things you have just read to things you already know.
- Every paragraph contains a main idea - make it a habit to find the main idea in each paragraph you read.
- Think!
The article Leading Forward: How to Read and Digest a Book! (apparently gone, but still in - Google's cache) recommended five steps: Selection, Preparation, Read Actively, Reflect for Insight, Systemise for implementation. This was in the minority in that it addressed how to use the information after reading.
Finally, from The Great Big Book of Personal Productivity, by Ron Fry: To summarize the skimming process:
- Read and be sure you understand the title or heading. Try rephrasing it as a question for further clarification of what you will read.
- Examine all the subheadings, illustrations, and graphics. these will help you identify the significant matter within the text.
- Read thoroughly the introductory paragraphs, the summary, and any questions at chapter's end.
- Read the first sentence of every paragraph.this generally includes the main idea.
- Evaluate what you have gained from this process: Can you answer the questions at the end of the chapter? Can you intelligently participate in a class discussion of the material?
- Write a brief summary that capsulizes what you have learned from your skimming.
- Based on this evaluation, decide whether a more thorough reading is required.
References
- [1] In his article Read a Book a Week, Steve Pavlina explains a meta reason for reading voraciously:
But the actual knowledge and the new distinctions you gain from reading are not the main benefit. My experience has shown me that the real benefit comes not from what you read but rather from the habit of reading. When you read a new book every week, you condition your mind to keep taking in new knowledge. Your thinking remains fresh and sharp. Your brain is always churning on new ideas, looking for new distinctions it can make. Every day you pour in more ideas, which your brain must find a way to integrate into your existing knowledge base. Frequent reading fires up your neural activity, even during the periods when you aren't reading.
- [2] Preferred sources: 1) My local library (which supports web-based requests), 2) Amazon's used marketplace, and 3) Amazon's new books. However, I've recently been exploring ebay's books section. I'd love to hear others' experiences buying from ebay...
- [3] Via personal correspondence.
- [4] See My Big-Arse Text File - a Poor Man's Wiki+Blog+PIM and Pickle jars, text files, and creative idea capture.
Comments
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Read in groups
I found that reading in groups of books really helps me. For instance, if I have three books about one subject, I can read them all much faster, and learn more, if I tackle them one after another. I think it's because they use similar jargon, and probably organize information in the same way. Also, if I find that I know everything that one book has to offer, I can quickly skim it to find what I don't know, and put it aside.
Interesting!
I'd never thought about that before, RW. I often have one work of fiction going, which usually takes little brainpower, and 1+ non-fiction. I've had up to ~3 NF at once, but that was a stretch. However, they were on unrelated topics... I'll give it a try once my non-fiction brainspace frees up.
reading speed
hello.please can u tell me how to read speed.???
Speed reading
Amazon.com Widgets
Great question. First, if you actually want to read words faster, here are a few resources:
However, the fastest way to increase the effective number of words you read is to use the techniques in my post and not read the whole book. A 50,000 word book that you get the gist of in one hour works out to be over 800 words per minute, much higher than if you read from cover to cover. More on reading rate here.
Good luck!
Hi Norman,If you are held
Hi Norman,
If you are held captive and your captor tells you that you are allowed to read only one book, which book would you pick?
Christ what a question! I guess it would not be a speed reading book ;-)
Moving Mountains ... by far the best book on communication
Thanks for the tip - it's on my list: Moving mountains;: Or, The art and craft of letting others see things your way
... So it is not what you say that matters; it is what people hear. Before you make a presentation, you need to really try to understand the various reasons people show up to hear you.
And that seems like the hard part.
elegance: "exists when a great many aspects of a subject or person are expressed in the simplest possible way."
Yes! And that's what I'm calling "genius." The ability to see the essence of something clearly, then state it in a diamond nutshell (OK, I need to work on the wording). And, like "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance," you know it when you see it. It's that research paper that nails the idea. It's the presentation that's 100% on. Etc.
I'm striving for that.
presentations: "Presentation of ideas is conversation carried on at high voltage - at once more dangerous and more powerful."
Nice! The danger comes from the possibility of failure? The power, from the intensity and potential to make an impact in a short time?
Thanks a ton, Norman.
If you are held captive and
If you are held captive and your captor tells you that you are allowed to read only one book, which book would you pick?
For me, the choice is “Moving Mountains” by Henry Boettinger. It is by far the best book on communication. It was written back in 1969 by an AT&T executive in England. The language is a bit dated but the advice offered there is timeless.
Peter Drucker’s review appears on the book cover as follows: “A first-class and highly original, but also highly practical, treatise both on how one thinks and how one presents thinking.”
On presentation, Boettinger states that each person listens for his own reason. So it is not what you say that matters; it is what people hear. Before you make a presentation, you need to really try to understand the various reasons people show up to hear you.
On elegance, Boettinger says that it “exists when a great many aspects of a subject or person are expressed in the simplest possible way.”
On passion, he writes that “you can never affect others if you yourself are not affected by the idea”. That’s why people who read from their speeches or presentations can never convince their audience because there is no passion there. The audience can sense it right away.
Boettinger also says that you should always “treat the audience as equals during the presentation”. If you talk down to the audience, they become resentful. If you try to kiss up to the audience, they despise you.
The best quote from the book is what Boettinger says about making presentations: ” Presentation of ideas is conversation carried on at high voltage — at once more dangerous and more powerful.”
This book is 340 pages of great practical and timeless advice. The bad news is that it is out of print and it is a bit hard to find. Some libraries carry them. You may find it at Amazon or EBay.
Norman: Thanks for the PP
Norman: Thanks for the PP tip - I like the idea of thinking of how to present it to other people (see The crucible of teaching: Want to learn in a hurry? Teach!)
(Background: I'm a huge Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire fan. And Norman is a significant contributor to the book's discussion group. I talk a bit about it in What a difference a framework can make.)
Matt,One idea I have is to
Matt,
One idea I have is to summarize a book I have read in a BBP presentation. It forces you to search for the main ideas in the book while reading it. For those readers who are not familiar with BBP. That is the art of doing a PowerPoint presentation without using thsoe dreadful comma-inducing bullet points.
Hi Pearl - glad you liked
Hi Pearl - glad you liked it. You might also find this helpful: A reading workflow based on Leveen's "Little Guide"
Thank you for your post! I'm
Thank you for your post! I'm preparing reading classes for my college students and it's so lucky to find out your post. I'm Pearl in China. I'll visit your blog whenever I am free.
Hi Laura, thanks for the
Hi Laura, thanks for the story. I think typing the notes as you read is a great practice if you can make it work.
if I wait until the end of the book to write down/type up my notes, it seems too daunting - Exactly! For me, what's working well is to dictate, outsource the transcription (see The 4-hour workweek applied: How I spent $100, saved hours, and boosted my reading workflow), then review the notes and enter them into my quasi wiki (see My Big-Arse Text File - a Poor Man's Wiki+Blog+PIM).
...or it's time for the book to go back to the library and there is no time to make the notes - I solved this by buying and keeping every book :-) I frequently quote Brian Tracy's Guaranteed Formula For Getting Rich:
Invest as much in your mind each year as you do in your car." "The average driver spends $600 per month on his car... In the first year of practicing this formula, you income will increase 25 percent to 50 percent, or more, and your entire career will take off.
Keep on reading!
I've just begun a new habit
I've just begun a new habit -- I have a reading wiki where I keep notes on whatever I'm currently reading. I often read while eating my lunch at work and can then quickly type a few notes into the wiki of things to remember or look up later. I prefer this to the Post-it page marking method (which I used to use) because if I wait until the end of the book to write down/type up my notes, it seems like too daunting a task, or it's time for the book to go back to the library and there is no time to make the notes.
how to read a university book and understand what I read
I am currently studying at university and I would like to know how to read effectively and retain the information. Thanks in advance.
Thanks and good luck!
I appreciate your comment, sophia.
Check out
Check out http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/PDF/ho...
Many of the same ideas, a bit more detailed, focused for students but widely applicable.
Hey, Marcel - that's very
Hey, Marcel - that's very cool. Thanks for pointing it out. I'd love to hear more about how you use it. I'm happy with dictating voice notes into my little Olympus WS-300M Digital Recorder (more at Notes on using a digital voice recorder for taking reading notes), but I can see the advantages of the C-pen.
Here's something very cool you reminded me of: Livescribe :: Turn Your Paper On (check out the Sneak Peek).
More at: Fly (pentop computer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Wired 13.11: LeapFrog's Wild Ride.
Thanks for reading!
Very useful information.I
Very useful information.
I use a C-pen 10 to scan text parts from books into my textdatabase. http://www.cpen.com/
Thanks for the pointer, Ray.
Thanks for the pointer, Ray. Looks good.
I found a post last year at
I found a post last year at The Dawn Treader blog called "Reading on the Run" that was very helpful in this regards. The process recommended there looks like this:
Scan > Ransack > Browse > Pre-Read > In-Depth Read > Study
Here is the link: The Dawn Treader: Reading On The Run : How To Get More Out of Reading In Less Time.
Night Blogger: Why not take
Night Blogger: Why not take external notes (voice recorder, pad of paper, etc)? Also, many people think the point of owning the book is so that you can mark it up!
Another approach (from Jason Womack): Put a pencil dot next to each paragraph that strikes you, and keep an index in the back of pages with dots (maybe on a large sticky pad).
have you got any article on time management, procrastination, efficiency, motivation: Well, hopefully this entire blog is on those topics, so search around. FYI I've tagged all my posts as ideamatt on del.icio.us.
Thanks Matthew, this as just
Thanks Matthew, this as just confirmed what I believed.
The technique I use is as follows :
As I read the book I highlight
(using a pink Stabilo highlighter)the important section that I will need to synthetise using my own words
It works ok for me, the only negative point is that it's difficult to resell a book on ebay or amazon which have got marked and highlight on every page.
So the only solution to this, is to not be greedy and give away the book to someone
I did hear (in good) of delicious library, it seems to have nice UI, too bad it's a Mac only app
Question : have you got any article on time management, procrastination, efficiency, motivation, I really suck at those so any tips and advices would be mmore than welcomed
>> The Night Blooger <<
Hi Night Blogger, thanks for
Hi Night Blogger, thanks for reading.
Do you believe that reading a book without taking notes is a lost read?: Yes! I'm now spoiled - if I start reading a book and I don't have a capture tool around, I feel that I shouldn't go on. In fact, that's my new definition of "pleasure reading" - Can I read it without feeling like I should take notes? Note that this definition crosses the fiction/non-fiction line...
sometimes I pick up up book, read it completely and then realized that I've already read that book: Interesting! Maybe if you get through it and find the re-read has been useful, it's OK?
a database of books that I owned/read: I'd welcome recommendations from readers on this. I use my Matt's Idea Blog: My Big-Arse Text File to track these, and some use Excel. Also, you might check out Delicious Library or LibraryThing | Catalog your books online.
Thanks for your comment.
Hello Matthew,Nice postDo
Hello Matthew,
Nice post
Do you believe that reading a book without taking notes is a lost read ?
I've got also another problem
sometimes I pick up up book, read it completely and then realised that I've already read that book
I feel that I need to set up a database of book that I owned, wish list feature like Amazon and notes for each book that I've read
Do you know any software which might help organizing all these
Best Regards from France,
The Night Blogger
Hi Teresa: Your comment gave
Hi Teresa: Your comment gave me such a lift. I'm very pleased to have helped. Thanks for reading!
merry christmas matt from
merry christmas matt from Hong Kong!
For the past two hours, i have conquered two books that i was previously VERY AFRAID of picking up. i found myself getting its main ideas and selected materials that are of relevance to me. learning becomes more efficient and fun!
Thanks - this post of yours may have changed my life for the better.
Thanks, John - I like the
Thanks, John - I like the idea of audio books. I haven't had much luck with them due to my limited commute times (yea!) but what a great idea. (They're on my mind recently, having read "yes you can!" - a book on the motivational speaker industry. Talks about Toastmasters as well.)
I use the Amazon reviews as well - very cool.
Great post, Matt! I have
Great post, Matt! I have found that audio books are the answer for me. I can listen while walking, running, or driving using my iPod. It's nice to have the written book for reference but usually not necessary.
The great thing about the audio format is that I finish each and every book. With written books and my limited time schedule I find that I start many of them but have trouble finishing them up.
I find the book reviews in Amazon to be very helpful in choosing books in the first place. If they only one or two stars I stay far away and save my money.
I will take the multiple advice offered here and do a pre-read skim through the material. Great Idea!
John
Thanks, Chris - You've saved
Thanks, Chris - You've saved me hours of work! :-)
What's all this about the
What's all this about the title, subtitles and first lines of paragraphs? Have you never heard of the blurb? Here's what you do: Buy the book; ditch the book; keep the dustjacket with all salient details thereon. Easy!
Thanks for the support and
Thanks for the support and the recommendation, Dulcinea. I'll definitely check out Bloom's book.
This is quite useful summary
This is quite useful summary of this approach. At the risk of being non-topical, I would also recommend Harold Bloom's 'How to Read and Why' for a slightly different take and inspiration (perhaps). Bloom is a literary critic of considerable experience and writes engagingly and clearly. He is passionate about reading and has many (strong) opinions, mostly about fiction, but also poetry.
Thanks for the comment, and
Thanks for the comment, and for reading, Nels. I appreciate it!
Love the academic blog, BTW.
Great post! Like you, I
Great post! Like you, I want to read word-for-word, but that's not always best.
Thanks very much for the
Thanks very much for the pointers, Michael. They were all on my wish list, and are now top priority. More grist for the mill.
I believe that I would start
I believe that I would start with by Ram Charan. It is a VERY small book, but PACKED with great information.
Next might be First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman.
Of course, you will be interested in Flawless Consulting by Peter Block. This is the standard for people who want to share what they are passionate about...just like you and GTD.
I have only read about 1/3 of the books (including the ones mentioned above) and I look forward to getting to the others in time.
I REALLY enjoyed your post,
I REALLY enjoyed your post, and your overall blog.
Thanks very much, Michael. I always appreciate your comments.
Could you please post (and keep a running list) of the books that you are reading as part of your new education?
That's a great suggestion - thanks for asking. I've been asked a few times for this, so it sounds like it's time to add it!
Regarding the Personal MBA, thanks for the links - The Personal MBA and Josh Kaufman's site. Would you recommend a good starting book for someone like me who's getting into business and wants to understand how it works? I need to understand where my clients are coming from...
Cheers!
Sorry...I screwed up the
Sorry...I screwed up the links in my post above. I have never posted URL in a Blogger post before.
The Personal MBA link should be http://www.personalmba.com/.
The last sentences should end Josh Kaufman's SITE with the link to http://www.joshkaufman.net/personal....
Sorry for screwing it up. :S
Hey Matt, I REALLY enjoyed
Hey Matt,
I REALLY enjoyed your post, and your overall blog. Could you please post (and keep a running list) of the books that you are reading as part of your new education?
I have gotten semi-involved with the HTTP://WWW.PERSONALMBA.COM HREF="" REL="nofollow">Personal MBA. I have found that some of those books may make it onto your list as well. The actual list of books is at creator Josh Kaufman's HTTP://WWW.JOSHKAUFMAN.NET/PERSONAL... HREF="" REL="nofollow"/>.
Thanks and keep up the good work that you do for the GTD community.
Hey Matt - Thanks very much
Hey Matt - Thanks very much for the compliment, for the improved link, and the Wikipedia article with links to free copies. Very helpful.
Regarding long-windedness, I'm in agreement. I've heard others make the claim that authors are encouraged to write a lot so that their books will provide more "words/pound." I prefer the small gems that get the big idea across efficiently. Thus the skimming technique...
It's interesting to me to hear how you use Post-Its. I gave this a try with the book
The Success Principles (by Canfield and Switzer), but I stopped at around 30 notes because it was getting a bit much. (The book has its limitations, but I found lots of things I wanted to remember the time.) I'd be curious to hear if you've encountered this problem.
Finally, I'm really glad you mentioned your "Google the key phrases" idea. I immediately realized I do the same thing, which sometimes transcribing time as well!
Thanks for reading, and for your excellent book notes.
(Other readers might not realize that Matt's got a ton of great book notes, and his Getting Things Done page is an oft-linked-to classic.)
Matt,Great article!The
Matt,
Great article!
The "Leading Forward" link to the Google Cache has apparently expired. However, it's available via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
The Wikipedia entry on How to Read a Book has some links to early editions of the book, available online for free. I attempted to tackle the print version, but ultimately I felt that the long-windedness of the writing warranted skimming instead. There's definitely some good information in there though.
When reading, I like to use the Post-It flags to mark sections I want to return to for note taking. Another trick that I've found useful is to put some key phrases or headings from the book into Google. Often, I can find someone else's notes to use as the basis for my own. And I agree with Joe that once you've taken notes, making your book notes public can be useful to others.
- Matt
Great comment, Joe - thanks.
Great comment, Joe - thanks. I guess that's part of why I get so much out of blogging; at first, just writing (and the requisite thinking), then deepening through interactions.
Well said.
Some great ideas here! I'm
Some great ideas here! I'm a pretty slow reader, and don't have a great memory. One of the best ways I find to get the most out of a book is to blog about it -- an extension of the idea of writing a summary ... only making it public. By making it public, it forces me to get clearer about what the main points are ... and if I get them wrong, or miss some, others are sometimes willing to help out via comments.
My first attempt at this was Tim Sanders' book Love is the Killer App (my blog entry about my take on the book was entitled BizLove). I've since applied this to a few other books, and plan to continue this practice.
Thanks a bunch, Anonymous. I
Thanks a bunch, Anonymous. I appreciate your tips.
FWIW, here is my process: a
FWIW, here is my process: a key to remember is that most books are several hundred pages long, not because they have that much material, but because there is a need to provide perceived value for money, and that seems to be measured by the pound rather than by the dollar (computer books especially.)
1. As before, read the table of contents, and try to get a model in your head of what the book as a whole contains. (Also recognize that most books have very poorly written tables of contents.)
2. Skim the whole book, looking at display material such as titles, diagrams, graphs, tables (lightly) and so forth. Again try to incorporate that into your cognative model of what the book is about.
3. Many books have summarys at the end of each chapter (and sometimes at the beginning), for many of these books you don't need to read anything except the chapter, the rest is just fluff or supporting material.
3. Begin with the earliest chapter that seems relevant to your needs. Before reading the chapter, reskim it as above, and try to build a more detailed congative model of what this chapter is about.
4. Read the chapter. However, this is the most important thing: write at the top of each page, as you go, what information is on that page.
5. At the end of the chapter (feel free to skip bits you don't want to read), reskim the chapter to reestablish the cognative model, then write at the beginnging of the chapter a summary of what is in there. (I often also write this summary on the table of contents.)
6. Go the the next relevant chapter.
It is important to write on the page, as you read the page. Don't turn until you have written. This is a simple practice of re-establishing in your mind what your read. It also provides a summary for the future. Most people forget nearly everything they read in a book within a week.
One final tip is to write a summary of the whole book.
Of course, only write in books you own!
4. As you
Thank you for the updated
Thank you for the updated link, Thomas. I agree - a great site. Thanks for reading!
Great post. I am not a fast
Great post. I am not a fast reader, so these tips are very useful.
fyi - I was able to find the new location of the "How to read and Digest a book!" post here:
The Practice of Leadership
Lots of other interesting stuff on his site as well.
Thomas
Thank you very much, Justin.
Thank you very much, Justin. I'm very interested in reading How to Read a Book, and I appreciate the solid recommendation.
Best book on how to read a
Best book on how to read a book: How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler. This is the standard by which all others are measured and required reading in many college courses.
You can also find some good overviews of the book online.
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