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Ask HN: How can I read faster?
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Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#42[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#43Read less, and read with a problem in mind.
If I were reading about about Rust, which I am not familiar with, I'd be focused on what's different about Rust relative to languages I am familiar with and what problems the authors say it solves. How might I solve X with Rust? I'll read the introduction deliberately, toward what is the intention of the authors for readers of this book, and look at both the table of contents and index in terms of seeing what's there. Then I'll skim, and dive in where it's relevant at the time.
Tacitly, I am viewing a non-fiction book here as a searchable index of concepts and examples vs as a purely linear narrative.
Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#44If the end goal is to increase your knowledge then reading faster won't necessarily get you there. You won't process the information faster or retain it any better. Instead, learning to put down a book when it's not good rather than forcing yourself to finish it and taking good notes or writing a book review are better approaches (for the goal of processing and retaining information for longer).
It took me a long time to learn to put down books that I wasn't enjoying, but it's definitely the best decision. There are so many books in the world, you're not going to run out. I always keep in mind this (possibly apocryphal) quote from Borges - "If a book is tedious to you, don't read it; that book was not written for you."
I find the same thing is true of most media. Of course, give things a chance, but if you're consuming media for pleasure, have already dedicated hours to something in particular, and aren't enjoying it at all, then there's no shame in putting it down.
There are more books, films, programmes, and games out there than you can ever consume in one lifetime; there's no point forcing yourself to keep going with something you're not enjoying. Moving on to something else doesn't mean that it's bad, or even that you might not come back to it and see it differently in the future.
Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#45I've found that the more and the faster I read in general, the better I get at processing said information faster.
You can try improving your reading speed in fiction books as it's easier and less mentally straining and see if that helps you with non-fiction processing too.
Immersion reading (reading and listening at the same thing at the same time) has been great for me to improve both the speed at which I'm reading but also my processing and language skills (non native English speaker). Kindle and audible support this out of the box, but you can also do it by listening audiobooks and just using a pdf reader.
Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#46Read a random page from the last book you read. Do you remember any of it?
For most people the answer is no. Conclusion: you're always safe to skim
since you'll only retain 10% anyway.
Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#47Please don't read faster. One negative thing that technology and the faced-paced-life, in general, has brought us is a world full of skimmers. We read snippets and think we know something.
Reading for pleasure is another story, but you specifically asked about "building onto the knowledge of people". Makes me think that you want to learn, or add to your understanding of something. In that case, take the time to really, read and critically think about what you are reading.
side note: keep a notepad and pen with you and write down your thoughts on what you're reading for later reflection.
You wont truly "know" something until after you have read it, thought about the material, and placed into a context that you can relate to.
Good Luck
Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#48Please don't read faster. One negative thing that technology and the faced-paced-life, in general, has brought us is a world full of skimmers. We read snippets and think we know something. Reading for pleasure is another story, but you specifically asked about "building onto the knowledge of people". Makes me think that you want to learn, or add to your understanding of something. In that case, take the time to reall…
“Reading goes quickly when you don’t slow down to comprehend”
Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#49If you want to get the most out of the books you read, even partially read, it might worth examining a specific strategy.
Specifically, How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler describes how one should approach reading a book. I find that even the Wikipedia entry is useful.
Re: Ask HN: How can I read faster?
#50I read +50 non-fiction books per year. Here's my advice for reading more and faster:
* Always have 2-3 books going that span multiple topics, matching books to mood. This will increase your consistency.
* Separate data collection from data processing. When reading with book in hand, you're doing data collection - preferably with a highlighter and/or pen for margin notes.
* Read more. On the surface this sounds circular but as you read more you find ideas are repeated across several books which makes them faster to process than new ideas.
* A small speed trick: decide when a book is worth skimming (vs. reading) and learn how to skim accurately by reading the first sentence of the paragraph and last few words of the paragraph. These positions often contain language indicating whether the paragraph will have meaningful content worth actually reading. I use this trick when a book is too long by half or more.