How to gain more from your reading • Hacker News Board

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#51

Post by dSebastien » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 6:43 PM UTC

BeetleB wrote: post #43

mrjivraj wrote: post #6

I sometimes fall into the trap of bookmarking interesting content but failing to go back to read it, especially long form content, although I find such content to be the best for learning about interesting things. There were a few articles I kept coming back to but couldn't get through because of distractions, so yesterday I decided to print out the articles I wanted to read. 30 mins later, I had gone through 3 three…

Printing is something I started to do some months ago. Instead of keeping the tab open for weeks, I decided I'd print anything I want to read and place it a physical "inbox". Some tips: I print 2 pages to a side, so 4 pages per printer paper. Even long articles don't use too much paper, and for my eyes it's still readable (there are a few articles where I need to enlarge first). I print using either Firefox's "Simpli…

I did this for ten years. I would print 10-15 articles each day, and read those during my ~2h of daily commute.

I've learned a ton of things that way. I'm not proud for the environment, but the physical aspect did have its importance.

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#52

Post by handrous » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 6:49 PM UTC

wombatmobile wrote: post #15

leokennis wrote: post #5

This article is, perhaps unsurprisingly, very well written and structured. A joy to read compared to most internet writing! It vibes pretty well with my own "rules" for reading: * I read one book at a time * In general I only read when I feel like it, but I will read every day: if I don't feel like it, I'll just read one page * At any point am I allowed to stop reading a book and pick up a new one * I do not track "p…

Why do you read one book at a time? Have you tried more than that and found it unsatisfactory? I usually have two books on the go. I leave them in different places. That’s key. I am a different person in each place, and I can keep my associations separate and distinct for each book. Given enough places, I’m confident I could read more than two books in parallel.

I'd guess reading ebooks, even on tablets or phones, makes one-book-reading the path of least resistance. I mostly read multiple because I physically keep the (paper) books near where I read them. I'll read a different book in bed than at my desk than in the living room, because that's what's there. Some of those (the bedside one, especially) don't tend to travel with me. Others might. It's mostly a result of the physicality and locality of the actual books, as objects.

However, if I'm reading a book on my phone & tablet, I'll mostly stick to one until I'm done with it. They way they sync reading status and time-of-last-access across devices encourages it, even with multiple devices.

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#53

Post by ssully » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 6:56 PM UTC

leokennis wrote: post #5

This article is, perhaps unsurprisingly, very well written and structured. A joy to read compared to most internet writing! It vibes pretty well with my own "rules" for reading: * I read one book at a time * In general I only read when I feel like it, but I will read every day: if I don't feel like it, I'll just read one page * At any point am I allowed to stop reading a book and pick up a new one * I do not track "p…

I am pretty much the exact same as you. Only difference is I set a "reading challenge" every year, but it's more of a guide then a rule. I've failed the goal multiple years; I am just happy as long as I am within a few books of my goal.

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#54

Post by jldugger » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 7:00 PM UTC

njharman wrote: post #48

My problem is bad memory. I don't remember much of the books I read. Even recently. So, I become very discouraged and see reading as waste of time as very little will stick and this I'll "grow" very little from time invested. Poor ROI. I still read but mostly for eprmeral enntertainmen

For professional development books, my process is is two steps: first, read a chapter. Second, extract key insights I want to remember into an Anki card. I may have to re-read the chapter in part to do so, which definitely helps with recall.

I generally try to do about one chapter a night, or ten pages an hour. And I admit it can be hard to get both steps done in the time allotted. Also, the resulting new card review load can be a pain in the ass -- a good cloze card will have three or four forms to review. If you're adding three or four cards per chapter you end up with a lot of new material to review that Anki frontloads by design.

tl;dr: Remembering stuff is hard. But possibly worth it.

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#55

Post by solidist » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 7:03 PM UTC

Sharing on own reading habits: https://link.medium.com/4a2hr1VE6hb

I liked the part of reading everyday - even just a page or two. I found through my own experience to be rewarding in time.

Another one I've learned is being open and immediately committed to reading suggestions for others, it's personally opened my perspective(s)

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#56

Post by oh_sigh » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 7:48 PM UTC

wombatmobile wrote: post #15

leokennis wrote: post #5

This article is, perhaps unsurprisingly, very well written and structured. A joy to read compared to most internet writing! It vibes pretty well with my own "rules" for reading: * I read one book at a time * In general I only read when I feel like it, but I will read every day: if I don't feel like it, I'll just read one page * At any point am I allowed to stop reading a book and pick up a new one * I do not track "p…

Why do you read one book at a time? Have you tried more than that and found it unsatisfactory? I usually have two books on the go. I leave them in different places. That’s key. I am a different person in each place, and I can keep my associations separate and distinct for each book. Given enough places, I’m confident I could read more than two books in parallel.

Yeah, I don't understand this. I actually read 5 to 10 books at a time. Many "classics" that we have these days were actually published as periodicals/in serial form. So when War and Peace was first published, no one sat down and just read 1500 pages. New chapters were released once a month or so over the period of 2+ years.

So if that's how War and Peace was originally read, why shouldn't I read it the same way?

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#57

Post by mrjivraj » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 8:08 PM UTC

BeetleB wrote: post #43

mrjivraj wrote: post #6

I sometimes fall into the trap of bookmarking interesting content but failing to go back to read it, especially long form content, although I find such content to be the best for learning about interesting things. There were a few articles I kept coming back to but couldn't get through because of distractions, so yesterday I decided to print out the articles I wanted to read. 30 mins later, I had gone through 3 three…

Printing is something I started to do some months ago. Instead of keeping the tab open for weeks, I decided I'd print anything I want to read and place it a physical "inbox". Some tips: I print 2 pages to a side, so 4 pages per printer paper. Even long articles don't use too much paper, and for my eyes it's still readable (there are a few articles where I need to enlarge first). I print using either Firefox's "Simpli…

Do you have a simple system to keep track of the notes you take?

I ask because I also started taking notes, primarily because I want to write about some of the things I come across. I write an investment newsletter (https://playingfordoubles.substack.com)

I probably need to get myself some type of filing cabinet to keep track of articles I'd like to revisit in the future.

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#58

Post by handrous » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 8:23 PM UTC

njharman wrote: post #48

My problem is bad memory. I don't remember much of the books I read. Even recently. So, I become very discouraged and see reading as waste of time as very little will stick and this I'll "grow" very little from time invested. Poor ROI. I still read but mostly for eprmeral enntertainmen

Taking notes helps a lot with recall, IME. Otherwise I'm the same way.

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#59

Post by sanderjd » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 8:29 PM UTC

zerop wrote: post #36

sanderjd wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "loud"? Do you mean reading out loud?

Yes. Reading loud enough so that you hear it.

I'm sorry, I know I'm being dense, but I don't vocalize when I read, even quietly. Are you suggesting that reading out loud is a technique you use to pay attention better, or do you mean it metaphorically?

Re: How to gain more from your reading

#60

Post by runevault » Thu, Jul 22, 2021, 8:36 PM UTC

medstrom wrote: post #2

A shortcut can be to write fiction. Even if it doesn't go anywhere publishable, even if you only write a sentence a week, regularly tackling the challenge of writing well will naturally make you pay attention to how others write.

This is very true. Though there are also books to read that can help see things more deeply. A couple I really found helpful here are Elements of Eloquence (gets into rhetorical tools, parallel structure as mentioned in the article being one of many such examples), and Writing Better Lyrics which gives a lot of tools that helps for all forms of writing not only song lyrics.