How I read books: a guide on how to learn
denzhadanov.com
How I read books: a guide on how to learn
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Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#2My process:
- If I find the book is very daunting but also very valuable, I read it multiple times from start till end. First time without stopping for reading references, then another pass for researching topics, references, etc. and then finally once more to read everything again with the newly acquired knowledge to find some things that I may have missed, things that I might have understood incorrectly and to improve retention.
- I always keep notebook close by to note anything that comes to my mind. Some things are triggered by reading the book and some things are completely unrelated. I write them down so that they don't distract me from reading.
- I have special place in my office where I put a book so that it is visible to me whatever I do. It serves as a constant reminder to get it finished.
- When I was young I learned to speed read. When I grew up little more I unlearned. It impairs comprehension.
Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#3My process:
- Read the book from start till end
- From time to time, I lay the book aside and think about what I just read
People learn differently and I personally don't need notes nor fancy color maps like the author.
Having an external brain like the author has the downside that you can't set things in context (same as wikipedia).
For me the key to learning is this "aha" moment. Once I understand something I remember it for a very long time.
Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#4I've taken quite a few things from Ryan Holiday's approach to reading:
https://ryanholiday.net/the-notecard-system-the-key-for-reme...
https://ryanholiday.net/read-to-lead-how-to-digest-books-abo...
I also go through all notes on a subject [from other books I've read] when reading a new book to see how my new view of the whole subject might change given the new information.
Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#5https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Read_a_Book
There are plenty of useful things to learn from others to expand and supplement your approach to reading, but for a total understanding of having a relationship with a book/author, Adler can’t be beat.
Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#6My process: - If I find the book is very daunting but also very valuable, I read it multiple times from start till end. First time without stopping for reading references, then another pass for researching topics, references, etc. and then finally once more to read everything again with the newly acquired knowledge to find some things that I may have missed, things that I might have understood incorrectly and to impr…
> I have special place in my office where I put a book so that it is visible to me whatever I do. It serves as a constant reminder to get it finished.
Tangential but I do this with everything. I like very high levels of organization (blame my aspergers) and thus I found that my motivation to hide unnecessary things from view is pretty high. High enough that I place things in view as a reminder to get them done. An extra laptop on my desk -> I need to transfer the remaining files into my new laptop so that I can finally remove it from view. Book on my desk? Needs to be finished. Sticky note on my island? need to order groceries before I can remove it. I'd turned minimalism into a lifestyle/todo list. Same with the digital world.
Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#7I tend to only write stuff down I learned from reading the book, then later turn these notes into flash cards. I feel the stuff that is obvious to me shouldn’t be written down, even if my notes then lack a certain completeness or are incomprehensible for anyone but me. I rather have notes of bits and pieces and tie them to the already existing neurological connections I have about the subject instead of trying to reorder everything in a coherent hierarchical sense.
I feel trying to make a perfect summary of a topic is something that is not really useful to a single person from a learning perspective. Yea you can not easily turn your notes into a blog post, but you train your brain and that is more rewarding in the long run, I think.
Also, yeah, Zettelkasten.
Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#8https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Read_a_Book There are plenty of useful things to learn from others to expand and supplement your approach to reading, but for a total understanding of having a relationship with a book/author, Adler can’t be beat.
I've made a mistake and bought this one. Did not finish. Very boring and now useful information.
Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#9Sometimes I wonder how I would turn out if I did organized people stuff like this. What bothers me is these life advices always feel like bullshit. Like, check this guy out. He has his own website with a title "Den Zhadanov\nTechnology. Productivity. Inspiration.". This is life coaching 101. He writes about how burning man didn't change his life and has pictures of books on beaches. How does one take this person seriously? Can someone read this crap and think "Yeah, I find this guy to be honest and want to take his opinion seriously." I get that he's a Forbes 30 under 30 but personally it all smells way more like hustle than some profound knowledge.
Re: How I read books: a guide on how to learn
#10> Instead of reading 100 books, it’s better to find one that really changes your life.
You can't know whether book will change your life or not until you read it. If you treat every book too seriously you just waste your time and kill the pleasure of reading.
Everyone should master skimming and their ability to regulate "depth of understanding" based on perceived value.