How to read books effectively
How to read books effectively
The Art of Reading More Effectively and Efficiently
Table of contents
Throughout our academic life, we’re programmed to believe that effective reading is measured by speed and breadth. The more we can read, the smarter we look. And the more broadly we can read, the more intelligent we seem.
In fact, I’ve fallen prey to this myself, making a clickbait video called How I Read 100 Books a Year. Full disclosure: I don’t actually. It’s closer to 50. But that makes for a less clickable video (sorry, not sorry).
Because of this obsession we have with reading more, we miss out on a lot of valuable insights. Wisdom from across the ages, the lessons mastered by people who’ve overcome extraordinary challenges, and the chance to gain knowledge that challenges our beliefs. All because we’re never taught the ultimate meta-skill: the art of reading.
Reading more effectively and efficiently means developing a watertight process to capture ideas, analyse arguments, and ask the right questions. It means identifying the right books to read, understanding the different reading goals, and using evidence-based techniques to increase reading productivity.
In many ways, improving the way we read is the number one skill that can change our lives for the better.
The Importance of Effective & Efficient Reading
Books have had an enormous impact on my own life. They’ve acted as a personal mentor, and as a vehicle for compounding knowledge.
🤓 Books have been my Personal Mentors
If someone asked me to name the most influential people in shaping my life (outside of my immediate family), I wouldn’t find it too hard to identify a group of people who’ve transformed my thinking through their incredible actions, ideas, and journeys. But the number one influence in my life wouldn’t be people at all. It would be books.
By reading lots of books (and by trying to read effectively), I’ve managed to accumulate decades worth of knowledge and experience from the world’s most incredible minds, with minimal personal effort. I’ve learned from mistakes without having to fail, I’ve learned from successes without having to take huge risks, and I’ve travelled thousands of miles without leaving the comfort of my bed in Cambridge.
Reading is the mentor without the cost, the pain, and the discomfort. I honestly wouldn’t have started 6med, my YouTube channel, or decided to write a book without the encouragement, motivation, inspiration, and boundless insights offered by my paper friends. Seriously. My only regret is that I didn’t learn to read properly sooner.
3 Books That Changed My Life🧠 Books help us Compound Knowledge
Just as money accumulates exponentially, so too does personal knowledge as it snowballs and branches out over time. In other words, the more we read and the better our reading processes are, the more our ideas, beliefs, and opinions begin to develop at an ever-increasing rate.
Not only does our brain begin effortlessly creating connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information, but cohesive and creative solutions to some of our most puzzling and perplexing problems gradually emerge. It’s a personal superpower that all of us have the opportunity to discover.
The Reading Objective
Increasing our ability to read more effectively, as a means to unlock our own personal potential, begins by deciding on a reading goal. After all, we’re probably going to have a different objective and experience reading Paradise Lost compared to our favourite Harry Potter book.
Many brilliant authors talk about books as having a rather loose objective of success, happiness, and personal fulfilment. Roald Dahl, for instance, said that «if you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books». And J. K. Rowling once said that «something very magical can happen when you read a good book».
But I’d agree, these opinions are abstract, subjective, and largely unhelpful in guiding the way in which we should read. Instead, it’s easier and more useful for our purposes to segment reading objectives into three distinct categories, as identified by Mortimer Adler in How to Read a Book.
🤪 Category 1: Reading to Entertain
In this category, we read books purely for enjoyment. It’s how we spend the majority of our time as readers. There are no rules and there’s no need to think too deeply or critically about what we’re reading. The goal is simple: we can relax and immerse ourselves in the story.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with reading to entertain ourselves.
It’s a healthy way to escape from everyday stress and, if you’re anything like me, a perfect way to finish a productive day of work. In particular, I enjoy reading (or listening to) fantasy novels (with the Brandon Sanderson books being a personal favourite). I even created a video on My Favourite Fantasy Books, which you can check out if you’re interested.
🗞 Category 2: Reading to Inform
In this second category, we read books to learn specific facts or information about something. These books are typically easy to navigate and simple in their layout and structure. This lets us consume them effortlessly and jump around to relevant sections without losing the gist of what’s being said. The goal is to learn without judgement.
For example, we’d read the newspaper, a tourist guide, or the Guinness World Records, all to inform. Although we may find aspects of each of them entertaining, we primarily read these things to develop a factual picture of current affairs, a particular location, or some other snippet of knowledge.
Again, for most of us, reading to inform isn’t too problematic.
📖 Category 3: Reading to Understand
The problem is that out of the three reading categories, reading to understand requires the greatest cognitive effort. It forces us to challenge our preconceptions, critically analyse the status quo, and directly confront ideas that we may not be immediately comfortable with. This is hard. It can be uncomfortable. But it’s the only way for us to level-up our thinking and personal growth.
Ultimately, this is a skill that few of us have mastered. But it’s at the very heart of meaningful productivity and improving the way we read. Therefore, we need a method that takes us from reading at an elementary level (like when we’re reading to entertain and inform) to reading at an analytical or syntopical level.
Let’s dive into how we can do this.
The Four Levels of Reading
While the three categories of reading help guide our reading goal, the four cumulative levels of reading help guide our reading style. These levels were again devised by Mortimer Adler and operate to help us understand a book at a far deeper level than what most of us are used to. As we move up the levels we’ll not only find ourselves more capable of grasping the author’s perspectives and forge deeper insights, but we’ll have a process that works with every single book we decide to read.
This is great stuff.
👶 Level 1: Elementary Reading
The first level of reading is the style of reading that everyone knows how to do, as it’s what we’re taught in school. As an elementary reader we can easily understand the words on the page, follow the plot, and have a solid grasp of what the book is trying to say.
However, even at this elementary level, it’s easy to screw it up by trying to read too quickly.
As you know, I’m all about increasing productivity, but trying to improve reading speed before understanding the fundamentals of effective reading is only going to hinder our capacity to learn new information.
🔎 Level 2: Inspectional Reading
This second level of reading requires marginally more skill than at the elementary reading level. As an inspectional reader we’re tasked with unearthing the overall framework of the book and mapping out the general picture the author is trying to paint. The idea is that we’re making some preliminary calculations about the book’s content and worth before delving into it properly.
There are two aspects to inspectional reading: systematic skimming and superficial reading.
Systematic Skimming
With systematic skimming our aim is to decide whether or not this is a book we actually want to spend the time reading. I like to ask myself «is this one of the greats that I’d happily spend the next few hours of my life looking at?». If the answer is anything less than «hell yes!» then I won’t bother reading it.
To help me answer this question, I first look at the title, the blurb, and the contents page to determine what the book is about and understand its high-level structure. I then flip through the book concentrating on each chapter’s introduction, conclusion, and any sub-headings that interest me. In other words, I do a surface level examination of the book before writing a couple of sentences that neatly summarises everything.
Another way to systematically skim a book is by reading a book summary. My favourite way of doing this is with the service Shortform. If a book’s available on Shortform (they’re always adding new titles), I’ll read through the summary first, and if I think it’s interesting, I’ll buy the book on Kindle and read it properly.
Superficial Reading
The objective of superficial reading is to quickly read the book without stopping to reflect or analyse. Speed reading isn’t a problem here as we’re still not reading to understand, but seeing if it is interesting enough to continue onwards to level 3. This process shouldn’t take too long. And if the book doesn’t instantly grab us, we can just put it down. There are plenty of better books we could be reading.
🎓 Level 3: Analytical Reading
Analytical reading involves discovering the book’s central meaning, evaluating the author’s arguments, and developing a thorough understanding of the book.
In particular, this level requires us to actively read the book and «the more active the reading the better» (Adler). I’m a big fan of just making the book my own by highlighting text, linking arguments, and synthesising information through marginalia.
However, perhaps the most critical component of active reading is continually questioning what we’re being told. Specifically, there are three core questions that we should be asking when reading a book analytically:
The Holistic Stage: What is the book about as a whole?
We largely uncover the answer to this question during the systematic skimming and superficial reading within level 2. The main difference is that, in the holistic stage of level 3, we’re tasked with identifying the questions the author is asking and trying to solve. Put another way, what was it the author was trying to answer by writing this book?
Furthermore, our written summary of the book is going to be more comprehensive than a couple of sentences. Think about how the structure and ideas flow in general, helping to guide us to the given conclusion.
The Specific Stage: What is the book saying in detail and how is it being said?
While reading the book, we need to ensure we’ve fully understood the author’s approach and be comfortable with interpreting their thinking. We should take the time to identify the special keywords that the author has chosen, verify our understanding of them, and try to appreciate their perspective.
In each chapter, the author will also make certain claims and propositions, which we should restate in our own words and decide whether or not their argument is strong. We should carefully evaluate how these claims and propositions are connected, and check to see they flow logically from one point to the next.
The Veracity Stage: Is the book true, whether in whole or in part?
In the veracity stage, our task is to constructively analyse. To show where the author has been uninformed, misinformed, illogical or incomplete in their arguments, clearly explaining what the shortcomings are and how the author’s reasoning could be improved. If we can’t do that then our criticism is unlikely to be constructive or valid.
📚 Level 4: Syntopical Reading
The final level of reading is about our understanding of a subject more generally. Whereas analytical reading focuses on our comprehension of a specific book, syntopical reading helps shape our opinion and increase our overall fluency of the wider topic through understanding how different books relate to one another. This may sound a little abstract, but bear with me.
The first step is to begin by deciding the subject we want to tackle (eg: productivity or habit-formation). We can then draw up a bibliography of books on the topic, and select just a handful of them that we believe to be most relevant.
Having compiled the list of books, we can begin reading syntopically. This means reading each of the books analytically and building mental connections between each of them. I try to define common subject keywords in my own words, identify and answer the most pressing questions that the books collectively address, and make an informed decision about the strengths of each author’s argument.
Through syntopical reading we’re connecting the best ideas on a subject, which acts as a powerful catalyst giving rise to creative solutions and real insight. It’s truly game-changing (when we actually do it).
How to Read More
Only once we’ve mastered how to read effectively, by working up the four levels, should we think about reading efficiently.
Reading more exposes us to more opinions, helps us build connections between different ideas, and entrenches our existing knowledge. Think of effective reading as a well constructed rocket, and efficient reading as a necessary upgrade to its performance. It just takes things up a notch.
There are three steps to reading more:
The first step of reading more is having the willingness to read more. And falling in love with the act of reading itself.
If you don’t already love reading, Naval offers some valuable advice:
Read what you love until you love to read
In other words, don’t just pick up the classics because “that’s what clever people do”. Find the books written on topics that fascinate you and by those people you admire most. Just as we can fall in love with exercise by finding the sports we enjoy, we can fall in love with reading by finding the books we enjoy. The ‘fun factor’ is essential to productive reading.
Similarly, if you begin reading a book and you aren’t enjoying it, then there’s no obligation to continue. Just stop. We don’t need to finish a book just because we started it. Otherwise we’d be committing to a classic sunk cost fallacy, investing further time into a book simply because we’ve spent valuable time on it already.
The truth is most books won’t deserve our attention. So find the books you love and discard the rest.
Make it as easy as possible to pick up a book and read it.
However, when reading to understand and analyse, we’re going to want to actually carry the book around with us. Even a Kindle would suffice. That way we no longer have to waste time in queues, on public transport, or even when going to the toilet. Throughout the day you’ll find numerous opportunities to spend 5 or 10 minutes reading. So keep a book nearby. You don’t know when the next great reading opportunity will arise.
Other than that, try minimising distractions. One study in 2009 found that we’re exposed to approximately 100,000 words each day from all the media and information we consume. By comparison, that’s about the same length as one-quarter of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It’s a constant stream of disturbances that impede our ability to think and limit our desire to read well.
If you’re struggling with this, try creating a comfortable reading space, downloading a productivity app, or just being more mindful with your note taking. Anything that increases your focus.
The final, and least important aspect of effective and efficient reading, is technique. This is typically where most articles on reading begin but I’ve realised that this stuff is pointless unless everything else is in order.
If there’s one reading technique that’s going to help the most, it’s improving our consistency. Consistency really is king. Just as the key to YouTube growth is posting 1-3 new videos every week, the key to reading growth is picking up our book for a small chunk of time every day. Although James Clear recommends reading 20 pages at the start of our day, I think it’s easier to set a time target of 20 minutes. And if we have an average reading speed of 250 words per minute, we’ll roughly get through a book every week by doing this. Small actions really do lead to big results (see my video review of Atomic Habits for more on this).
Making a public commitment to reading is also incredibly powerful. In one study, it was found that the simple act of betting on a horse to win, and publicly committing to it, elevated the punter’s confidence in their chosen horse’s chance of winning. Taking a stand placed pressure on them to behave consistently with that commitment. Similarly, by using a site like Goodreads (please follow me lol), we can remain accountable and place reasonable pressure on ourself to stay true to our reading goals.
The final reading technique is speed reading. However, this comes with a word of warning: only speed read books that you don’t want to understand. Why is that? Well, when reading at speed we’re not going to have the time to think about what is being said or develop the insights necessary for true comprehension. As Woody Allen humorously observed: “I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.”
Despite this, reducing subvocalisation, reading the middle, and using a pointer are all valid speed reading techniques that may be appropriate with inspectional reading or when reading to inform.
Conclusion
Reading is hard work, but if we want to rapidly build our knowledge and have high-impact ideas then it’s a crucial skill to learn. No true genius has got to where they were without understanding the importance of effective and efficient reading. It really is the number one factor that will change your life forever. I promise.
If you’re ready to commit to levelling up, why not check out the Notion template I use to take notes when reading. It incorporates the advice in this article and gives you a simple framework to capture your thoughts as you read.
You’ll never look at books the same way ever again.
Browse Topics
Sunday Snippets
How To Read Effectively
How To Read Effectively. I have shared many blogs regarding how important reading is. There’s no doubt that Reading is good for our mind, for our health and creativity. The more quality books we read the better it would be for us. Reading for many of us is a great source of joy, perspectives and ideas which help us to grow personally and professionally. We all know its benefits of reading but still many of us struggle to read more. We want to read a book but fail to do so and even if we manage to read more, we struggle to fully grasp it and fail to remember what we have read earlier.
I have countered many questions related to how to effectively read, learn and implement from self-help books. Hence for that reason, I have compiled 5 effective reading strategies which will not only help you on how to read effectively but also make you understand what you have read and also make reading enjoyable for you.
1) Choose wisely
Before you start reading a book there are certain questions you need to ask yourself first.
– What you already know
– What more you want to know
– Is what I am reading useful?
– Will I get what I want?
Thousands of books get published every year. It’s you who needs to know which one is meant for you. You need to read books which are really required by you. Asking such questions before reading will give you a foundation to build on and something which you are truly looking out of the book. Read a book with a certain objective in your mind.
2) Thinking process
Don’t take reading a task. Read to understand, to learn. Don’t read as if someone has kept you under a gunpoint. Read and understand what the author is actually trying to say and what actually you are learning from it. Whether it makes sense or not, does that thing truly helps you to grow? While reading takes some pauses to understand each and every part. Understand the meaning behind them. Through this, you will improve your thinking process.
3) Visualizing
While reading visualise each and every word sentence which you read if you come across any difficult part take a pause and visualize in your mind what you’ve read. Create a mental image of what you are reading. Give your imagination wings. If you face difficulty in imagination then you can learn how to improve imagination. This will help you remember not only what you read and understood, but how it looks as it is functioning.
4) Take notes
Never forget to take notes, Make your notes as brief as you can. Constantly review, add and revise as necessary while you continue to read. Use simple headings and sub-headings for your notes, so that whenever you want to revise, you can easily find them. Get some tips on how to start a daily writing habit. Use only those words in your notes which are easy for you to understand. If you find any difficult word while reading, don’t just move on without understanding it. Take a pause search a meaning and write it above that difficult word, so that when you read that same book again you don’t have to search it again and can understand it more properly.
5) Implementation
This is the part which most of the people miss. They read books take notes and just forget the most important part and that is implementing. Taking actions and implementing ideas is all that books try to convey. To be an effective reader you must learn to implement what you learned. In 8 Things Successful People Do Differently article I have shared how successful implement things.
You just can’t read and keep in mind, you suppose to do something, you lock that learning in your mind and that something is implementing the ideas you learn through the book. Don’t just read and make notes, come out of Theory, Do things in real.
This is the end of How To Read Effectively.
Thank You.
Do share more ideas on Effective reading, which must have helped you. So That it can help others.
How To Read: 7 Simple Reading Strategies To Help You Read More Effectively
Looking for ways on how to read books effectively? Reading is good for your mind, general health and your creativity.
Here’s our quick guide of proven strategies to help you read more effectively.
Effective Reading Strategies
Top 3 Books To Improve Your Reading Strategies
In this article we outlined 10 specific reasons why reading is essential.
Some of you struggle to read more, you’re not alone. Even if you do manage to read more, you struggle to fully comprehend and internalize what it is that you have read.
For that reason, we’ve compiled 7 effective reading strategies. Which will enable you to not only read more, but to fully understand and enjoy what you’ve read.
7 Effective And Simple Reading Strategies To Help You Read More Effectively
So, without further ado, here are:
1. Before Reading – Ask Questions
Before you start reading a book, you will have a basic idea of what the book is about. This allows you to ask yourself 3 simple questions before you start to read. They are:
The answers to these questions will give you a foundation to build on and something which you’re looking to get out of the book. This means you’re not just reading without an objective, but instead you’re actively looking to learn something from the book.
2. During Reading – Take small pauses and ask more questions
As you’re reading, you need to take small and intermittent pauses to ensure that what you’re reading is sticking. Ask yourself the following questions as you’re reading.
By asking yourself these questions as you read, you are constantly evaluating whats being said. By looking at what the author is explaining, as well as the meaning behind it, you will understand the thinking process more effectively. You are also continuing to look for more specific information in the upcoming text.
3. During Reading – Take A Longer Pause After A Difficult Section
You want to make sure you are fully understanding what is being said, so when you come across a particularly difficult part of the text, its important to stop and do the following:
These steps will make sure you have fully processed and understood this section before you move on.
4. During Reading – Visualize
To better understand what you’re reading, its important to make visual representations of what is being discussed by:
This will help you remember not only what you read and understood, but how it looks as it is functioning.
5. During Reading – Make Connections
A critical part of learning and understanding something new is to connect it with pieces of information that you already understand. You will already know about certain parts of what you’re reading from previous texts, your own personal experience and other people so you will be able to add to that base.
6. During Reading – Take Good Notes
The best way to take notes during reading is:
7. After Reading – Find The Main Ideas
You’ve completed the book, made effective notes, took time to reflect and understand as you read and asked yourself good questions as you read. Now that the book is done, you need to think about the important ideas in the book.
Ask yourself the following:
The last question will give you the opportunity to do some research and find another book to continue your learning, make connections, and continue to read more effectively.
We hope you find these reading strategies helpful and recommend the following books to add to your library.
How To Read Books Effectively and Digest Information
Here’s the good thing and bad thing about reading: everyone learns how to do it early in life. You start off with the alphabet, move on to words, and – before you know it! – you’re reading entire sentences and paragraphs. Reading is a skill that almost everyone in the world has. This is why almost no one stops to think about how to read better and how to read books more effectively.
Or to be put it differently, technically we know how to read, but we don’t question our methods and we don’t think about reading and digesting information philosophically.
And that’s a shame. Because there are always ways to improve your reading skills. When you read a book, wouldn’t you want to retain more information? To learn and grow faster? The answer is probably “yes”.
Part of the problem is that we’re not really interested to develop those skills that we know the basics of. We know how read, so we’re not motivated to improve ourselves, or learn how to do it differently. It’s the same with writing: we all know how to do it technically, so we imagine it would be easy to write a book one day. In contrast, most of us don’t think that we could do the same with painting, or recording an album. We lack the basic skills and so we don’t think we could do it.
So when it comes to reading (and writing, and other ‘basic skills’), we actually put ourselves at a disadvantage. We never try to improve them; we’re sabotaging ourselves in the process.
However, there are clearly better ways to read a book. The goal of growth reading is to push yourself into new areas, digesting information and knowledge that is “above your level”. And not just that: we should also retain this information, and make use of it in our lives.
All of this is a habit, and you can train yourself to do it. All you need to have is an approach – a method to put yourself in the right reading mindset. To read actively, to reflect and to think, and to record your learning. But you also need a way to put into practice the books you’ve read, and the information you’ve digested.
Interested? Here’s how you properly read a book and build an effective reading habit.
Before you start reading
Reading effectively starts before you even open a book – it’s the mindset and the approach that are vital. As with many other things in life, preparation is key.
Pick the right book
This is a personal thing, but you need to select the right reading material for you. What are you struggling with right now? What do you want to learn more about? What is holding back your personal growth? Select your books based on that, so you know why you’re reading it. What is the goal or objective?
There are a few pointers though. Usually older is better when it comes to timeless lessons; if a book has been in print for hundreds or thousands of years, it probably offers a lot of value. But otherwise the topic needs to resonate with you and with what you need.
Start with the context
After you’ve selected a book to read, it’s important that you understand the context surrounding the book.
Who was the author and why was this book written? Bear in mind that a book often offers a perspective or study from a single person. It’s not necessarily a 100% true, and it could just represent the author’s view. So who was the author, and how does he or she relate to arguments made in the book? Why did the author write it in the first place, does he or she have an agenda? Also: does the author have a background or expertise in the subject? Can you trust him or her?
The historical and cultural context is important as well. What was happening in society at that time? This information helps because it potentially provides you with new insights into the book, or at least it can help to clarify some of the things while you read.
(Optional) If necessary, read the Wikipedia page
For some books, like biographies or history books, it is worthwhile to read the Wikipedia page beforehand. Growth reading is not so much about understanding what happened, but more about why something happened. That is, what can be learned from it, or what are the takeaways? So by reading through the Wikipedia page you already get a sense of the story, the context, and how the situation unfolds.
This ruins the ending, yes, but that’s not the point. The point is to understand the why, and to apply the lessons to your own life. So if the book’s subject is new to you, or if it has major historical implications, read the Wikipedia page first to help you get started.
(Optional) Skim the reviews
Another optional step is to skim the reviews of the book on Amazon or GoodReads. This way you can identify what other people find important or useful. It also gives you a sense of the major themes or topics, and the cultural significance. Is it a popular book or not? Highly rated or not?
Get into the right mindset
Perhaps the most important step before starting to read a book is to get into the right mindset. You’re a student wanting to learn and grow. You’re here to read, reflect, and apply the lessons from the book and the author. You take into account Bismarck’s saying:
“Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by others’ experience.”
So don’t read passively and stay aware of what you’re reading. Have you noticed how sometimes we’re reading mechanically, flipping through the pages, and after a while we realize that we don’t remember a single thing of what we read? That’s reading passively. You want to avoid doing that. Instead you want to stay active and engaged with the material.
This preparation helps you to do that.
Finally, remember that you’re reading to grow, to become a better person. So the takeaways from a book should always be the key messages and the key points. Why did something happen? What can you learn from that? Don’t focus on what happened. The trivia, the random facts, are not important. What is important are the things you can take away and bring to your daily life, and put into practice. So focus on that when you open the book.
While you’re reading the book
With the context in mind, and with the right attitude, it’s time to start reading the book. In order to get the most knowledge and growth out of a book, you want to keep the following points in mind.
Start with a quick skim
It’s always good to start off with an inspection of the book, so you know what you can expect and already get a sense of the story line. Skim through the index pages, read the chapter headings, and flip through some of the sections. This already helps to build a framework of the book and its contents in your mind. In that sense it’s similar to reading the Wikipedia page or reading the reviews; you don’t start reading completely blank, you know what you will encounter and how it fits into the overall story of the book.
Read all the parts
It can be tempting to skip the general introduction, translator’s notes, prefaces, introduction to the XXth edition, and all that. Especially for historical books the introductions can be longer than the actual work! But don’t let that stop you. All of the introductions provide vital context about what is to come, and builds your frame of reference.
Then start, but remember: active not passive
As we said above, you need to be wary about reading passively – when the pages just flip by but you don’t remember a single thing of what you’ve read. Remain active. Engage with the material. Ask yourself questions such as: ‘Do I think this is true?’, ‘What lessons can I learn from this?’, ‘How does this relate to XYZ (other topic)?’, ‘Can I put this into practice?’, and ‘What is the general takeaway of this story, paragraph or chapter?’
Active reading also means that you’re focusing exclusively on the material in front of you. No multitasking, no watching TV, and no checking your Twitter feed in between. If you struggle to concentrate in the beginning of your reading journey (and, let’s face it, technology has severely decreased our attention span), try setting a timer. Focus intensely on reading and engaging with the material for 15 or 30 minutes and then take your Twitter or Instagram break.
Active reading is a habit, and so you need to practice to become good at it. It’s the only way to digest information properly and to personally grow from the book you’re reading.
Speed-reading: Yea or Nay?
Speaking about active and passive reading, should you practice speed-reading? It make sense, no? We’re trying to gain knowledge, and time is of the essence, so why not practice some speed-reading techniques in order to help you read more?
The answer is most definitely no – speed-reading will not help you, and it might even harm you.
Cutting corners is not the point. You need to invest the time to properly digest the information and think about it. Flipping pages as quickly as you can, means you can’t ask questions, wonder about things, or to really savor the material.
It’s infinitely better to read one good book slowly, than it is to read ten books fast. I can guarantee you that you will remember and learn from this one book a lot more.
To get the most out of things you have to invest with your time, your attention, your focus, your brainpower – there’s no quick way, no shortcuts. You will have to want it badly enough and make the actual investment.
There’s only one way to read faster, and that is to read more books – slowly, that is. By building your reading habit and reading skills and by actively engaging with the material you will slowly get better at reading. That is: you will be able to read faster and actively at the same time. But this is a skill that needs development. Especially if you read books in the same subject area, you will be able to digest future information more quickly: you have the mental framework, base knowledge, and so it becomes easier to engage with the book.
I’ll leave you with Woody Allen:
“I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.”
Get some help if you need it
The point of reading is to gain an understanding. So if you encounter unknown words, or if you’re not sure about a sentence, look it up. There is no shame in this: the goal is to learn, and you can’t learn if you don’t understand.
The same goes for cultural or historical references, or for other background information.
So consult the dictionary, check Wikipedia pages, and ask others for help if needed.
Finishing the book is optional
If you don’t like the book, or you don’t think the material is particularly relevant for you, remember that finishing the book is optional. You don’t have to continue and slog through hundreds of pages just to complete it.
Life’s too short for bad books!
There’s a funny rule of thumb for deciding whether or not you should continue reading the book, and that is to read up to page 100 minus your age. So if you’re 30 years old, you stick with the book until page 70. If, after that point, the material is not engaging you and you find it boring, stop reading!
The older we get, the less time we have left to read, so the more selective we have to be.
Remember that you’re trying to build a reading habit that will help you grow. What’s important are not the books themselves, but the habit. And slogging through a boring book will make it harder to stick with your habit. Above everything else, prioritize the habit – not the books.
Taking notes
Perhaps the most important step while reading is to make notes in one way or another. There are various techniques for doing this, and each person tends to prefer a different method. So you’ll need to experiment a bit and see what works for you.
But let’s start in general: why would you want to make notes?
First, a book is long and it will take you a while to read it. You’re never going to remember all of the things you read, and that’s okay. For the most important parts (that is: what strikes you as the most important part) you take notes, or do some form of recording. This way you can extract the most important lessons, messages, or quotes from a book.
Second, while you’re reading actively, questions will pop into your head. You’ll get tangential thoughts, you’ll see references or connections, and you might get a few good ideas of your own. If you don’t record this, or write them down, you’ll be sure to forget it.
Reading actively means taking notes, and marking important passages. Here’s a few ways to do so:
Taking notes (1): Post-It Notes
The first technique centers around putting Post-its or some other form of tagging/sticky labels on each of the pages that contains important messages for you. When reading the book simply mark every page that you find valuable. This could be for different reasons. Perhaps the page contains a central message, clarifies the points of the chapter, maybe there is a quote you really like, or there’s a book or concept mentioned that you want to look up.
After reading the book it’s then easy to go back to the noted pages. At the same time you can also check if what you found valuable the first time reading around, is still valuable to you or not.
Taking notes (2): Marginalia and Highlighting
This is slightly more intrusive form of note taking. But as you go through the book simply mark up or highlight the important passages, and write any observations you have in the book’s margins. This is the perfect way to make sure you’re reading actively. You’re constantly thinking about what the book is saying, and connecting your own thoughts and notes in the process.
Now, this technique is not for everyone and it definitely takes some getting used to. Personally I was always against defiling books by writing in them. But that is just a mindset. Without a doubt writing marginalia is an excellent way to take notes while reading.
For those of you that don’t want to blemish your books, it’s always possible to take your notes somewhere else. I often use a simple notepad while reading to write down thoughts, or I simply record them in Evernote as I go along.
In the end the technique itself doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you take notes, write down your thoughts, and engage actively with the book. So you’ll just have to experiment which ways you want to record your thoughts.
After reading the book
Once you’ve finished the book, you’re not yet done! You probably have gained knowledge along the way, but that is going to disappear if you don’t properly record and apply it. All of the things you do after reading the book will help you to retain the information and get the most out of the time you’ve invested so far.
Skim through it again, then take a break and think on it
In order to get the complete structure and main arguments from the book solidly in your head, skim through it once again. What is the structure or story line? The main arguments? What are the key takeaways? Also take a look at your Post-it notes or marginalia; what did you write down? Going through it once more quickly allows the information to consolidate in your brain.
And then, take a break! Leave the book aside for at least a few days or a few weeks (at maximum). Think about the lessons you’ve learned and how you can apply them to your life.
Also think about how this book integrates into what you already know, and what you already do. A book is not a standalone thing, it’s always based on countless of other things, so you should be able to make some connections yourself. So try to integrate this book into your existing knowledge, how is it connected and linked?
Organize your notes
After having taken the break, it’s time to organize your notes for future reference. Let’s start with the why, and move on the how after:
Why should you organize your notes?
As with the many ways of taking notes while reading, there are also countless ways of organizing those notes afterwards. Before delving into the different techniques, let’s start with the why. Why would you want to spend time organizing your notes, questions, and takeaways from the book?
Well, one of main reasons is that you will have an easy reference you can consult in the future. There’s no need to go through the entire book again, because you can just go through your notes and see what your main conclusions and points were.
At the same time, organizing your notes, and making a sort of summary for yourself, consolidates what you’ve read and what you’ve learned. You’re giving the book and its contents one final moment of attention, and you write down what’s important – and that’s probably what you’ll end up remembering in the end.
Finally, by doing this process over and over again with different books, you will start to build your own reference bible. Some people call this a commonplace book, others write online summaries of the books they read, and others yet make a digital collection of quotes and lessons.
As with note taking, the format is not the most important part. What is important, if you want to grow through your reading, is that you do this step and you make the effort.
How should you organize your notes?
There are a few ways how to organize your notes.
Some people start building a “commonplace book” which, in the original form, is a big notebook in which people would write their thoughts, quotes they liked, things they learned, et cetera. If you’re inclined to like physical paper, this is not a bad idea. However, the downside to this is that it’s not really organized: there’s no way to search, or to look things up by theme.
Others write down their notes on flashcards and organize it by theme. Robert Greene is a fan of this method for example, and it helps him with the research for his books. The disadvantages of physical flashcards are that they’re easy to get lost, stolen, or burned. However, you can of course make a digital version of this – which would make it easily searchable and virtually indestructible.
Another method is to write down your own short “summary” if you can call it that. Different formats exist of course, but what works for me is to write down my view on the book in 3-5 sentences, and then type out all of the main points / quotes below this. This way you end up with an easy reference document about your view on the book, and the main takeaways. Plus, it’s easily searchable, so if you’re looking for that particular quote or that particular point, it’s easy to find.
These methods probably give you some idea about how you can organize your notes. Again this is a personal thing, and you should probably experiment with what works for you. Remember: the method is not the goal; the goal is to record and organize your learning.
(Optional) Take a look at the bibliography
If you’ve just finished a book on a topic you really enjoy, it can be a good practice to take a look at the bibliography. Usually the author of the book will have read tens, if not hundreds, of books on the same subject and so the bibliography becomes an interesting list to delve into. So check the sources the author is using, and see if anything strikes your interest.
Consulting the bibliography and picking the books you’re going to read next is an excellent way to get familiar with that subject area.
Put it into action
So now that you’ve read the book and organized your notes – is that it? No, unfortunately not. The consumption and organization of information does not help by itself. Sure, it’s nice to be able to look at the notes anytime in the future, but growth only happens when you put your learning and knowledge into practice.
This means that you need to reflect and think. How can I apply this knowledge to my life, work, or relationships? In what situations would this information be applicable? In which situations wouldn’t it be?
The best way to start to apply some of the knowledge and insight from the book into practice is to take one – or a few – ideas and thoughts and experiment with it. See if you can consciously change your habits and implement some of the lessons of the book.
This helps to reinforce the learning and growth loop. You read something, you took away the knowledge, but only by application in your daily life can you truly learn something.
You don’t have to apply everything at the same time because change and application of new things are difficult to do. But by at least making the effort, and by trying, you can truly start the self improvement journey.
(Optional) Reread the book at some point
Rereading the same book might seem pointless after doing all of the above. Why would you want to spend more time reading the same thing, if you’ve already read it, taken the notes, and applied the lessons into practice?
For one, it helps to consolidate and reinforce the knowledge you’ve applied earlier. We’re not advocating that you read the book again right after finishing it, but after a few months or years, why not?
At that point in time you will be a different person than you are today. You will have a slightly altered perspective, you’ll be in a new place in life, and – hopefully – you’ve grown from the person you are today. So with all this you will have a new outlook on life and learning. And this why it might be valuable to reread the book again. You will tend to notice different things, things you didn’t saw the first time around. Repetition can be useful if you do it with the right books and with the right timing.
Conclusion
So there it is: how to read books effectively so that it maximizes your knowledge and personal growth. Before you start reading, you need to pick the right book, contextualize yourself, and get into the right mindset. Whilst reading you need to stay ‘active’, engage with the material, look up unknown things, and take (copious) notes. And after reading you need to organize your notes and thoughts on the book, and apply this into practice.
This process might seem complex, but as with all the habits we form, it will become easy and natural with practice. The key is just to get started. So pick a book, and try this method once. We’re convinced that you will instantly notice the difference.
And remember why you’re doing this: books contain an infinite amount of wisdom and insight that will help you to grow. It means that you will be better and more knowledgeable than your peers, it means that you will pursue the right things in life, and build the right relationships. Reading books allows you to leap years ahead. Because one thing that can be guaranteed: almost nobody will pursue these techniques as diligently as you will, which means that almost nobody will grow at the same rate as you. And that makes all the difference – for whatever it is that you’re pursuing.
How to read effectively and critically
Reading is one of the most important learning activities at university that you can engage in. Reading gives you access to the knowledge and language of a field and therefore provides a foundation for participating in classes and performing well in assessments.
Have a clear reading purpose
You may be reading to get a general or deeper understanding of a study topic. This is best done when preparing for classes and reviewing key areas studied.
Extensive reading in a field can enhance your knowledge of major concepts, theories, debates and findings. This helps you to discuss these issues more confidently, reflect on your own viewpoint and develop a wider perspective on your study. This broad purpose is motivating, as it has personal and professional benefits beyond your assessments.
You may be reading to gather ideas for an assignment. If so, keep the assignment topic and/or question close by so you can look at it frequently to guide what you read and how you read it. Consider writing a rough assignment plan that lays down the different sections and main ideas you want to include in your writing. This will help you to focus on only relevant readings and save you time. Don’t worry if the plan is very basic, as you can change and refine it as you read.
Choose what to read
If you’re reading to understand a topic, start with core and recommended readings in the subject. These are often comprehensive works in the field that explain the key concepts or issues. You can also search for current research on the topic using the Library website to keep yourself updated on the latest developments. Try using Library Guides for a tailored list of sources for a subject. Another idea is to ask your lecturer for recommendations of texts on a topic. If you have problems understanding key concepts in a subject, you may need to go back to a more basic textbook which explains them at a more fundamental level.
If you are reading to address an assessment task, use the key words from the task to search for relevant sources. Most tasks would ask for some connection to key concepts discussed in the subject, and so it’s important to use core or recommended readings alongside your own research. While theoretical readings can be a bit older, empirical papers, those that report on research findings, are considered recent if their dates of publication fall within the last ten years.
Preview a text
With any text, you will benefit from first previewing its key information to quickly grasp what it is about overall. Try spending around five minutes reading through the title, abstract (if there is one), the introduction and conclusion and any headings or table of contents. For general understanding of a subject, ask yourself:
When reading for an assignment, think about how the text is related to the task:
Previewing a text helps you to evaluate not only the relevance of a text to your purpose but also its credibility. A text may appear highly relevant to an assignment but may present obvious language problems, biases and inconsistencies. In this case, you may want to forgo engaging with the text if you can, since reading time is precious, and you may have many texts competing for your attention.
Use different ways of reading
You can read different texts, and even different sections of the same text, differently. How you read should depend on what you want to get out of that reading. You can:
Skim-reading means moving through the text quickly focusing on main points and the overall message rather than details. You may pay more attention to the first and last sentence of each paragraph, which usually carry the main point, than the elaborating middle sentences. Another way to skim-read a text is to look for key (repeated) words or concepts and how ideas are developed around these.
This video provides more information on the skim-reading strategy.
Scan-reading is great for locating and extracting the detail in a text. It involves finding out where the detail is through previewing or skim-reading the text first. Once you’ve located the detail, read this part focusing on how it addresses your purpose or question.
Watch the following video to learn more about the scan-reading strategy.
When a text or part of a text is directly relevant and highly important to your purpose, you may need to read it more closely. Close reading means paying attention to both the main idea and the details of a text, as well as the language used to form these messages. Close reading helps you to understand not only the stated but also implied meaning of a text, as it allows you to read between the lines, to predict and interpret the information based on the connection or lack thereof between ideas. You may even become aware of the language used to convey the writer’s attitude and implications, such as repeated words, synonyms, emphatic phrases, metaphors or the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas. Close reading can be very rewarding in bringing you new insight into a text.
As close reading requires deeper engagement than skimming and scanning, use your judgement to apply it to select sources.
While reading, you may need to compare different parts of a text to determine the consistency and logical development of ideas. You may, for example, read the introduction and conclusion of a book together to see whether and how its aim has been met, or compare the methods, results and conclusions of a research paper to see how well they align. This method will help you to read texts more critically by linking the information presented in one part to the broader structure and narrative of the text.
Connecting to a text can help you to understand and enjoy it more by engaging your own experience. It can also assist in forming your own opinion on a topic with support from the text.
Ask critical questions of the text
Asking critical questions helps you to read actively and avoid getting carried away by the details of a text because these questions often require synthesis and interpretation of the whole text. For example, you can ask:
Take notes of your reading
It’s crucial to take notes while you read, as it gives you a record of ideas that you can use in your assignments and other study activities. If you’ve taken effective notes while reading a text, you usually do not need to re-read it except for quick checks of details. Effective notes go beyond text highlighting and annotation.
Notes should be taken:
Connect multiple readings
A typical challenge with reading at university is you usually need to read not only long and highly specialised texts but also many such texts in a limited time. You may be reading multiple sources to understand different views on a topic or to gather information for an assignment.
Apart from the above reading and note-taking strategies, you also need to make connections between texts and compare them to gain big-picture ideas such as similar and different findings on the same topic. This allows you to make moderate, informed generalisations about what you read.
As you read a text, think beyond the text itself to relate it to other readings. Take notes of any links you’ve identified across different texts in your assignment plan or study map. You can use these links to know how to put together notes from individual readings. For example, you might want to summarise a common finding from three different sources to support your argument or juxtapose two contradictory findings to highlight a problem. Here are some questions to help you navigate multiple readings on the same topic:
Try jotting down your answers to these questions while reading different sources and come back to revise them often as you continue reading. This will help you to keep sight of the big picture of your topic.
You need to be aware of the time you have for reading as a study task. It’s a good idea to allocate a specific amount of time and specific dates to it. Having a reading schedule will give you limits that help focus your reading so you can move on to other tasks when reading time ends.
Improve your language skills
For readers of English as an additional language and people who are not familiar with academic texts, try to notice how language is being used to develop ideas throughout the text. While complex vocabulary and grammar may be a challenge, these can be observed and learned more easily than the way in which ideas are expressed and the cultural meaning that often accompanies it.
Try the following language tips to improve your reading comprehension:
Final tip
To read effectively and critically, you need to engage with texts actively through setting a clear purpose, evaluating sources, using different ways of reading, asking big-picture questions, synthesising information and taking good notes. Focus on what you’re learning through reading and how you can apply it to study tasks and your personal and professional life.
Related resources
Note taking and synthesising
Tips to help you take notes and synthesise ideas from readings efficiently and effectively.
Reading strategies
Learn different strategies you can use to read at an optimal speed, while still maintaining comprehension. Designed for students who have lots of readings.
Critical thinking in reading and writing
This module will introduce you to the concept of critical thinking and provide strategies to help you think, read, take notes and write critically.
Looking for one-on-one advice?
Get tailored advice from an Academic Skills adviser by booking an individual appointment, or get quick advice from one of our Academic Writing Tutors in our online drop-in sessions.