Sunday, December 15, 2019
8 easy ways to retain more of every book you read (without taking notes)
8 easy ways to retain mora of every book you read (without taking notes)8 easy ways to retain mora of every book you read (without taking notes)When asked whether reading was essential to his success, Microsoft Founder and Billionaire, Bill Gates, repliedYou dont really start getting old until you stop learning. Every book teaches me something new or helps me see things differentlyReading fuels a sense of curiosity about the world, which I think helped drive me forward in my career.1 - Bill GatesLike Bill Gates, we also know how important it is to read books, but we often struggle to retain what we read How often do you spend hours reading or listening to a book, only to forget the fruchtwein important ideas a few days later?When we fail to remember what we read, we waste valuable time and energy rereading the book- time that couldve been spent reading another valuable book.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfac tion, Neuroscience, and moreOver the past few years, Ive experimented with different ways to improve reading comprehension and remember what I read. Here are 8 of the best strategies Ive discovered on how to retain more of what you read, without taking notes.1. Share What You Learn to OthersOne of the best ways to retain what you read is to share ideas youve learned from books with friends, family and colleagues.Just like how humming a catchy song helps you remember the lyrics, sharing important ideas youve read to different people?- including specific examples of how the ideas apply to you- will help you retain what you read.However, if youd prefer to keep your thoughts to yourself, you can use a powerful accelerated learning strategy called The Feynman Technique, created by Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Richard Feynman.The Feynman Technique is simple simply grab a blank sheet of paper, write the title of the book at the top, and then write down the important ideas from the book as if you were explaining it to an eight-year-old child.If you can practice explaining the key ideas from a book in a simple way that a complete beginner can understand, youll improve your reading comprehension and remember everything you read.2. Make Connections to What You Already KnowIn the bookDamn Right Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger, Munger noted thatIf you get into the mental habit of relating what youre reading to the basic structure of the underlying ideas being demonstrated, you gradually accumulate some wisdom.This wisdom is the fundamental idea or first principles of what youre reading.For example, whilst reading the bookBlink The Power of Thinking Without Thinkingby Malcolm Gladwell, I realized that the key ideas reminded me of the concept of a highly focused mental state called Flow, which Id previously read through the work of psychologist, Mihly Cskszentmihlyi.As another example, whilst readingThe Paradox of Choice Why More is Le ss, I related the key concepts to scenarios where Id been overwhelmed by a vast number of food choices on a restaurant menu.By connecting new ideas to familiar concepts, you can retain more of what you read and improve your reading comprehension.Plus, youll uncover innovative solutions to familiar problems- because new insights tend to emerge at the intersection of ideas across different domains.Next time youre reading an important idea in a book, simply ask yourself this question What does this remind me of?3. Binge Read Similar TopicsAfter reading countless books on similar topics, Ive discovered that information and knowledge within different books are like branches of a tree.Although each branch may look different, they all emerge from the saatkorn trunk.In other words, the fundamental ideas across seemingly different books tend to be similar.Following my eureka moment, I devised a technique called Surrounding the 5.The concept is simple I pick the top five most important books on a particular topic and then like surround sound around a listener, I surround myself around the topic by reading each book back to front in theright environment.As an example, when I wished to dive into the topic of philosophy, I began reading the classic books by Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Nietzche, and Jean-Paul Sartre.This helped me to make connections between ideas and remember what I read.Plus, it saved me valuable time and energy that couldve have been wasted searching for the best books to read or reading badeanstalt books.When you read the fundamental books on a topic, you build a solid foundation or tree trunk to accumulate new ideas that reinforce your existing knowledge on the topic.This improves your reading comprehension and helps you retain more of what you read- because as King Solomon once said, there is nothing new under the sun.So whilst new books may appear to contain new information, they all borrow ideas from the same knowledge trunk.4. Read Books You Can Apply ImmediatelyOne of the best ways to improve your reading comprehension is to read books that are relevant to your current struggles.For example, if youre struggling to lose weight and stay in shape, you can read a book likeHow to Eat, Move and be Healthy,and apply the key concepts instantly.This way youll accelerate your learning, because all five senses will be immersed in engaging with the new information.Haven said that, not all books are written to be applied in everyday life. But when it can be, ask yourself this questionWhats the one thing Im going to apply after reading this book?By putting into practice what you read, you can retain what you read and bridge the gap between knowledge and wisdom.5. Keep Your Notes and Highlights OrganizedIf you decide to take extensive notes on a book, there are various tools you can use to ensure that you remember what you read.2I personally keep my notes organized inEvernote, because they are searchable and easy to access on my mobile phone a nd laptop.Prior to using Evernote, Id have my written notes scattered across various notebooks that went missing.This meant that Id have to rewrite my notes again- an enormous waste of time and energy.Another effective strategy is to highlight key ideas on theKindle Paperwhite and then export the notes to Evernote using their web clipper.If you choose to type or handwrite notes from a book, you can use areading standto keep the book still as you turn the pages (otherwise, the pages will close and youd have to keep reopening them, which can be exhausting).6. Listen Slowly For Learning and Fast For EntertainmentListening to audiobooks is a great way to digest information from a book during commutes and whilst completing mundane tasks. But its easy to get bored, lose track of what youre listening to and forget the most important ideas.One of the best ways to remember more information from audiobooks is to slow down the speed throughout learning portions of the book and increase the spe ed throughout entertainment portions.Let me explain.Most schlaues buch authors tend to fill up a significant portion of their books with stories, statistics and exercises, designed to keep the reader engaged and support key ideas.These fillers are entertaining but not essential.And since nearly 80% of the content within most non-fiction books tends to be filler, you can listen to the audiobook at 1.5-2x speed onAudible.3Then, when you reach portions of the book that contain important ideas, simply rewind and slow down the speed throughout this section.This way youll save valuable time skipping through the fillers and spend more time absorbing the key ideas in the book.Pro tipUse a pair ofwireless headphonesto listen to audiobooks hands-free while exercising, commuting and completing mundane tasks.7. Only Read Good Books You Enjoy (Twice)Eating is like reading.The more junk food you eat, the worse your health and body shape.Likewise, the more bad books you read, the worse your knowle dge base will be, and the harder it will be to remember what you read.Too often, we start reading a new book because its highly recommended and popular. But that doesnt mean its a good book.And more times than not, we beat ourselves up for failing to finish reading an average book.A better approach is this dont bother reading any book that isnt good.In the book,How to Read a Book The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading, Mortimer J. Adler explains that, a good book can teach you about the world and about yourself. You learn more than how to read better you also learn more about life. You become wiser.After reading a fair share of bad books that left a bitter taste in my mouth, I devised an effective 3-step strategy to help me sift the best from the average booksStep 1Quickly read the table of contents to get the gistof the book, then skim over the first few paragraphs of the opening chapter and the last few paragraphs of the concluding chapter. Only proceed to the next step if the b ook appears to be valuable.Step 2Skim through the first few paragraphs and the last few paragraphs within specific chapters that are of interest to you. Only proceed to the next step if the book still seems useful to you.Step 3Open the book anywhere in the middle and read one full chapter. If youre still hooked, its probably a good book to read back to front.As a general rule of thumb, great books tend to be thought-provoking and leave you feeling slightly exhausted after reading.They dont just make you more knowledgeable, but also wiser.If the book youre reviewing passes through all three steps and meets these criteria, then its probably worth your time reading the entire book.But were not done.Whilst bad books should only be tasted and good books devoured, great books should be chewed and digested thoroughly.In other words, great books should be read more than once. And in the words of the playwright, Oscar Wilde, If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.48. Read Before BedAstudypublished inPsychological Science- which explored strategies for improving memory- discovered that sleeping in-between learning sessions not only reduced the amount of practice needed by half, but also increased long-term retention of information.5During the experiment, the researchers split 60 French-speaking participants into three different groups a control group, sleep group and no sleep group.Each of them were assigned with the task of learning and remembering French translations of a list of 16 Swahili words.The Control group studied the words in the evening and took the memory test 12 hours after sleeping.The Sleep group also studied the words in the evening and took the memory test 12 hours after sleeping. However, they studied the words a second time.Finally, the No Sleep group studied the words in the morning and took the memory test 12 hours later without sleeping in-between study sessions. Then they studied the words a s econd time.Afterwards, the researchers conducted follow-up memory tests one week and then six months later.The results The Sleep group and the Control group both remembered the words better than the No Sleep group.Most surprisingly, the Sleep group remembered more words than both the Control and No Sleep group after 6 months of the memory test.The implication of this study is that sleeping in-between learning sessions can significantly boost memory and reading comprehension.The best way to put this into practice is to read or listen to your book just before you go to bed, andget a good nights sleep.To ensure that reading in bed doesnt disrupt your sleep, you can use aclip-on warm book light, which will make reading easy on the eyes- and avoid the effects of blue light from lamps and bulbs that cause sleep deprivation.TakeawayBooks are much more than a source of entertainment.They are an investment towards your future self a gateway to connect with and gain knowledge from the wisest people who are, and were once alive.But more times than not we often treat books in a fleeting manner- reading in a hurry whilst multitasking and tossing them aside afterward.The uncomfortable truth is this reading is only half the battle. The other half is reflecting on what youve read.The best ways to retain what you read and improve reading comprehension, embrace the idea that an equal portion of time spent reading a book, should also be spent thinking and reflecting upon the important ideas youve read.But its time consuming trying to figure out which books are worth reading and equally challenging to find time to read good books.Thats why Ive put together a list of thebest audiobooks ofall-time,which you can listen to during your road trips and commute.Ultimately, as Philosopher, John Locke, once saidReading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge it is thinking that makes what we read ours.6.FOOTNOTESExcerpt from Bill Gatesinterview.Even though this article focuses on how to retain what you read without taking notes, note-taking is a powerful strategy to help you remember what you read and improve reading comprehension. One of the best ways I condense my book notes in a memorable way is to write a short two paragraph summary of what Ive read followed by three key ideas from the book.The 80% figure is an average estimation based on my experience of reading many non-fiction books.Source Essays by Oscar Wilde.Mazza, Stphanie Gerbier, Emilie Gustin, M.-P Kasikci, Zumrut Koenig, Olivier C Toppino, Thomas Magnin, Michel. (2016).Relearn Faster and Retain Longer Along With Practice, Sleep Makes Perfect. Psychological Science.From Of The Conduct Of The Understanding by John Locke.This article first appeared on MayoOshin.com.Mayo Oshin writes atMayoOshin.com,where he shares well-researched ideas based on proven science, philosophy and the habits of highly successful people, for stress-free productivity. To get these strategies to stop procrastinat ing, get more things by doing less and reclaim up to 20 hours of wasted time each week, you canjoin his free weekly newsletter.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people
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