Reading a book is itself an easy task, but the difficulty is understanding and understanding it. In the last few years, my focus has been on acquiring good reading habits, so I learned how to read more. But I discovered that the goal is not only to read more, but to improve your reading and make it more effective. Most people read realistic books for the purpose of self-development by learning a new skill or finding a solution to an important problem or looking at the world from a new angle. Reading books is important, of course, but recalling what we have read and benefiting from is equivalent to reading.
After all, I would like to share with you three strategies for reading comprehension that I personally apply to make my reading more productive.
Make all your feedback easy to search
It is important that you have a notebook in which to write down your thoughts and notes for easy reference, it increases the likelihood of applying what you read in real life. If you do not find it at the time of need, it is useless, so by taking notes of your thoughts and observations you will not have to rely on your memory alone to understand what you read.
I personally store all the notes I read on the Evernote application, and the best on many other applications, for several reasons: 1 - characterized by easy search. 2. It can be used on more than one device easily. 3 - It is possible to create notes and save them even if the connection is not connected (Internet).
I record my notes on Evernote every three days as follows:
First: In case I listen to an audio book, I create a new note dedicated to that book and then write my notes while I listen. My favorite way is to listen to audio books at 1.25 x and press the stop button if you decide to do something. The process of combining the speed of voice reading and slow note taking creates a balance between them, and usually ends up reading the book at a reasonable time.
Second, if I read a paper, I would apply the same process with one change. Taking notes while reading a printed book may be annoying, because you will have to put the book aside and then come back to it. So I like to use a book holder, it facilitates the process of writing long quotations, which provides more speed in taking notes.
The printed and audio books are wonderful, but the process becomes more interesting with e-books. My third (and favorite) way to read e-books is by using the Kindle Paperwhite, where I can shade and select a whole section easily while reading through the Kendall, without any need to write. Once I finished reading I used a program called Clippings to transfer all my notes and text selections in Kindle to Evernote.
My follow-up to these three methods has made it easier for me to keep my notes on the Evernote application where you can search for notes there instantly. Even if I can not remember exactly where I read about a particular idea, I often look for it in the application and get what I want easily and quickly.
Connect ideas together while reading
When you go to the library, you will find that all books are classified into different subjects. There are biographies, history books, science books, and philosophy books. In real life, of course, knowledge will not be divided in this way. The subjects are intertwined and the knowledge is interrelated.
Often there is interest in overlapping ideas. That is why I always try to link the book I read with the stock of ideas I have in advance, and try as much as possible to incorporate the benefits I learn from previous ideas.
For example:
While reading the book The Tell-Tale Brain of neuroscientist Villanor Ramachandran, I discovered that one of its key points is linked to a pre-learned idea from social scientist Bryn Brown.
· In my observations on the book (The Hidden Art Behind Ignorance). I noticed how Mark Manson's idea of "killing yourself" was linked to Paul Graham's article (Keep Your Identity Small).
While reading Leonard's "Mastering", I noticed that the book was about the process of improvement and development, and it shed some light on the relationship between genes and performance.
Then I added every benefit I derived from my readings to the notes of each book. This integration is important not only because it makes ideas "stick" in your mind, but it is also important to understand the world as a whole.
Some people often rely on one book or article as the basis for their entire beliefs, so forcing yourself to connect ideas to each other helps you realize that there is not one look you see in the world. Often, the magnificence of knowledge is best illustrated by the complex connections between ideas.
Summarize the book in one paragraph
As soon as I finish reading the book, I challenge myself to summarize the entire content in just three sentences. This limitation is just an exercise of course, but I find it useful exercise because it forces me to review my observations and focus on what was really important in the book.
How will I describe the book to a friend? What are the main ideas? If I choose one idea from the whole book, which one will it be?
In many cases, I find that after reading the one-piece summary and reviewing my notes, I will get as much information as I would if I had read the whole book again. (There is a lot of stuffing in real-life books these days).
I've published many of my book summaries, which contain a summary of one piece, as well as my entire notes. If you want to see practical examples of read comprehension strategies, please review my page.
A pleasant read!