How to Read Books

Last updated Feb 9, 2024

Tactical technique with skipping and choosing books on How to Read Faster by Mark Manson:

1. Quiet the inner monologue
2. Read with your finger
3. Stop reading books you hate
   1. the point of reading is for you, don’t feel bad if you skip chapters or you don’t finish
4. Schedule time to read
5. Read more than one book at a time

Purely reading faster can be done with Speed Reading techniques.

Mark is not highlighting or taking notes. He acts on the books. That requires reading the right book at the right time. That’s why reading multiple books makes sense; you can put away if the book doesn’t interest you or doesn’t make sense for now and pick it up later when it makes sense.

But I disagree with not taking any notes, with taking minor notes, or better Ideas that you had during reading (for my case listening), and you put that in a Second Brain for later when you need it; that’s invaluable. He mentioned that our brain remembers, but that is only true now, not for the next two years, two months, or even a week after I forgot.

So it’s worth taking notes, but to his point, not making it like school and highlighting every page takes away the fun of reading! But with a second brain, you just put a sentence of something you never heard, and then later, if you find it, or during the weekly routine, you connect it to existing ideas within your second brain, and you couldn’t believe how many new ideas or insights I got from these. It’s how I learn and have fun with books.

See more on How to work a book.

Origin:
References: Reading Books for a Happy Life
Created 2023-03-31