1. Skip
sections
I’m one of those people who feels bad
if I miss anything (sometimes known as ‘fear of missing out‘).
When it comes to reading, I definitely feel this. If something further ahead
catches my eye, I can’t keep reading until I go back and catch up on the parts
I missed. I’ve actually realized recently that there is a kind of freedom in
giving up that feeling of needing to see everything. Sometimes, it’s okay to skip parts. One of the benefits of skipping over sections
is that you’re
not overloading your brain with irrelevant information, so the
info that is going
in can be processed more easily. Hopefully, this method can help us to remember
more of what we read!
2. Quit
altogether
The
older I get, the more I’m becoming a fan of quitting. Not for the sake of it,
of course, but when continuing on doesn’t have enough (or any) benefits,
sometimes pulling out is the best option. To speak without shame about books we
haven’t read, we would thus do well to free ourselves of the oppressive image
of cultural literacy without gaps, as transmitted and imposed by family and
school, for we can strive toward this image for a lifetime without ever
managing to coincide with it. If we really respect our time,
let’s spend it on things we enjoy and reading that has long-term benefits for
us.
3. Read
things you hadn’t thought about reading
Read, read, and read. Read everything—trash, classics,
good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an
apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.
It’s really easy
to get into a habit of doing the same things over and over—this is even true of
our reading habits. Once we choose a genre, an author or a topic we like, it’s
too easy to keep reading those same things.
If you’re stuck in a reading rut like me, try
pushing yourself to try a new genre or writing style now and then.
There was a time in my life when I read voraciously, and then again times when
work did not permit me to take a single book in my hand, apart from
professional literature. That was a shame. Here in recent months I have been
reading a lot, even books which probably would not interest me outside, but it
is a big and important task to read everything valuable, or at least much that
is.
4. Walk
away and take notes
I came across this post by
Shane Parrish recently that explains a trick to getting more out of the books
you read. Essentially, it’s a matter of taking regular breaks to make notes on
what you’ve read. This helps you to test your comprehension and give your brain
a chance to assimilate the information before you continue reading.
5. Fight
back
We love to share our recreational
activities. We love to have an opinion on
everything, including what we read. This is a great thing. If what you read makes you angry, or sad, or frustrated, or whatever—use
that. If you want to rant against the author’s premise or post a rebuttal to
their argument, go for it. This will make your brain work really hard, as you
analyze their ideas and form your own in response. This is an important step to
take if you want to move from being in motion to taking
action—putting pen to paper is the first step.
No comments:
Post a Comment