How To Read Actively?

[Ian]

Hey all, I'm looking for advice on improving my active reading.

Some prompters: What frame of mind do you put yourself in before reading? What sort of notes do you take? Do you annotate the book itself? What questions could I be asking myself when reading?

[Mad Cat]

Depends what sort of material you are reading. Is it material you are studying for schoolwork, or like self-help books? Your focus will depend on what you are attempting to get out of the reading. Personally I prefer to scribble directly in the book, if it is my own book of course. Full comprehension is the goal, so highlighting lines or paragraphs which summarize the surrounding material is always a good start. Whenever you have an unanswered question or spontaneous insight, jot that down. For personal development material, whatever strikes your intuition as important certainly is worth noting. The most important thing to ask to yourself, continually, is if you understand whatever complex thoughts the author is trying to convey; feel no shame in re-reading over a section 3,4,5+ times until it sinks in. Also periodically try to mentally connect the material to earlier sections of the book and understand the book from a holistic perspective.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Mad Cat
typo

[Delusion]

I make sure my mind isn't wandering elsewhere, I just need to be fully present- no music, no noises, no people, no distractions, that's why I don't like reading in cafés or while commuting;.
I usually read just a couple of pages then think about it, write some notes (usually in the book and on my computer but sometimes on paper as well).
If I read in a foreign language I make sure I get the general idea despite the unknown vocabulary. Nevertheless, I would often look up unknown words so I don't misunderstand the reading.

:)

[Ian]

Mad Cat: Self-help books. With regards to focus, sometimes I don't really know what I want out of the reading; it's more exploratory than specific answer-seeking. Loving the advice, especially the holistic perspective - I do tend to find I cannot easily work out what the book has been 'about'.

I had to read your post about three times, so maybe I've already got more of this sorted than I thought

Ivelina: Two pages at a time sounds good to try. What sort of notes do you write?

[Nicolai]

I have been writing book journals the last couple of months. I read the book while highlighting the golden nuggets and when I'm done reading the book, I'll go back and write down all the golden nuggets into my journals. Then you can systemize your journals into topics if you like. This will become very effective and helpful if doing it constantly for some years. I'm also the write it down learning person  

When it comes to preparation before reading, I'll sit in a quiet place without any distraction and do breathing techniques to ground myself in the present moment  

[Emily]

I've got the Kindle app on my iphone, ipad, mac and work PC, and download books from Amazon. If you don't mind not having a 'physical' book then I'd highly recommend this, as you can highlight relevant sections (in diff colours if you're so inclined!) and as long as you're connected to the internet, it will sync across all devices to the page you're on.

So I'll read on the metro (iphone) then when I get a spare half hour at work I'll pick up where I left off on my work laptop. 

Most the time I'll read a book thoroughly then go back and read my highlights again - more than once if needed.

Re concentration, I find it completely depends on the material. Sometimes I literally can't put a book down and read it when I'm stood in queues and everywhere I get a spare few seconds even. I'm currently reading The Book Of Not Knowing though, which is a pretty tough read unless in a quiet room with no distractions. I will persevere though (currently about a third of the way through) as it comes highly recommended 

[Ray]

You have great methods guys, thanks for the tips  

Personally I'm tring to find a some kind of method that I can use for every book that I read in order to get the most juce from it: right now I put different simols when I found that there is an important topic/main idea regarding the subject of the book, when I have an insight and one when I have some doubts/questions. I use post it when there is no enought space on the page. I even find really useful "convert" the written ideas into simple schemas that sum up the idea. 

Still I really want to improve in my reading skills and I'm starting breaktrought rapid reading... What do you think about it? 

I think it's a really essential skill because we will read books for entire life yet nobody give us a tecbnique that enebles to improve our understanding of the book, how to categorize/select different infomrations (that can comes from the book or from us) and how to archieve/implement them...  It will be really cool to have some kind of course or powerful sistem of techinque... Did you know if something like this exist out there :)? 

[Phrae]

Highlight, underline, cricle stuff. If you want to completeltly dissect a book ask yourself questions such as these?

• What does this mean in my life?
• What should I do with this?
• Is this a priority?
• What other concepts are similar to this?
• Where does this fall in "insert categorie" field?
• What are the naunces and how would I explain them

If I had all the time in the world I would do something similar to this. I try to focus on parts that I think are important and are gonna produce a result in my life.

You can summarize after each chapter in a common place book or a in a note taking application.

[Artemis]

Personally I don't think that one method will be applicable to every kind of book you read, simply because every book has a different goal in mind and each author had a specific type of takeaway intended for their readers. Some books require lots of note-taking while others require minimal, if any. I would recommend you read "How To Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren. I found it really helpful in learing how to approach a book based on the type it is and what to expect or not to expect from my experience. It also covers what type of questions to ask yourself when reading.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Artemis

[Delusion]

17 hours ago, Ian said:

Ivelina: Two pages at a time sounds good to try. What sort of notes do you write?

I put everything into context. If I read a psychology/self-help book, I'd come with personal examples in order to understand the concepts. If I read something to prepare for lectures/classes, I'd connect the theory with practicle examples, applicable to the subject. But ultimately, I try to be flexible, because you can't apply the same approach for every book you read  

[Avi]

@Emily I'm on that book right now !!! I have to constantly reread sections and go back and be like "what is he saying?" haha

[Ian]

Something that just came to me having read all your posts is Bloom's Taxonomy:

Moving up the taxonomy, questions to ask while reading could look like (thanks to everyone who's suggested these!):

Remembering - What did I just read?

Understanding - Could I explain what I read to someone else? Do I fully understand the author's intention?

Applying - How can I integrate what I have read into my life? How could I change my behaviours/actions to improve my life based on what I read?

Analyzing - What sort of nuances are present here, and how will they affect the outcomes of any behavioural changes? How does this connect to the rest of the book/other things I know?

Evaluating - With the most open of minds, just how useful is what I have read to me? Is it a priority?

Creating - Can I combine what I have read with other things I know to create an entirely new powerful self-actualizing idea?

 

[Clay]

Listening to audiobooks can be a good way to increase your active reading. Hearing someone's voice may be a more alerting sensory input to you, and you may naturally engage the material more. It may not help for when you are sitting down reading a book, but supplementing your reading with audiobooks may allow you to read more content in a given day. I find this to be especially true when you listen to audiobooks at times when you are doing unconscious tasks, yet cant simultaneously read a book (i.e. weightlifting or driving on a familiar route).