How to Read Effectively: The Basics

Reading is one thing, and reading effectively is another.

Reading is awesome! It’s one of the most positive habits that you can have. It's a wonderful way of experiencing things without ever actually experiencing it.

You can peek into 80 years of life experience without being 80. You can know what Jupiter is like without being to Jupiter. You can find out what cuisines to try out in Japan while sitting on your bed somewhere in Europe.

It’s a great and the most trusted way of gaining knowledge. And if you ask me, it’s one of the keystone habits; habits that trigger other positive changes in our lives.

Reading is a whole package of learning, improving, relaxing and having fun; all at the same time.

Since you are here, I'm guessing you are into reading. You're either trying to develop a reading habit or want to improve your reading skills. Great!

So my first question to you is: how do you read a book?

No, I’m not asking how your reading skills are or how good your vocabulary is. Although those are some more things you can work on to improve. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Okay, let me rephrase: How effectively do you read a book?

When you read a book, how much of the information do you actually absorb? What are your reading strategies?

In this post, we're going to explore some of my strategies for a better reading session.

Before you get started with reading, make sure you:

1. eliminate the distractions. 
2.  put your phone in silent. 
3. sit alone.
4. be comfortable; grab your tea maybe and sit on your comfy spot. 

Turning it into a relaxing ritual will motivate you to look forward to your reading session. This will help build a reading habit.

I'd like to mention here that since I read self-help books more, this post is based on the strategies I've developed to read self-help books. But you can apply the same methods for fiction as well.

Okay, now that you're all set with your book and tea, let's take your reading sessions to the next level, shall we?

1. You Gotta Have Interest: 

I cannot tell you how important this point is to get started with reading or to be able to pick up a book every day to read. This is what going to be your ultimate motivational factor when it comes to reading. And so it's important that you select books in a genre that you actually like.

It may sound silly, and you might think about why someone would want to read a book that they don't like. But people actually do buy books that they know is not in their area of interest. This happens when you're trying to explore something new, or when you’re trying to follow what others are doing on social media.

You don't have to read fiction because everyone on Tumblr is reading it. You don't have to read self-help only because your favorite Youtuber recommended it. NO!

It should never be a chore.

You want your reading habit to stick, read what you like to read. If you don't have a science background, it's okay to not start with a science-y book right at the beginning.

Start with what you know and gradually build up your basic understanding in other areas.

Takeaway: 

❍ Develop an active interest in reading.
❍ Choose books from the genre that you actually like.

2. Read Every Day: 

I'm sure you saw this point coming. Didn't you? Ha!

But how does reading every day helps with reading effectively?

It's all about building a habit. In simple words, reading every day is actually practicing reading. The more you read, the better you get at it.

Reading every day will help increase your reading speed while enabling you to grasp well while reading fast.

With practice you will also understand what works for you and what doesn't. For example, everything that I'm about to discuss with you in this post works for me but they may not work for you. Reading every day will help you devise your own strategies to read.

Takeaway:

❍ Read every day for at least 15 minutes.

3. Read With a Motive:

 You should have an idea of why you're reading. Is it because you want to bring some changes in your habits? Or perhaps you want to develop your marketing skills?

You need to have an idea about what you want out of the book.

You should read with a motive and your motive should be bigger than finishing off one more book to complete your New Year’s resolution goals. If you read 10 books in a year and don’t understand or learn anything out of it, it’s pointless to make such resolution. Instead, if you even read 5 books out of 10 with good understanding, I would still count that as a goal achieved.

You should have an idea of what you are looking forward to gaining. It’s important so that you know what information you need to hold on to, and you'll know what topics you need to put more focus on.

Your mindset should always be to gain something out of your readings. You should not read only for the sake of reading or because it's popular on Tumblr, but because you want to learn.

Takeaway:

❍ Have a rough idea of what you want to get out of a particular book.

4. Take Notes: 

Taking notes is a great way to have a compilation of information that you collected through a book. It makes it so much easier to refer to what you read without wasting a lot of time trying to search for the matter in the book.

A few things that I like to note down are:

1. things that I find interesting.
2. things that I'm planning to implement for personal growth.
3. quotes; comes in handy when I need some inspiration or when I'm writing a blog post.

Don't add long details. Only write the points that will help you remember what the whole paragraph talked about.

I  prefer to write it down on paper as it helps with better retention. But of course the choice is yours, and you can use your computer. The idea is to make notes to help you review the content at a single glance.

Takeaway:

❍ Write down important points in short, so that you can remember the whole thing at a quick glance.

5. Start Applying Things That You Read in Real Life with Immediate Effect: 

Have you ever gotten so inspired by the positive reviews of a book that go get it immediately? You start reading it, all determined to be the boss. You're impressed by the content of the book. You make a few mental notes of the things that you're interested in trying out, and then once you finish the book......nothing happens.

You think you’ll start applying the points you learned once you are done with the book. But that never happens.

Our brain cannot remember everything. It's like that by design. Which piece of information to keep and which to let go is decided by checking what information you are actually using repeatedly. The information you don't bring in use is forgotten. So what happens when you decide to apply until after finishing the book?

You most likely don't remember most of the important basics the author talked about in the initial pages. And then tn you are back to square 1 with no idea on how to get started.

A book is jam-packed with information, and it can be overwhelming to see all the information at once and decide how to start.

So the best thing you can do is, start from the start. If the author is asking you to try out something, don't wait till the end of the book, apply it immediately and only then move to the next chapter.

Takeaway:

❍ Don't wait till the end of the book to start applying things you learn. Start using each technique discussed as you read them.

6. Write Down Reflections: 

The most awesome way to make sure the information sticks with you is to write down the reflections. By that, I not necessarily mean what the text might mean in a literal sense, but what it means to you.

How reflections are different from taking notes? Well, while taking notes you write down the points the author has mentioned, but when you write a reflection you write down what it means to you. It's like brainstorming about what you read.

Write down what you understood at the side of the book or on a  sticky note. Writing in limited space will ensure that you add only important things. This short self-reflection will act as a summary of the page. Just by looking at it, you'll know what the page talks about.  It’s a great way of self-introspection as well.

Takeaway:

❍ Write down a short summary of the page at the side spaces from your perspective.

7. Re-read: 

There are books that I have read multiple times, and yet each time I re-read a book it ends up sparking a new idea or meaning. It’s amazing how a single sentence can mean so many different things.

Expect such new nugget of information each time you re-read a book.

Also, the number of times you revise the content, the longer you will remember the matter.

To make this step easier, use the next step.

Takeaway:

❍ Re-read or have a quick review once in a while for better retention of matter. Use the next point to make the process a little easier.

8. Use Highlighters and Sticky Notes:

You can assign different colors for a different purpose. For example, pink for important things, green for quotes, yellow for the things that you disagree with (after all you might not agree with everything the author is saying), blue for new words and so on.

Additionally, I also like to put sticky notes to highlight pages to make them stand out. For example, if a page contains a theory, I will put a sticky note at the corner with the name of the theory on it.

The reason I have included this point within the list is that this makes the process of review so much easier. This step indirectly contributes to reading.

Takeaway:
❍ Highlight the things you find interesting.

Conclusion:

These are some of the things that help me get the most out of my reading sessions. But remember these are not "rules", and you don't have to use all of them. You can choose what you want to try out and see if it works for you. With time you'll come with your own ideas that complement your reading session.

Just remember that the key is to read every day.

What your strategies to read effectively?

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The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

– Dr. Seuss

© Quirky Writes 2019