Thursday thoughts: Reading
I never enjoy reading for the sake of reading. And if I’m supposed to read it, I’m even less enthusiastic. I skipped most of my reading assignments through school, college, even graduate school.
Yet now whenever I have a question about life—relationships, parenting, personal finance, owning a business—my first move is to find a couple of books on the subject and start reading them.
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. — Dr. Seuss
Carrying around physical books never worked for me, nor did extended periods of reading. So I’ve developed methods of reading that work for me and my preferences.
I use the Kindle app on my phone for most of the books I’ve read. I always have my phone with me, so my entire library is always available. This makes it easy to read during interstitial time.
I rarely read more than a few paragraphs at a time. But I highlight and annotate extensively as I read. I’m usually reading to answer a question, so my highlights reflect potential answers. I might also highlight a new way of thinking about one of my favorite problems.
I use the Readwise app to collect those highlights and sync them to Evernote. Then I use Tiago Forte’s progressive summarization to review those highlights.
For non-book reading, such as RSS feeds, articles from the Internet, and PDFs, I use Readwise Reader. (I used to use Instapaper, and I still prefer its minimal interface.)
Regardless of which medium you prefer for reading (physical versus digital) or how you track and incorporate reading into your work or leisure, understanding your own preferences and building a system that suits them is the key to building a reading habit and your own personal library.
Now for your thoughts…
What does your reading habit look like? What book(s) are you currently reading? What book(s) are you currently recommending?