At any given point in time, I am reading minimum 2 books. Since yesterday was World Book Day, let me take this as an opportunity to share how I read/take notes from books.
Here is what I do at the start:
Set goals: Determine what you hope to gain from the book and how it aligns with your personal or professional growth.
Here is how do do it: Take a quick look at the reviews or author’s recent podcast interviews will give you a good idea in terms of what to expect from the book.Skim through the book: Preview the table of contents, introduction, and conclusion to get a sense of the book's structure and main ideas.
Create a reading schedule: Allocate specific times for reading to maintain consistency and progress (for e.g. I tend to keep the longer reads towards my sleep schedule (helps 💤 faster).
2 things to remember when starting a (non-fiction) book
70% of books are better off as a blogpost or even a set of email newsletters (I just made the number, but I hope you get the point).
Plug: this is where subscribing to this newsletter helps :)
Most non-fiction books tend to repeat 3-4 ideas across the book. If you think you have gotten a good grasp of the topic in the first few chapters, feel free to skim and skip the rest.
It’s just FINE! You don’t need to finish everything you start. But if you are leaving most of the books unfinished, just revisit your choices and your reading technique.
How do I take notes?
I don’t.
I have automated the process. Here is the secret 🤫
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