Do you summarize the books you read?

[SecularScholar]

Do you summarize the books you read, so you can use and share everything you learned at any time?

I summarize every chapter and add my own thoughts.
It takes much longer to read, but I always got access to the lessons I learned.
And... should I continue doing this, or should I read more in the time I usually spend summarizing?

A good friend of mine reads nearly one book a day, but I'm not sure if he remembers most of the important things.


Cheers
Scholar

 

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[Andy Black]

Do you summarize the books you read, so you can use and share everything you learned at any time?

I summarize every chapter and add my own thoughts.
It takes much longer to read, but I always got access to the lessons I learned.
And... should I continue doing this, or should I read more in the time I usually spend summarizing?

A good friend of mine reads nearly one book a day, but I'm not sure if he remembers most of the important things.


Cheers
Scholar

I try to read with a pencil as my bookmark if it's something I want to "study". I underline and write in margins.

Mostly though, I just try to take-away one thing per sitting. I'm so conscious of not becoming a consumer. Reading one book a day is great - if you want to get good at reading.

If you get one small insight, what will you do differently immediately?

 

[Thiago Machado]

Regardless of how "good" of a reader you are, how smart you are or even how well you are able to comprehend and process information, you are subject to the "10% Rule".

The 10% rule states -

At best, within a week, you will only remember 10% of the content you just read.

The longer the book, the less you will remember. Guaranteed.

If you don't apply what you learned, 10% slowly drops to 1 or 2% within 6 month to a year.

That is why -

I suggest (if you like reading and find it an efficient way to learn, I usually DO NOT), you should only read ONE (or MAX two) books a year.

Read the book once for general meaning.

Re-read it for detail.

APPLY EVERY CONCEPT IN THE BOOK before you read ANYTHING ELSE.

Otherwise, the vast majority is simply entertainment and eventually lost.

Source: The Best Self-Improvement Books You've Never Heard Of

 

[Jonathan Polley]

I add little page markers to books so that I can look up things that are useful quickly and easily.
I also have a system of colour coding so different colours mean diferent things.

If I summarise. I end up with a load of notes which is great, except I have to read through the whole load of them to find what I am actually looking for.

 

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[KrisB]

I add little page markers to books so that I can look up things that are useful quickly and easily.

Yep, I do this. I also use a highlighter and make notes as I go, it helps me retain more.

 

[c_morris]

I read each book twice. Once at normal pace comprehending what I can and once with a highlighter at a faster pace.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[johnwmintz]

If it is a tech book, I use highlighters and I note on a legal pad along the way. It helps me retain the info a little better. Another way I have found that also helps me retain the info is to type up the hand written notes afterwards.

 

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[jlwilliams]

I don't summarize, but it does seem like a good way to retain more information.

I read a lot and I know that most of it goes away into the fog of memory. Considering that not every word written was worth reading, that's not entirely bad. If I find a book particularly impacting I will re read it. Normally I set it aside and read it after having mulled it over and put it into context of my own experience. Once in a blue moon I will re read something as soon as finishing it the first time, but not often. It's a rare volume that grabs my mind that way.

I find that of something I read plays a roll in my life choices and I identify that connection in retrospect, that is the time to read it again. Then is when the relevance is best internalized.

 

[Jonathan Polley]

Yep, I do this. I also use a highlighter and make notes as I go, it helps me retain more.

One word of advice with highlighting (and I'm sure you are not guilty of this) but only highlight a small number of relevant points. The amount of times I have seen people highlight 80% of a page is worrying. It completely defeats the object of highlighting.

 

[RazorCut]

I tend to read my books electronically as it is easy to access at any time plus I like the way I can easily access the information I have mined.

For this I tend to use the Kindle app, as, not only can you colour code your highlights, but you can create Flashcards and the notebook feature is excellent.

Another useful feature is the ability to see what others have found informative through the 'Popular Highlights' option. I have found that this can add to my understanding as I might have missed an important point that, on the first read, didn't sink in or I did not find relevant at the time. If the book is popular then the number of popular highlights can work like a mini summary.

Looking at my copy of TMF here are some gems from the Popular Highlights section:

 

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[Ma Co]

I wish I'd have done this earlier in my life.... before reading dozens of books and forgetting 98% of the insights they tried to deliver to my long-term memory.

I've developed a simple "info nugget extractor" method:

1. Read with highlighter
2. Extract key know-how and paraphrase in writing
3. Break complex stuff down into question-answer flashcards (using Anki)
   
4. Let spaced repetition method of Anki burn all your collected goodies to your memory for good

Sure, this will slow down your reading speed. But better to upload a dozen great books to your brain than reading-to-forget hundreds.

 

[amp0193]

Read the book once for general meaning.

Re-read it for detail.

APPLY EVERY CONCEPT IN THE BOOK before you read ANYTHING ELSE.

Along these same lines, if you read a book that is beyond where you're at, you'll have no concrete experiences to attach that information to.

For example, I read "ready, fire, aim." before I had even started a business. The book is about growing your business to 1mil, 10mil, and 100mil, respectively. Just about every lesson from the last 2/3 of the book has disappeared, as I didn't have a 1mil business that I needed to grow, so I didn't really understand where the author was coming from.

It's best to read books that you can apply immediately to your life and business.

 

[Mattie]

I summarize every chapter and add my own thoughts.
It takes much longer to read, but I always got access to the lessons I learned.
And... should I continue doing this, or should I read more in the time I usually spend summarizing?

A good friend of mine reads nearly one book a day, but I'm not sure if he remembers most of the important things.

I believe back in the day, I used to write notes in the margin, highlight, when I used physical books. I am today mostly reading online, so I usually just save the sources. I do have note books to take notes when I believe it is important, or I want to remember for a later resource. Ideally as many podcasts, videos, blogs, books, etc. I listen too, or read, I'd have a room filled with notebooks if I did it with each one.

There are usually resources that stand out, which usually means their is scientific meaning to it, facts and evidence. Perhaps historical information, or very valuable information is in front of me. Fastlane, I would consider a favorable source. There are many webinars, books, podcasts, and video's I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I believe it all depends on whether you can decipher key points an weed out the bullshit.

I remember in College I took a course on this point. Recognizing the key information, and dismissing the garbage. I believe the more you read, study, and research you learn what is actually valuable information, and what is not.

Like they stated above, you will only remember 10%. Unless something triggers the memory. I book mark a lot of sites, but that can even get out of control. There is so much content out there, you just have to be selective of what you believe is valuable or not valuable. Some things are repetitive.

 

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[Andy Black]

Related thread:

• www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/the-four-best-books-to-help-transform-a-wantrepreneur-into-an-entrepreneur.64018

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

I just consume a book and move on. If I like it, I read it again.

For me, time spent "summarizing" a book is better spent reading another one.

 

[LPPC]

Since today, I started summarizing the important things of a book. This way I can refresh the book in my memory in a much shorter time later. The key is to make notes of only the important stuff or stuff you didn't know and think you can use IMO.

I also have an evernote notebook where I put all my life lessons and valuable information. It's priceless.

 

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[James Bond]

I don't summarize the books that I read. I just read alot of books about the same subjects. To get deep knowledge about those subjects.

 

[3feetfromgold]

I found this to be a problem as well and did some research on how to retain more knowledge from books a couple years ago. Before, I could barely even recall the title or author of the book 6 months after reading.

This is my system now:

1. Read using a highlighter and take notes using your favorite word processor. Personally, I use one that syncs to the cloud so I can use both my laptop and mobile phone when I'm reading on the go.
2. After reading the book and only if it's been decided that it's worth retaining the information, I add 3 key items to a memory palace. There are many resources on how to create memory palaces online. These 3 items are: author, title, and 1-2 sentence summary of the main point/take away of the book.
3. Shortly after reading the book, I'll review my notes and add the important points into a flashcard system. There are many to choose from online.
4. Note that I use a flashcard system for everything in my life, not just books. I add names, quotes, business techniques, podcast notes, historic dates, philosophy, lectures, articles, coding etc. and review this once a day. It takes about 30 minutes to review each day. The flashcard system brings up cards that you answer. If you get it wrong, it gets put back to the beginning of the pile. If you get it right - you put it near the end of the pile. Eventually, after answering the card a few times - it will be stored into long term memory and you won't see that flashcard again for over a year. Don't quote me on this but it takes 7 times before information is moved from short term into long term memory.

After using this system for the past couple years, I'm happy to say that I can easily recall any book that I read and have something intelligent to say about it at any given time. I read about 2 books a week. It's helped out over dinner conversations, during presentations, and in meeting to impress colleagues/clients.

 

[GoodluckChuck]

I have read a lot of books on my tablet. The good thing about the tablet is I have an app called Simplemind that is a mind mapping tool. It's extremely useful for connecting different concepts together to be looked at as a whole. I'll sometimes take a moment and pan out to see all of the main points and think about them. When I make connections in my mind I'll connect the dots on the mind map. Talk about learning...

Sometimes though, there's nothing like having a physical book and a highlighter. Have a book and flipping back and forth through the pages involves some movement to the learning . You start to get to know where in the book the information lies and it creates a mind map of sorts in your head.

If you haven't tried mind mapping, it's awesome. With a tablet it's 100x faster than it used to be with a pen and paper. You can literally make one mind map for everything you know... it's infinite.

 

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[TonyStark]

I have read a lot of books on my tablet. The good thing about the tablet is I have an app called Simplemind that is a mind mapping tool. It's extremely useful for connecting different concepts together to be looked at as a whole. I'll sometimes take a moment and pan out to see all of the main points and think about them. When I make connections in my mind I'll connect the dots on the mind map. Talk about learning...

Sometimes though, there's nothing like having a physical book and a highlighter. Have a book and flipping back and forth through the pages involves some movement to the learning . You start to get to know where in the book the information lies and it creates a mind map of sorts in your head.

If you haven't tried mind mapping, it's awesome. With a tablet it's 100x faster than it used to be with a pen and paper. You can literally make one mind map for everything you know... it's infinite.

Thank you so much for this! I've been looking for something like this for quite some time now.

 

[JAJT]

My most valuable reading moments tend to be when I have a notebook by my side.

I'll read and when something causes me to stop and go "huh!" I'll just jot a few quick personal notes on it. Summery might be a pretty luxurious word for it though - it's a really rough jot-down of "what I'm thinking" as I read it. Feelings, opinions, questions, important points, etc...

I find I'm much more engaged with the material when I can take those 30 seconds every few pages to consider what I'm reading and put it to paper. Even if I never go back to those notes I took for actual content. It's more of a snapshot of myself at the time of reading. I can go back and see what my thoughts and opinions were on something I read months ago, years ago, etc...