I like to read. And read a lot. I don’t read as much as Tyler Cowen or Ryan Holiday but I read more than the average person.
Years ago, I asked myself “Why.” Why read? I started reading to learn and understand more. But now, I’ve learned more by doing and experimenting.
Was reading a waste of time? Ultimately, I answered “no.”
Reading served a purpose as long as I followed these 5 rules:
These are only useful for non-fiction books. I don’t read fiction books but would like to.
Table of Contents
1. Synthesize every chapter into your own words
I will never be like Ryan Holiday who can quote a phrase from a book he read years ago. But I want to recall the jist of it. And perhaps with a second of Googling (or searching my notes), find the book and author.
2. Every book needs to generate one action
Most non-fiction books tell a story. And the story follows the classic arch of before I knew what I know, when i learned what I know, and successes from what I know. This is even true in biographies but there are often many (our lives are not always fairytales).
Following Ryan Holiday’s advice, I place a newly finished book on my shelf to be reviewed in 1-2 weeks. When it’s time to review, I pull the book down and open a document to combine my chapter synthesis’, type my notes from the book, and type the phrases I underlined.
Then I summarize the whole book. And upon summarizing I extract one key takeaway from the book as an action item to add or experiment with in my life. Sometimes it’s a ritual/habit and other times its a different way to do something I already do.
Regardless, every single book you read should generate an action in your life. If it doesn’t, why even read it.
3. Put books down
This is by far the hardest thing for me. I used to feel I owed the author to read their book if I purchased it. But I’ve come to understand sunk costs. It’s ok to waste money but I should not waste both money and time. Time is a limitless resource.
You’re nearing death every second of every day.
Should you even be reading this post? So, let’s hurry up with the last two.
4. Read more than one book at a time
Read multiple books at a time. One of my favorite bosses did this. At first, I didn’t understand why. But I started doing it a couple of years ago and it’s fun.
It keeps me energized. I keep books in different places and read different ones at different times of the day. Sometimes I have a morning book, a lunch book, and a dinner book.
Other times I’ll pick up a book and finish within a day.
5. Go down rabbit trails
Here’s another tribute to Ryan Holiday. This is something I’ve started doing recently. When I get really interested in a topic, I’ll read about it from other angles.
Ryan recommends flipping to the book’s bibliography to read the author’s sources. Another way I’ve enjoyed is read more from the author (why I read all three of Frank Slootman’s books).