Learn how to stop wasting time when reading books.
We’re living in a world where constant change is happening rapidly. Often professionals cannot keep up. And should you try to? I pay attention to several successful people and they don’t seem bothered by the changes. Perhaps in private they talk about them. But what I think is that they’ve worked hard to future proof themselves.
Most successful people learn from books. They make reading a part of their daily routine. And they end up reading quite a few books in any given year. Today, I’m writing about how to stop wasting time when reading books.
When you read the results of research like the following, most people become overwhelmed. But instead of doing, start educating yourself, developing the practice of reading every day. And reading books that span many disciplines.
McKinsey Global Institute released the report, The future of women at work: Transitions in the age of automation. Artificial intelligence technologies will have a devastating impact on women. Many of these women will have to up-skill if they want to take home a salary.
“Between 40 million and 160 million women globally may need to transition between occupations by 2030, often into higher-skilled roles. To weather this disruption, women (and men) need to be skilled, mobile, and tech-savvy, but women face pervasive barriers on each, and will need targeted support to move forward in the world of work.”
Learning how to stop wasting time when reading books is an important topic that's worth spending time on. If professionals had tips and strategies to become more effective readers, then they could digest more of the right books to future proof themselves from the constant changes in their environment. This post is not about speed reading.
When you first learned to read, there were specific things your teacher taught you. You learned to read phonetically. And you learned to read every word in the passage or book. But as an adult that kind of reading no longer serves your purpose. You no longer need to read every word. And you certainly don’t need to read the chapters in books sequentially. The information I provide in this blog post, only works for nonfiction books.
I do believe that today, most books are longer than they need to be. But if you’re reading a nonfiction book and follow the advice outlined, more often than not, you’ll miss the plot of the story.
Before I delve deeply into the advice I want to give you about becoming an effective reader, there are a few things that I need to mention first.
Have you read?
What You Need to Know About Effective Reading
Learn the Difference Between Speed Reading and Effective Reading, Which is Better?
First, traditional publishers have word counts. That means authors have to fill those word counts for their books to get published. Sometimes that means they add extra information to reach the word count. Or even provide too many examples and case studies. Second, it was found that on an average page in a book, only between four and eleven percent of the text contains important information. You read that correctly. Third, there’s a Francis Bacon quote that gives you insights into how to read any nonfiction book.
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” Francis Bacon
The quote tells us that you should treat each book individually. That all books are not created equally. And that’s good information to have. But most people never unlearned what they were first taught when they learned how to read. And they never relearned the proper way to read as an adult.
You’ll learn the proper way to read in this post. And what you’ll learn will help you to stop wasting time reading any nonfiction. I’ve written about this a lot. However it’s so important that it's worth repeating constantly until more professionals become effective readers.
How to Stop Wasting Time When Reading Books
If you follow the instructions below, they'll demonstrate to you how to stop wasting time reading books.
Time Waster One: Not Having a Reason for Reading a Book
What to Do Instead
Before you read any book, write down your one-sentence purpose for doing so. Why is this important? Your purpose for reading the book will help you to decide what’s essential and non-essential information when taking notes.
Time Waster Two: Read The Book from Cover-to-Cover
What to do Instead
Before you read any nonfiction book, you need to preview it first. This entails:
- Read the Preface, Foreword, Introduction.
- Review the Table of Contents
- Place a check mark beside the chapters and sectors that you want to explore more deeply. You also want to read the sections that align with your reason for reading the book.
- Scan the Index. The terms with the most references tell you what the author considers important.
- Read the Book Description.
- Write down the main idea of the book and everything you know about the topic.
- Read sections of the book that you think needs further exploration.
- Tie what you’re reading to what you already know.
When you’ve previewed a book, you get to decide if that’s enough or if you need to do a deeper dive. Do you see how this can help you? This process helps you to decide if a book is the right one for you. Therefore, going through this process, you can read more of the right books.
Time Waster Three: Don’t Take Notes While Reading a Book
What to Do Instead
- Take notes when reading books.
- Write the notes in your own words.
- Review your notes.
- Pick out the big ideas.
- Try to do a memory recall of what you read and learned.
Time Waster Four: Don’t Connect the Dots When Reading
What to Do Instead
When you read any book, never do so in a vacuum. Everything is connected to everything else. You just have to find the connection. Therefore, when you’re reading any book, connect the information to what you already know. Connect it to projects you’re working on. Look for ways to connect it to your life in practical ways. This is active reading and you’re more likely to remember the information.
It’s also helpful to review your notes. This makes it easy to connect the dots looking backwards. As you’re reading the book ask yourself, “What does this information remind me of?” and “Where have I seen this before?” These are thoughtful questions that are worth answering.
Final Thoughts How to Stop Wasting Time When Reading Books
Start implementing the strategies one-by-one until you're using all of them. You'll discover that you'll be reading books faster because you're only reading the sections that aid your understanding of the text. When you think about it, this really isn't speed reading. It's about reading books more effectively.
Next Steps
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