Why Selective Reading?
Read 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis Bacon
Take a minute to think about the last five books you read for information, and/or to further your understanding on a topic.
- How many of the books were worthy of being read cover-to-cover?
- Did the authors repeat information in the books?
- Was their information that you felt you did not need to know?
- Did the author provide information to prove her point of view, that does not help you in learning the information?
Chances are, you are nodding your head.
Francis Bacon knows something that most of us do not know,
“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”
This English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, and author, who lived in the sixteenth century is giving us permission to read only the sections of a book that is worthy of being read. Bacon is telling us to practice selective reading.
Definition of Selective Reading
“Selective reading is a process of reading with purpose. Instead of running through a text that might have no practical and esthetic value to you. Reading with purpose will mean only reading the texts that keep the useful information. Useful not necessarily stands for “boring”, you can select any book that carries the knowledge you were craving to gain but thought you have no time for. It develops the ability to select the most important information from the whole text instead of “swallowing” everything without chewing.”
Source: Selective Reading: What, Why and How?
Many Avid Readers Struggle with the Concept of Selective Reading
Bill Gates has stated publicly that he has to finish reading any book he starts. He wants to complete the book.
I want to let you in on a secret. I struggle with not reading an entire book. If I'm reading a book, I want to read it from cover-to-cover. That’s how I was taught to read, and it is very difficult to break old habits. A few years ago, I gave myself permission to abandon a book if I was not enjoying the experience. But if the book is well-written, and has a lot of good information, then I feel like I owe it to the author to read all of the book.
I know that's an inefficient way to read. But it used to be a struggle for me to read selectively. I had to force myself to focus only on the important information that I need. Reading is an important way for you to learn throughout life. Yet as professionals, you aren't retrained on how to read intelligently.
College Students Are Forced to Practice Selective Reading Because of Time Constraint
The best college students quickly figure out, that if they want to succeed, they cannot read entire textbooks. They are constrained by time, and have to find workarounds to getting the information they need to excel at college. College students must practice selective reading to succeed.
It becomes increasingly important to learn how to distinguish between essential and non-essential information. When you are new to a topic, how can you decide what’s important and what’s unimportant? College and university students rely on their professors and course syllabi to figure out what they should focus on. In lectures, the professor gives clues as to what information is important – what will be on the exams. Students use that as a guide to figure out where to invest their time and energy.
How Can Professionals like Yourself Practice Selective Reading?
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
But what about a professional, who is not a student, or has not been in school for a while, how do you decide what information to pay attention to when reading a book? In How to Read a Book, the authors state that there are three reasons for reading: Entertainment, Information, and Deeper Understanding. The way you would read any book depends on your reason for reading the book in the first place.
- What is your purpose for reading the book?
- What do you hope to accomplish?
This article will focus on reading for a deeper understanding and for information. It will also focus on how to read a book to learn new skills. The World Economic Forum reports that to thrive in 2020 and 2022, you must master specific skills.
Skills to Learn for 2020 and 2022
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking and Analysis
- Creativity, Innovation, Ideation, Originality, and Initiative
- People Management
- Coordinating with Others
- Emotional Intelligence
- Judgment, Reasoning, Analytical Thinking, and Decision Making
- Service Orientation
- Negotiation
- Cognitive Flexibility
- Active Learning and Learning Strategies
- Technology Design and Programming
- Leadership and Social Influence
- Systems Analysis and Evaluation
How can you learn the key skills to thrive in an efficient manner?
Like you, I have to learn the 14 skills, so I had to figure out the best way to do so. I am a read-a-holic, so reading books to learn the skills you need to thrive is much more pleasurable for me than it would be for others. Since I have to read the books, I figured that I would craft book summaries help my readers learn the key skills.
Have you read these book summaries on problem-solving, creativity, and decision-making?
The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make them Happen
Technique for Producing Ideas
The MacGyver Secret by Lee David Zlotoff
How to Get Ideas by Jack Foster
Although I am reading books to learn the key employability skills, there are other books that I want to read.
Additionally, I have read several times, that to develop expertise in any area, you need to read five of the best books on the topic. If this is indeed the case, that means you have to read 70 books to learn and master the employability skills. That’s a lot of books to read for the average professional. Unless you practice selective reading.
To ensure that I get the information I need to learn and master the 10 key skills, I decided to focus on a Francis Bacon quote that I discovered several years ago,
“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.”
My Thoughts on Reading Entire Books
In my opinion, there are very few books that deserve to be chewed and digested thoroughly. When I keep this front and center, it takes less time to read each book. To add to that point, I have been thinking about the 80/20 Rule — Pareto’s Principle. To translate the rule as it pertains to books, you can read 20 percent of a book to get 80 percent of the content. But the trick is which 20 percent to read.
Here are Two Books I Wrote and Published on Amazon to Help You Learn the Skills
Read 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis BaconPerformance Accelerator Plan
There are some Amazon links in this article. If you click them and buy something, the company will pay me a small commission.
