It's amazing how success strategies become so automatic and basic that it's hard to remember what it was like when a particular technique seemed silly.
Just now I was about to make use of a few minutes before Pilates starts to continue where I had left off in a book. It flitted across my mind how useful it is that I have a Post-it Page Marker marking exactly where to pick up. I spend no time trying to figure out where I was or what I was thinking. The focus is incredible, but I wouldn't have believed what a difference it makes until I tried it.
I used to be one of those people just like you who thought, Augh, it doesn't take me any significant time to figure out where I was. If it takes you more than zero time, I'm spending more of my time actually reading than you are. And zero overhead makes many more small blocks of time usable. But, I'm smart enough not to need a crutch. I'm smart enough to direct my smarts elsewhere.
I place a page marker inside the cover of every book I'm reading or plan to read. Whenever I close a book which I plan to continue reading, I place a Post-it marker so that its lower edge is immediately above the line containing the start of the next sentence I have to read.
Knowing exactly where I left off is invaluable. As mentioned, I spend no time figuring out where to resume. I can use odd blocks of the smallest time — even a few seconds of otherwise dead time allow me to advance one sentence. The feeling of moving inexorably forward is empowering.
Before markers, I used to search forward and back a bit to recover where I was. I would either unintentionally (if I made a mistake) or intentionally (if my mind wandered back) re-read a couple of paragraphs. I used to think this opportunity to re-read and reconsider was time well spent, but now I think that the benefit of reading on outweighs. Honestly, most of my reconsideration was simply comfortable, not helpful. And, letting my subconcious process more breadth, I can later call my attention back to any depth I really need to get to.
The most significant benefit is that for the past several years I have been able to read dozens of books in parallel. Why is that desirable? Because when I stay in a single book, I 1) lose perspective as to how good or lousy it is, and 2) can fall prey to the childhood desire to "finish the book." With my task shifted from "finishing" to "picking up and deriving more value," the most useful task is always to pick up in the most important book to me at a moment. I feel no guilt in not persisting in reading a comparatively lousy book because I never sign up any more to reading discrete books.
It's a rare book now that I read more than 80% of the pages. Many books I don't read more than 20%. I feel no guilt. The many excellent "threads" I have about me at any time constitute quite a bar for incoming passages to rise above.
A tip: books which inspire multiple threads of thought (or pauses in execution, if it's somehow progressive) can certainly warrant multiple markers. Just stop viewing books as discrete tasks. Some great books, I stick five markers inside the front cover the moment I get them out of their Amazon box.
I use the position of the end of my bookmark to remember where I stopped. Before bookmarks came into my life, I used to use a pencil/ pen/ highlighter and put a ---x--- at the line/ paragraph (mostly paragraph unless the book was so boring that I had to leave it in the middle of a line!) that I had stopped at.
Yeah, the multiple books is something I have for quite a while now. I lack the patience to go through a single book without needing to context switch. Usually the genres of the books I read at a time are different - if one is advertising, the other is pure fiction novel, while another is a fiction that teaches you something. One can argue that any kind of fiction teaches you something or the other... if nothing it surely expands your imagination. True.
As for leaving markers on multiple chapters in a book, I do that for technical books. That is my way of forcing myself to go through at least parts I am curious about before I give up on it. None of the other books suffer from this condition for me.
Giving up on a book midway... hmmm... done that a zillion times for technical books, very few non technical.
- Sonia
Posted by: Sonia Sanchez | Thursday, 17 May 2007 at 20:42
Nice suggestions. I never realized that there is anything wrong with focusing on finishing a book! It seems so natural. I never tried reading several books at a time.
I am afraid I would loose track of everything.
After reading this article I intend to try it.
Posted by: sunil | Saturday, 23 June 2007 at 01:12