Reading Comprehension Strategies; James Clear

7 Ways to Retain More of Every Book You Read

written by James Clear, edited and compiled here;

A good book can give you a new way to interpret your past experiences.

Whenever you learn a new mental model or idea, it’s like the “software” in your brain gets updated. Suddenly, you can run all of your old data points through a new program. You can learn new lessons from old moments.

Patrick O’Shaughnessy says, “Reading changes the past.”

Knowledge only compounds if it is retained. We need to be able to get as much out of each book as possible.

Of course, this is only true if you internalize and remember insights from the books you read.

1. Quit More Books

This was quite useful for me. Don't feel bad for quitting a book. The opportunity cost is high wasting up to a week on a book you don't enjoy or won't get value from.

Skim the contents page, take a quick read for 10 minutes to see if you think you'll get much out of it. Of course, reading book summaries like the ones on this site can help you choose which books are likely to offer the most value for you.

James says; Start more books. Quit most of them. Read the great ones twice.

2. Choose Books You Can Use Instantly

This one makes most sense if, for example, you're planning on starting a business. In that case, you'll already be motivated and incentivized to read books about business.

I personally find that one book will provide a launch pad from which to explore other books, and a lot of books contain within them recommendations for other books.

I also keep a very long list of books that I haven't read yet, and add to this list regularly.

3. Create Searchable Notes

Keep notes on what you read. Do something to remember the important concepts and highlights of the book.

James says;

There is no need to leave the task of reading comprehension solely up to your memory. I keep my notes in Evernote. I prefer Evernote over other options because 1) it is instantly searchable, 2) it is easy to use across multiple devices, and 3) you can create and save notes even when you’re not connected to the internet.

I get my notes into Evernote in three ways:

I. Audiobook: I create a new Evernote file for each book and then type my notes directly into that file as I listen. - This is a good one, Will try to implement this in future.

II. Ebook: I highlight passages on my Kindle Paperwhite and use a program called Clippings to export all of my Kindle highlights directly into Evernote. Then, I add a summary of the book and any additional thoughts before posting it to my book summaries page.

III. Print: Similar to my audiobook strategy, I type my notes as I read. If I come across a longer passage I want to transcribe, I place the book on a book stand as I type. (Typing notes while reading a print book can be annoying because you are always putting the book down and picking it back up, but this is the best solution I’ve found.)

- This one is an issue for me also. I happen to prefer printed books than ebooks and it's a real nightmare getting from physical to digital.

Keeping searchable notes is essential for returning to ideas easily. An idea is only useful if you can find it when you need it.

4. Combine Knowledge Trees

Get into the practice of "hooking" new information onto concepts and ideas you already understand. As Charlie Munger says, “If you get into the mental habit of relating what you’re reading to the basic structure of the underlying ideas being demonstrated, you gradually accumulate some wisdom.”

When you read something that reminds you of another topic or immediately sparks a connection or idea, don’t allow that thought to come and go without notice. Write about what you’ve learned and how it connects to other ideas.

I'm personally reading "How to take smart notes" and experimenting with the Zettelkasten system. Apps to try; Evernote, Notion, Zotero, Readwise, Daniel Ludecke's Zettelkasten.

5. Write a Short Summary

James says;

As soon as I finish a book, I challenge myself to summarize the entire text in just three sentences. This constraint is just a game, of course, but it forces me to consider what was really important about the book.

Some questions I consider when summarizing a book include:

• What are the main ideas?

• If I implemented one idea from this book right now, which one would it be?

• How would I describe the book to a friend?

You can also try;

The Feynman Technique - it's a note-taking strategy named after the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. It’s pretty simple: Write the name of the book at the top of a blank sheet of paper, then write down how you’d explain the book to someone who had never heard of it.

If you find yourself stuck or if you see that there are holes in your understanding, review your notes or go back to the text and try again. Keep writing it out until you have a good handle on the main ideas and feel confident in your explanation.

“I find the best way to figure out what I’ve learned from a book is to write something about it.”

Lots of useful info here. I'm now also taking notes and writing a 3 sentence summary in the same form as James describes above. Have not tried the Feynman Technique but may do in future.

6. Surround the Topic

“Beware the man of a single book.”

“Your personal experiences make up maybe 0.00000001% of what’s happened in the world but maybe 80% of how you think the world works. We’re all biased to our own personal history.”

One way to attack this problem is to read a variety of books on the same topic. Dig in from different angles, look at the same problem through the eyes of various authors, and try to transcend the boundary of your own experience.

I find Jordan Peterson to be particularly adept at this. He clearly has a huge breadth of knowledge and can create interesting links between concepts.

7. Read It Twice

Karl Popper explained the benefits nicely, “Anything worth reading is not only worth reading twice, but worth reading again and again. If a book is worthwhile, then you will always be able to make new discoveries in it and find things in it that you didn’t notice before, even though you have read it many times.”

It’s only natural for different sentences to leap out at you depending on the point you are at in life.

You read the same book, but you never read it the same way. As Charles Chu noted, “I always return home to the same few authors. And, no matter how many times I return, I always find they have something new to say.”

“When we only learn something once, we don’t really learn it—at least not well enough for it to change us much. It may inspire momentarily, but then becomes quickly overrun by the decades of habits and conditioning that preceded it.” Returning to great ideas cements them in your mind.

Nassim Taleb sums things up with a rule for all readers: “A good book gets better at the second reading. A great book at the third. Any book not worth rereading isn’t worth reading.”

James quotes from a lot of great authors here. Of course, we already know that you need to be exposed to information multiple times, and also then generate it yourself before you can fully come to grips with it. I try to mimic this effect with my method of reading and note taking. I like to use highlighting to summarise the main lessons of the book (first exposure), then within a week, I'll go back through the book and type up the highlights (second exposure). I'm currently working on creating a database in Notion which will then become the second step, and publishing on this website will be the last step (third exposure). I also post further snippets on Twitter (fourth exposure).

Where to Go From Here

Knowledge compounds over time. The key is to get a little wiser each day.

James has his own website with book summaries and a public reading list.

I've found James' contributions to be among the most valuable, Atomic Habits is a hard recommend and his website is great for finding new reads and inspiration.