GNT #026: 5 Step Formula for Better Book Reading

Read time: 4 minutes

I'm an avid book reader.

And I especially love self-help and business books. (#nerdalert)

But before last year I was scattered in my approach to reading books and frazzled actually integrating all the knowledge I was learning.

"I think I read that before.."
"Oh, I keep forgetting I want to read that one too."
"Was that the one where they talked about x, y, and z?"

So what did I do?

I asked my awesome network some questions:

- "How do you consume books?"
- "How do you decide what to read?"
- "How do you organize and prioritize your book-reading wishlists?"
- "How do you remember and integrate what you're learning?"

The result? I made a book-reading system for myself based on the gold nuggets from my network.

The benefit since I started using this system?

- I spend less time deciding what to read next
- I read more of the right books that align with my goals
- I do a better job integrating my new knowledge into daily life
- I feel less crazy and more organized about all the books I want to read
- I dig deeper into important books, and quickly get the relevant points from others

Today I'm sharing my 5 step formula for book reading so you can get the most out of your book reading time.

Let's dive in.

#1 - Manage the reading list

I started using Goodreads this year to manage my list of books I want to read. It's a great tool for keeping track of books you're interested in, and the reviews and ratings can help guide your next reading choice.

I currently just have digital shelves for WANT TO READ, CURRENTLY READING, and READ. 

I think my next step will be to better organize my READ shelf by genre. I've noticed some people get really fancy with this or just keep it simple.

But as I come across new books or books recommended from my network, I add them to my Goodreads WANT TO READ list. I can re-order the priority of books in that list so I always know which one I want to read next.

Next up, I get quick glimpse of the book...

#2 - Preview the book

Once I have a book picked out, I investigate the book using Blinkist, an app that provides written and audio summaries of a nonfiction book's main points in 15 minutes.

(Note: I skip this step for fiction.)

This gives me a high-level overview of the book and helps me decide if it's worth investing time in a deeper read.

If a book doesn't resonate with me after reading or listening to it's summary on Blinkist, I save myself the time of reading the entire book and note on Goodreads that I stopped at the Blinkist.

#3 - Listen to the full audiobook

[Ed and I listen to audiobooks together on long cross country flights in our homebuilt Vans-RV10 airplane]

I love the accessibility of audiobooks. With our busy lives I can be listening while driving kids to activities, cooking dinner, working on our latest build project, or taking the dog for a walk to wind down and transition from my work day.

I've used a number of different services over the years to listen to audiobooks, but I can't say I love one over another. 

After I get done with the audiobook, I decide to either update as READ on Goodreads and move on to the next book or...

If the book really resonated with me and I want to internalize and study more of the concepts, I'll move to the next step...

#4 - Read the physical book

[Hammock reading]

While I do like the concept of borrowing books from the library (we are there quite often, otherwise I would go broke with my kids' reading habits), there's something wonderful about having the book on my bookshelf for reference.

Reading the physical book, and making the space and time to do so is one of my favorite (and calming) activities.

I do like Half Priced Books, or used books on Amazon and I've never had a problem with poor quality.

To really internalize what I'm reading, I love a highlighter, sticky flags, and the idea of #5 that I picked up from Brené Brown...

#5 - Create a personal book index

The personal index for the physical book you read is essentially how your unique brain internalizes the information of a non-fiction book.

The process of doing this is the "integration work."

I first learned about this process when I read Brené Brown's book, "The Gifts of Imperfection." The system was adapted from Maria Popova's "alternative indexing" approach.

The act of doing this forces us to slow down, read-read, notice why something resonates or why it doesn't, and where to file that in our mind.

As I read and come across something interesting I want to remember or explore later, I'll highlight it on the page, tag it, and start creating categories with reference to page numbers in the book. 

I've used a sweet printable Brene has here (pictured above). However it's letter size and doesn't fit inside the back of most books. When I'm done, I'll fold it and store it on my bookshelf with the book.

If the book has a few extra blank pages in the back I'll use that with a pencil - or book-sized Post-its work fantastically well because they're sticky and you can keep adding pages as you need to.

Your categories should be unique to you and your experience with the book, but here are a few to think about:

- Quotes:
- I want to work on this:
- Definitions:
- Research more:
- Talk about with ______:

Takeaways

There is so much enjoyment and knowledge in books.

But it's up to us to make the best use of our book reading time.

Take what resonates here and develop your own book reading system that works best for you and how YOU consume information.

Let me know it goes! I love hearing from you.

See you next week!

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