Reading Tips | This autumn, I read 5 books on the subway

Last weekend, taking advantage of the competition atmosphere, I invited a few friends and made my first big meal. Congratulations EDG!

Reading allows everyone the opportunity to converse with different souls. — Anonymous

The most common phrase I heard when I was a child was: Why do you only know how to play games 🎮? Can't you take a look at a book 📖 when you have nothing to do? Isn't reading a way to relax?

Now that I have grown up, reading has indeed become a way to relax, while playing games can no longer provide that relaxation; Carrying teammates is just too exhausting 🐶～

In today's article, I will share 55 reading tips 💡 proposed by Takashi Saito in his book "The Secrets of Efficient Reading," along with the reading techniques I have genuinely experienced. I hope to spark some ideas and welcome you to share your reading insights.

❓The first question posed by the book: Time is always insufficient; when can one finish a book? The variety of books is dazzling; which one should be read first? The content of a book is too much; how can one absorb effective knowledge?

🎯The goal of the book: Very clear, to help readers develop a reading habit. Many people give up reading at the beginning due to low reading efficiency, but essentially, it's not that they dislike reading.

What Should the Reading Mindset Be Like?#

🏁: Relax, don't let reading bring a sense of pressure, and maintain an expectation of surprises from reading.

The book starts by throwing out some methods 🛠:

There's no need to read from start to finish in order;
Sometimes you can start reading from Chapter 3;
Remembering about 30% of the content is enough;
Take 3 minutes from your leisure time to finish a book;
Record your reading thoughts on social media, just 3 lines.

Try to understand these methods; the author simply wants everyone to not feel too much pressure about reading. When you shed the burdens of thought that may come from your student days, such as the fear of reading comprehension in language exams 😱, you may regain the confidence to read extensively. PS: If you don't like this book, just switch to the next one; take your time～

We should also understand that not being good at reading and disliking reading are fundamentally different. It's very likely that you just aren't good at reading, rather than hating it. Those who are not good at reading have the willingness to read but give up due to low efficiency and other reasons; once you become good at reading, you'll find that the surprises it brings are beyond imagination.

For example, after I finished reading Charlie Munger's "Poor Charlie's Almanack," the diversified thinking inside filled me with curiosity about various industries, feeling like endless knowledge is waiting for me. This feeling of anticipation is fantastic.

Poor Charlie's Almanack

💡: Coincidentally, I recently discovered a content creator who collaborated with Bilibili to offer a general education course — Lin Chao: An Interdisciplinary General Education Course for Young People. If you're interested, you can check it out～

Break the rigid division of arts and sciences
Includes 25 lessons, 22 subjects, and 120 thinking models, 100 yuan (rational consumption, this item is free)

What Kind of Books Should You Start Reading?#

🏁: Shorter lengths, familiar fields, interesting themes, and favorite authors.

If you are just starting to develop a reading habit, it is not advisable to read very long books, as this can easily lead to a sense of frustration; however, you can plan your time for a thick book by chapters or sections, turning a big goal into many small goals, and don't let yourself feel that the goal is unattainable from the start.

Moreover, you can plan to read multiple books at the same time during the same period. If you get tired of one book, you can switch to another genre, and after a few days, you might miss the previous book and switch back to it, creating a cycle where you finish multiple books at once! Of course, this is my reading habit, which has some similarities to balancing work and rest, but it's a bit different from the rules of dating 🤫.

Then, familiar fields can lower the threshold for reading, increase comfort, and may refresh your understanding; interesting themes and favorite authors can enhance the book's 📖 appeal to you, maintain your reading motivation, and may even add new skill points to your skill tree 🌲.

For example, I want to learn about the history of Chinese civilization, so I am currently reading "Five Thousand Years of History" by Lin Handa and Cao Yuzhang. This is a popular history book that covers myths from the creation of the world to the corrupt official He Shen, with a total of 262 historical stories. The entire book has 430,000 words, which is considered a relatively long book for me. I might finish a dynasty's story and want to put down this heavy history book (although I can't feel its real weight on WeChat Reading), and look at other books or different types of reading materials. After more than a month, I have already read 44%. During this process, my running mate has been "The Thoughts of the Intestines" (which has a post: A Little Science | Those Gastrointestinal Thoughts You Might Not Know ), "The Secrets of Efficient Reading," "The Art of Efficient Rest," "The Most Important Thing in Investing," "Lectures on Criminal Law," etc. I have already finished the first few books, and I generally read about 3 books at the same time. For me, any more might require high technology.

PS: For foreign books, you also need to choose a translator that suits you; you can pay attention to those that have been revised many times, as this at least indicates that they have passed the market test.

Under What Conditions Is Reading More Suitable?#

🏁: Fixed scenarios (with a bit of noise), time-limited.

Fixed reading scenarios help you concentrate on reading.

What kind of scenarios are suitable? On the sofa in the morning 🛋️, on the subway to work 🚉, after lunch in the office 🥣, after a shower at home 🛀, or in bed before sleeping 🛏️? Choose a scenario where you are usually not disturbed and enter the world the author presents to you～ Additionally, you may have experienced that in an environment with background noise or people coming and going, you may find it easier to concentrate.

Clearly define the duration of this reading session and the time to finish this book.

Setting a time limit for reading, just like the existence of a DDL, can help you focus more; you can also try limiting your time with this book to only 1 week or 2 weeks, and no matter what, you must finish the last page on the last day. This way, you can adjust your reading pace at any time, get the sense of achievement from finishing on time, and if you find it good, you can then delve into your favorite parts or move on to the next book. However, I generally do not set a specific time to finish a book; I just enjoy the process and may try the above method when I have the opportunity.

How Should You Start When You Just Get a Book?#

🏁: Preface, table of contents, word count / page count, reviews; avoid reading from start to finish all at once.

Look at the preface, mainly to hear what the author wants to say to you before you read this book. It usually includes their original intention for writing this book, the content they want to present to readers, and some reflections during the writing process. In other words, the preface can give you an expectation and provide a first impression of the entire book.
Flip through the table of contents to see the structure of the entire book and understand the aspects the author will share. If the author has written summary remarks at the beginning or end of each chapter, you can take a look at those as well. This way, you can sketch a rough outline of the entire book in your mind, making the book feel more familiar, and when you actually read it, you will know what stage you are in.
Be clear about the word count and thickness of this book, which helps you estimate the time it will take to read it or the difficulty of finishing it, allowing you to prepare mentally in advance.
Pay appropriate attention to the reviews of this book 🌟, including Douban reviews, WeChat Reading reviews, and reviews from people around you, which can give you an expectation of the entire book. Focus more on the highlights in the book rather than the shortcomings. If the reviews are very low or do not meet your expectations, you can completely look for the next book; there may be more suitable alternatives. If you find this out after you have already bought it, just pretend I didn't say anything; theoretically, every book has its highlights, and the key is how much time you can spend uncovering those highlights.

In addition, you can also pay attention to the author's personal experiences, historical background, and similar themed books; these are all good preparations for better understanding the content of the book.

Avoid: Reading from start to finish all at once.

This may not apply to certain types, such as novels, where the unknown 🥸 may be more enjoyable.

But this point applies to most types of books, and it's a similar principle from the perspective of writing. Not to mention writing a book, for example, when I write this article, I find it hard to write from start to finish in one go; instead:

First, I write the preface of the entire article to express the purpose of writing this article and what I want to convey to the readers;
Then, I write the titles of each section to establish the overall structure of the article. While writing the titles, I also jot down a few sentences for each section, writing whatever comes to mind, which roughly conveys what I want to express in that section;
Next, I fill in the content of each section;
Finally, I review the entire text and make some edits to unsuitable passages.

In summary, don't be obsessed with getting it right in one go; this can easily lead to stagnation, and reading is similar.

What Else Can You Do While Reading Besides Looking?#

🏁: ~~Listen, smell, taste, touch~~. Create a rhythm for reading, and make marks.

Not only does the world of music need a sense of rhythm 🎵, but the world of reading also requires it.

This sense of rhythm can come from the hand that turns the pages, reminding it to prioritize the action of turning pages. If you want to read lengthy works, a balanced reading approach is key; for content that you have no interest in, you can completely fast-forward for 30 seconds or read at 2x speed. Isn't that how we watch shows? This way, no matter how thick the lengthy work is, as long as you can read it at a certain rhythm, you will be able to read it to the end in an orderly manner.

Go try quickly flipping through pages of content you only partially understand, focusing on the climax parts!

Underline and make marks 📒, and at appropriate times, add your own thoughts.

As for the marking method, you can refer to the three types of lines in WeChat Reading: yellow highlight, orange underline, and blue wavy line; you can use them as you see fit:

Yellow highlight — core viewpoints, such as insights or overarching content;
Orange underline — shining points, such as memorable or deeply insightful places;
Blue wavy line — little treasures, which can be points of personal interest or usefulness.

In addition to underlining, you can also attach your thoughts to appropriate content, writing whatever comes to mind without hesitation. Perhaps ten years later, when you read this book again, it will be a wonderful experience; you will have new insights or even contradict your ten-years-ago self. For example, during my job search, I read Thoreau's "Walden," and I felt that the ideas it expressed were contradictory to my job-seeking state because it constantly told me to simplify life, stay away from materialism, and build my own house by a quiet lake, living a life free from worldly concerns, which is incredibly happy. I look forward to reading "Walden" again in ten years; what insights will I have then? Will I already have my own Walden?

Walden

In summary, the process of making marks is actually a process of deep thinking and knowledge transformation. It not only allows you to quickly recall the highlights of the entire book during review but also helps you accumulate material for conversation and inspiration for life, allowing for a collision of thoughts with your past self.

PS:

For books that you want to read but find difficult to understand, you can look for corresponding interpretation articles or videos to hear different perspectives on reading.
After finishing a book, try writing on the front page when and where 🍁 you read it; this is also a beautiful memory.
If you have a bathtub 🛁 at home, you can also try the "bath reading" proposed by the author, which sounds very enjoyable.

How to Transform Books into Your Own Energy?#

🏁: Find 3 highlights, summarize in 30 seconds, write an article...

Every book has its highlights 📸️; find the three you think are most important and write them down. These may be the energy you can use.
If you were to recommend this book to someone else, try to introduce it in 30 seconds ⏰; this might also be your valuable gain.
Writing an article 📃 is also a good way to transform; the article you are currently reading is a product of this process, and I hope you can feel the energy conveyed by the author or me.

Go Challenge Yourself!#

Reading is not merely about absorbing knowledge; it is a creative act in itself. Do you have any efficient reading tips? Feel free to share in the comments!

Appendix: Takashi Saito's "The Secrets of Efficient Reading" — WeChat Reading Link