My Secret 3-Step Process to Retain More of Every Book You Read
Plus how it translates to new ideas
“If you want to be a writer,” says Stephen King, “you must do two things above all others.”
“Read a lot and write a lot.”
Actually, it’s the success formula for any creative, not just writers. Consume a lot and produce a lot.
Don’t believe me?
Check out this video I found on YouTube. It’s about how the drummer Dave Grohl basically ripped the drum riffs for Nirvana from old discos albums.
Sometimes consuming isn’t enough. The information must also be retained, processed, and ultimately used.
Otherwise, it’s a waste of time.
Otherwise, you’d be better off watching Love Island all day, ya know?
Let’s talk about my reading process.
It’s simple. Three steps and you’re done, but all it does is help me retain what I read and generate a ton of ideas.
Use it and love it.
Step 1 — Read who you would like to emulate
Read three of my articles, and it’s painfully obvious who I‘d like to emulate.
Ryan Holiday
Tom Kuegler
Steven Rinella
We all have our heroes. We all have our influencers that we admire on TV, history, Instagram, or TikTok. We see their work and say, “I want to be like that.”
I’m telling you right now, indulge in that impulse. Steal their routines. Read all their stuff. Read the stuff they’re reading. Read the stuff their fans are reading.
You’ll care more about what you’re reading if you care about who you’re reading about or who wrote it.
Don’t worry about becoming a copycat. That won’t happen. All that will happen is that you will put your own spin on their ideas. (By the way, their ideas weren’t original either).
“Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas.” — Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist
Step 2 — It’s not about how you read. It’s about when you read
There are a lot of theories about how one should read for best retention.
The brain coach Jim Kwik would have you speed-read. Let your finger glide from word to word and boost your WPM to 750. If you concentrate on speed, then you will concentrate on what you’re reading.
“Fast readers have the best comprehension because they have the best focus.” — Jim Kwik
The writer Ryan Holiday says speed reading is a myth.
My opinion?
How you read isn’t important. Matthew McConaughey will spend an hour reading a few pages and spend another hour reflecting on what he just read.
What I do think matters is WHEN you read.
The goal is retention. Retention requires the following ingredients.
1.) Large swaths of uninterrupted time.
2.) Focus.
3.) Coffee.
That combination gets you a better shot at reaching flow — that feeling when everything else in the world disappears. When you visualize what you’re reading and the lessons between the words.
I read in the morning, and so should you. I don’t care if you’re a night owl. Odds are, your brain is most alert 15 minutes after you wake.
Read then.
I read at 4:30 am each morning. Before the Cesar Chavez in Austin fills with traffic. I read before the light, just like Toni Morrison. I read before others’ feet have even touched the ground.
I could read after work or maybe before bed, but I’m the sharpest in the morning.
It’s not even close.
Step 3 — Take notes
Jim Kwick says we retain more of what we read when we give the action purpose.
If you skim through a 500-page biography just to say you “read it” and place the book on a shelf like a trophy. Guess what? You just wasted like 13 hours of your life.
How do you give something purpose? Identify the why, how, and when
Why is this information useful to me?
How can I use this?
When will I use this?
I bullet journal, so the first I do when I bring home a new book is open up a blank page and title it “Book Notes: (Insert name of the book)”. At the end of each reading session, write down in my own words:
1.) A summary of what I just read.
2.) Why is this useful?
3.) How can use it?
4.) When will I use it?
Answering the question, “Why must I use this?” will help you actually act on this knowledge.
“You’ll tap into purpose, which will give you energy to overcome inertia and procrastination.” — Jim Kwik
How reading translates to new ideas
Steve Jobs said, “creativity is connecting dots.”
I believe that any piece of art, whether that’s an article, or music, or a canvas, is really taking multiple ideas and knitting them together to form another monster.
I’ll show you what I’m talking about. Here’s how I outline all of my articles.
Title: Something that I would like to expand on from something I read.
Subtitle #1: A supporting argument from an antidote or facts I read (or a personal story).
Subtitle #2: A supporting argument from an antidote or facts I read (or a personal story).
Subtitle #3: A supporting argument from an antidote or facts I read (or a personal story).
I make the process sound simple, but I promise it isn’t easy. But putting in the work will help.
So read the people you want to emulate, don’t worry about how you read but when, and read with purpose. It’s in that formula, I think, you will find words and ideas flow a little easier.
Just started a new heading in my journal! I have been wondering about my reading.As always you give me things to think about.Thank you.