There are a lot of misconceptions about how to read well, so in this video we’ll cover some of the most common issues people seem to have. I can tell you now that the problem most of us have is that we learn to read books for school. And school conditions us to assume that we should be able to actively recall most things we read. We shouldn’t. Human memory doesn’t work that way. We just did that to make decent grades on the tests we took. And suck up to our teachers or whatever.
I’m here to tell you to scrap everything you know. Well, not everything, but a lot of it. Reading doesn’t have to be a slow and laborious chore. I urge you to gather around. Pull up a seat. Today we’re learning better reading habits and skills. The video includes tips on reading faster, remembering what you’ve read, how to read more, and some hacks on using what you’ve learned, or not.
Tips for Faster and More Efficient Reading
- 1. Cut the Inner Monologue: Most people unconsciously sound out every word in their head while reading, a habit developed from childhood learning. This "inner monologue" significantly slows down reading speed, as eyes can move much quicker than this internal voice. With practice, you can train yourself to turn off this habit, leading to faster reading.
- 2. Read with Your Finger: Our eyes are not perfectly stable and tend to jump around when reading, making it hard to stay focused on a line, leading to losing your spot or re-reading. Using your finger to track below the words provides a stable focus point for your eyes, improving stability and surprisingly increasing reading speed by a significant amount (e.g., 20-30%). This technique works across all mediums, including books, iPads, and computer screens.
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3. Stop Reading Things You Don't Like: People often feel obligated to finish every book they start, a misconception possibly stemming from school where grades depended on reading the entire book. In life, this isn't necessary; you don't force yourself to watch movies or TV shows you dislike, so why force yourself through a bad book?
- For Non-Fiction: Most non-fiction books contain only a few useful chapters, often repeating ideas throughout. It's advisable to skip repetitive chapters or go straight to the table of contents to read only the sections that appear interesting. Manson personally reads only about half the text in many non-fiction books he picks up.
- The 10% Rule: Manson recommends reading at least 10% of a book (e.g., 20 pages of a 200-page book) before deciding whether to continue. If it doesn't engage you by then, or if the table of contents offers nothing appealing, put it down and move on.
- Recognize Repetition: After reading extensively in a field (e.g., psychology), you'll notice authors frequently repeat seminal studies, anecdotes, and examples. Once you recognize these, skip them to save time, as you already know the content.
- For Fiction: Unlike non-fiction, if a fiction book is good, read every word; if it's bad, stop reading it.
- 4. Schedule Your Reading Time: The common excuse of "not enough time" for reading is unfounded, as reading is highly portable. You can read during commutes, lunch breaks, at the gym between sets, or even in the bathroom. Consistency is key: dedicating 60 minutes a day can translate to reading 30 pages daily, which means finishing a 300-page book every 10 days, or about 37 books a year. If you apply the strategy of skipping uninteresting parts, you could read 40-50 books annually with just an hour a day.
- 5. Read More Than One Book at a Time: Reading multiple books concurrently is not harder but easier, as it allows you to switch to a different book when you get tired or bored with one, refreshing your attention and excitement. Manson typically reads three books at any given time, categorizing them as: a philosophically/technically challenging book, a general non-fiction educational book, and a light fiction or biography ("fun book"). This flexibility allows him to adjust his reading based on his mental state or interest.
How to Remember What You Read
- Highlighting and Note-Taking are Overrated: Contrary to popular belief, highlighting, underlining, or making notes in margins have consistently been shown to have no effect on retention. These methods were primarily useful in school for identifying what to study for a test, not for actual memory. Re-reading highlighted sections later is likened to doing "school in real life".
- Memory is Linked to Use: Human memory retains information that is used. To remember what you read in a non-fiction book, you must find ways to implement its ideas into your life. This "use" can be abstract, such as developing a different perspective on an area of your life after reading philosophical principles. The effort to consciously apply what you've read to your own life is crucial.
- Talk About What You Read: A powerful "hack" to trick your brain into remembering is to discuss the ideas with someone else. Because social interactions are perceived as highly important by the human mind, telling a friend about what you've read subconsciously signals to your brain that the information is useful and worth remembering.
- Remembering "Where" Not "Everything": You don't need to remember every single idea from every book. Instead, it's more important to remember *what* ideas are in a book and *where* you read them. This allows you to easily retrieve the information when needed by simply grabbing the book off the shelf, a practice Manson uses frequently for his own articles and books. Obsessively remembering every detail is unnecessary for practical application and often only serves to impress others.