Hot answers tagged reading
38
Something I have been taught while studying English and then preparing for tests/exams like IELTS which may be of help here.
(this applies to reading which requires level of attention/thinking for comprehension above the average newspaper in terms of content and length)
Do not try to comprehend the whole piece in one reading pass (i.e. read once, ...
28
I find the best way to get through scientific papers is to write as many of my own comments on the hard copy of the paper as possible - summary sentences, crossing out parts that were not relevant and writing ideas for things to follow up - when I'm done with a paper it looks like a mass of scribbles, but it has the advantage of engaging you properly with ...
26
I'm sure others will post fancier responses here, but I really think this one is pretty simple.
Read more.
I have always been a voracious reader and read quite fast (at least material that doesn't require too much thought to digest -- the slower stuff takes longer because you actually have to think about it). The other people I know who read a lot read ...
16
I learned speed reading techniques at a very young age (honestly believe that children should be taught to speed read in elementary school, but I digress), and I think it's helped me considerably, since I can cover a huge amount of material very quickly, and retain a high percentage of it.
http://www.evelynwood.com.au is one widely recommended speedreading ...
15
As an easily distracted reader, I’d be more than happy to share some of the measures I have been using. But first I believe we should go into the reading mode with a clear goal: is the reading for leisure, structural knowledge, or supplemental information? Knowing this will help us decide on the best strategy.
Leisure reading
For leisure reading I’d just ...
14
There are imo 5 things one has to differ concerning paper managment:
Redundancy
because of plagiarism in distinct scientific branches there is the possibility you waste time reading the same informatin in different papers several times (bigger problem in humanities than natural sciences)
focus on some tools like zotero, citeulike, mendeley, scirate that ...
13
Multitasking is hard. Let me change it. "Useful Multitasking is hard". It takes times. And one of the most important parts is your brain in this process.
Human brain doesn’t multi-task like an expert magician; it switches frantically between tasks. In there, real problem occurs when we try to concentrate on the two tasks we are dealing with, because this ...
12
For long-lasting retention, spaced repetition wins. Nutshell: if you don't use it, you lose it.
To your points:
Trust your gut: some people are particularly adept at specific tasks. That doesn't mean (a) it's all they can be adept at, or (b) adeptness can't be learned. Ten thousand times, each kata.
Why does their intolerance preclude you from "jumping ...
12
Maybe it's better to do your reading at another place, where you can do it fully comfortable and let your wife watch TV comfortably as well. When you are not doing something together and you don't pay attention to each other, you would only restrict (limit) each other.
Then you could be bad-tempered because of bad reading condition or your wife could be ...
9
Some ideas for your 12 books:
Choose your books carefully. Pick good books on topics you want to know about.
Read for enjoyment first, information second.
Don't get hung up on the number of books you read. Instead, focus on getting the best from each book.
If numbers really matter to you, choose thin books.
Consider whether all your books need to be ...
8
While I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea of studying for several hours without a break, if that method isn't working out for you, it isn't working out. Don't concentrate on the method - concentrate on the result. You want to learn something - why does it matter whether you learn it through 4 hours of uninterrupted reading, 5 hours with ...
8
Sitting and reading for long hours.
Don't do that my friend. This gets you bored. The point is here, work smart not hard. It is also not good for your body. Your body is your most important thing. Don't spend it stupidly sitting a lot of hours without any break.
I understand, you want to work a lot of hours in your books, but for example 4 hour works ...
8
You can't. Both of those things require your attention. Which means either one will tune one out or do a poor job at both. There are other things that you can listen to a webcast during though without losing focus - cleaning, reading comics, driving etc. (Granted you still lose some focus, but it's not as drastic.) Programming requires a lot of ...
8
how about headphones with white noise? Bit of a google found http://cantonbecker.com/music/white-noise-sleep-sounds/mp3s.php, which appears to supply mp3s...
EDIT - I've also just wandered accross this: http://simplynoise.com/, which is entirely devoted to white noise...
8
A teacher of a productivity workshop once taught me that listening to classical music with approximately 60 beats per minute will calm you down, improve your focus and make you more creative all at the same time. I've experimented with it myself at work (I am a programmer) and it certainly does help me focus. If you use headphones, you can also use it for ...
8
This is a well-researched problem and there is plenty of literature out there on it. The solution is called spaced repetition. The premise here is that you should revise your material at the point just before you are about to forget it and there are well established 'forgetting curves' that you can apply. If you are revising long before the forgetting ...
8
It's up to what I expect from that book.
If I read it because I want to know how to do something I never know it before, I will read and try to code all along (and also do some exercise). That give me some taste of that thing.
If I read it because I want to know some concepts behind something, often when I try to learn something new, I will focus on why ...
7
Can reading electronic displays be made more comfortable?
There are successful attempts that have been made by implementing electronic paper devices, which bring the experience as close to paper as it could be. If you have the money for it, consider buying one of those devices.
If, on the other hand, you want to read more comfortable on a computer ...
7
Another suggestion would be interacting with the book in a more active way, something that engages you in more than a way so reading is not strictly passive. For example, doing a mindmap as you read, maybe with some cool software like Xmind.
If you try this approach, maybe you could set your breaks by 'objectives', i.e., subjects, instead of time.
Another ...
7
As others have said, highlighting and/or taking notes can be a very useful tool. If you find that these don't work for you, however (as they often don't for me), you can try another tactic: read out loud.
You don't have to speak loudly or do a dramatic reading, or anything, but reading the words out loud forces you to focus on them in sequence (as opposed ...
7
I often use the costumer reviews from amazon. Not only for books. I read the reviews with one or two stars and the comments of these reviews. If these reviews contain good points which are backed up by arguments I can follow, these reviews give me more hints then the five or four star reviews.
Also the comments on these review reveal more pros and cons.
...
7
1) The technique is to force yourself to read say for 20 to 25 minutes. even after that you find yourself distracted then i believe that you have to find something more interesting to read :).
2) Lack of goals associated with anything will never ever get you motivated to finish something. try to associate some goals with your reading.
3) Why not after ...
6
Take Notes
It is very hard to keep the mind engaged when just reading dull texts. You have to mix up the activity a bit.
I recommend building up a Mind Map of the text you are reading. The more vivid and colourful you make it the easier it will be for your brain to remember what you were reading. At the end of it you have an easy reference that you can ...
6
I have found this paper about the "three pass approach" very helpful.
A summary:
First pass (about 10 minutes):
carefully read title, abstract and introduction
read (sub)section headings
read the conclusion
glance over the references
Second pass (about an hour)
read more carefully (ignoring details such as proofs)
look carefully at figures and ...
6
I also tried to learn speed reading by myself with books/articles/websites etc. But my progress was very slow. In my opinion professional software is the way to go.
Here are two suggestions:
EyeQ
7 Speed Reading
I like EyeQ best, because it has better structured exercises.
To answer your question: The apps have exercises like chunk reading, widening ...
6
This might seem a little old-school, but especially due to my multi-tasking nature, I find it handy ( and sanity-preserving :c) ) to keep a simple text file saved on my desktop to keep track of websites I am currently using/investigating. The problem I think you are asking about is... how do I track where I am in a huge amount of text on one webpage. If ...
6
I personally have three tactics that I utilize when I am studying, each of which strengthen my understanding of the materials and simultaneously give me a break from reading.
1) As mentioned by others, I make sure to take notes as I read. This gives me a small break from the reading materials and forces me to re-word the material in a way that I ...
6
I find I get an overall quicker comprehension of complicated texts by reading them quickly multiple times rather than once slowly and trying to understand it all as I go.
Previously I would find myself continually rereading a paragraph trying to understand it only to find it would have become clear in the next few pages anyway. I would also feel ...
6
Ooh, as a cofounder of Beeminder I'm very keen to learn why you say Beeminder didn't work for this kind of goal. Is it that you're not into the commitment device aspect of Beeminder?
Here's a list of tools that are just focused on tracking:
http://blog.beeminder.com/trackhack
6
The simple truth about learning is that the most effective techniques for learning something are more time consuming and can therefore feel more tedious. Since your stated critique of writing chapter summarizes is that if feels tedious, I'm inclined to suspect that you won't find much that is both faster/easier and simultaneously more effective.
One thing ...
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