| I listen to a lot of non-fiction audiobooks. Over time, I've realized it's pretty much pointless to try to "lock-in" knowledge. There's simply too much information and generally a lot of noise, relative to the real-world problems I'm solving. I now read books with a few intentions: * Don't read for facts. Read for patterns and mindsets. * Spend enough time in the book to absorb a mindset from it. I don't need all 8.5 hours of Eric Ries's "The Lean Startup", but spending 8.5 hours in the book helps me stew on topics. * Focus on outcomes and problems/solutions. It's far more valuable to know how and where to find 100 solutions than it is to memorize 10 solutions. For something deeply technical, like Designing Data Intensive Applications, I'm not reading it to understand the specifics of the solution. I'm reading it to understand the broad strokes of problems varies solutions solve. If I need the details, I'll come re-read a few relevant sections for the specific problem I'm solving. For less technical books, like business books, it's really about taking one or two topics away that resonate deeply with me. I don't necessarily need to remember why they resonate deeply with me. I just need to be able to remember the principles when I'm in a relevant situations. |
You can always look up facts later if you need them. What matters is getting the vibes and an intuitive feel for the material.
Directional understanding is what I am for. Details, that’s what search is for.
I also like to read in audio, then get a paperback copy if I think later I’ll need to reference details.
Synthesizing the core thesis into a blog/article in my own words helps a lot too. But really good books ooze through all future thoughts and writing anyway.
edit: explaining the ideas to a friend also does wonders. “Hey I read this book about …” works great