The Reading System

Introduction

This guide provides a structured approach to reading and learning efficiently and effectively. By following these steps, you can maximize comprehension and retention while minimizing effort, applying the 80/20 rule to focus on the most impactful techniques.

The purpose of this procedure is to help students get the most out of their reading, whether they're tackling self-help books, textbooks, or other types of material.

Learning Principles

• Meta-Learning: Understand the process of learning itself to optimize how you absorb new material.
• Active Engagement: Interact with the text to enhance understanding and retention.
• Reflect and Review: Regularly revisit and reflect on the material to solidify knowledge.
• Customize Your Approach: Adapt your reading techniques to suit the material and your personal preferences.

Sections

Section 1: Overview

Objective: Quickly understand the book’s organization, structure, and main ideas.

Steps

• Step 1: Skim the entire book at a rate of 1 second per page.
• Step 2: Understand the author's background and motivation behind the book.
• Step 3: Identify the purpose of your reading. What do you need to learn?
• Step 4: List out what you already know about the topic of the book.

Techniques

• Meta-Learning: Understand the importance of learning how to learn before diving into new material.
• Set Clear Objectives: Define what you need to get out of the reading.

Verification: Ensure you have a clear overview and a rough outline of the book.

Section 2: Preview

Objective: Absorb more detail and draft an outline of the material.

Steps

• Step 1: Preview each chapter, focus on the following elements:
• Reading the first paragraph
• Each topic sentence of the following paragraphs in that chapter (Typically the first or last sentence in a paragraph)
• Summaries or takeaways
• Questions posed in the chapter
• Step 2: Outline the sections and topics of the chapter. At this point you are just creating a rough sketch of the outline. You will fill in more details to the outline when you read in the next section.
• Step 3: Create a list of questions about the content and concepts in the section to answer as you read.

Techniques

• Create Questions: Formulate questions for you to answer when reading through the text.

Verification: Have a detailed outline and marked sections for in-depth reading.

Section 3: Reading

Objective: Read at a comfortable speed while comprehending and retaining key information.

Steps

• Step 1: Start with marked sections and then read other areas of interest.
• Step 2: Engage actively with the text by making notes and visual aids.
• Step 3: Fill in your outline with more details about key facts and concepts.
• Step 4: Answer the questions you had written in the preview section.
• Step 5: Write a brief summary of the chapter's most important points.
• Step 6: Review chapter relationships to the overall book's concept.
• Step 7: Close the book, and your notes. Wait a few minutes before trying to actively recall as much of the book material as you can. Then compare to your notes and the book to see what you had missed.
• Step 8: Create Anki flashcards for the important information from this chapter.

There is some reduency in the outlining and note-taking here.

Do we mark sections to read further during this phase? as it is hard to really know what to look into with more depth in the preview phase?

Steps (Revision)

• Step 1: Actively engage with the text by marking quickly in the margins areas you would like to revisit.

• Step 2: Close the book, add notes to your outline.

  What To Include In Your Outline:

  • Main ideas
  • Key words and phrases
  • Key facts
  • Concepts
• Step 3: Re-read sections that you have marked.
• Step 4: Close the book, add more notes to your outline.
• Step 5: Create a summary in your own words.
• Step 8: Create Anki flashcards for the important information from this chapter.

Techniques

• Margin Notation: Engage with the text by making notes in the margins, such as question marks or other notations to alert you to particullary important or difficult material to review later.
• Bullet Point Summaries: Write down key points from memory.
• Mind Mapping: Expand your initial map with detailed connections.
• Feynman Technique: Explain concepts out loud to identify gaps.

Verification: Ensure detailed notes and summaries are completed for each section.

Section 4: Review

Objective: Reinforce learning and connect with other materials.

Steps

• Step 1: Revisit notes and summaries, create a higher-level summary of the main points of the book.
• Step 2: Set up a structured review cycle to refresh memory periodically. (Use Anki for Spaced Repetition Flashcards)
• Step 3: Relate the material to other books or texts to enhance understanding.

Techniques

• Engagement and Repetition: Regularly review notes to strengthen retention.

Verification: Ensure all key concepts are regularly reviewed and understood in context with other materials.

Footnotes: