Do It Today: Overcome Procrastination, Improve Productivity, and Achieve More Meaningful Things

4. Read Multiple Books Simultaneously
There are no rules to reading so you can do whatever you
want. At times, I’m reading 5 books at once. I might read 50
pages of one book in the morning and then read another
book in the afternoon.
That’s how I prefer it. Others like to read a book cover to
cover and only then read something new.
If you’re reading something that’s complicated, you might
want to read something that’s easier for the evenings. I like
to read biographies before I go to sleep because they are
like stories. Fiction also works well in the evening.
I don’t want to read a book about investing in bed with a
highlighter and a pen. If I do that, I will be awake until 3 AM
because my mind is buzzing with the new things I’m
learning.
5. Retain The Knowledge
Knowledge is only good if you use it. To retain knowledge,
you need a system that helps you do that. This is how I do
it:
When you read a book, use a pen to make notes in
the margins and highlight important text. If you’re
reading digitally, be aware of over-highlighting. Just
because it’s so easy you shouldn’t highlight
everything you find slightly interesting. Keep the
highlighting for ‘aha’ things only.
If you read something you want to definitely
remember, fold the top or bottom corner of the
page. For digital readers: take a picture and store it
in a notetaking app you prefer.
When you finish the book, go back to the pages
with the folds and skim your notes.

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Write down (use your notetaking software or
physical notebook) in your own words what the
book is about and what advice the author is giving.
Copy the quotes that stand out the most to you.
The point is not to copy the book but to help you process
the information so you can use it later.
Read as much as you possibly can — but never forget to
apply what you’ve learned because that is what counts the
most. You put in many hours to read books, make sure you
get something out of it.

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