Changing my Reading Strategy

[Davino]

Books are quite time consuming and I got mid-to-low value for the huge amount of focused time and energy spent.

I've transitioned to audiobooks for 80% of my input. I still do 20% reading for dense books that are worthy of my full dedicated time.

Sharing this in case you've felt stuck in your reading habits and want something to speed it up. I'm using audible, tried a few before but I'm finally sticking with that one.

[Raze]

Audible doesn’t speed it up when your reading speed is faster than listening 

[LordFall]

Don't you find that you forget a lot of the stuff in audiobooks? I like to take notes when I read and I listened to half of the Fiat Standard as an audiobook and I recall general trends but I really mostly remember like 3 main points out of hours of listening. 

I would highly question auditory retention but I think for less important books it makes sense if it's more inspirational than technical. 

Edited Thursday at 05:09 PM by LordFall

[Ulax]

When I listen to audiobooks, I tend to daydream

[Davino]

15 hours ago, Raze said:

Audible doesn’t speed it up when your reading speed is faster than listening 

Yes that could be the case, but the point is different: I can't read a book while walking, cooking, or driving, but I can listen to an audiobook.

[Davino]

14 hours ago, LordFall said:

Don't you find that you forget a lot of the stuff in audiobooks? I like to take notes when I read and I listened to half of the Fiat Standard as an audiobook and I recall general trends but I really mostly remember like 3 main points out of hours of listening. 

I would highly question auditory retention but I think for less important books it makes sense if it's more inspirational than technical. 

Most books don't need that level of attention and retention, it's about having sudden insights that precipitate over hours of listening, exposing yourself to good media/input, learning new ways of thinking and pattern recognition etc.

For heavy books I still prefer to read calmly, I just discovered there are very few books worth it of that.

[Davino]

11 hours ago, Ulax said:

When I listen to audiobooks, I tend to daydream

And do you daydream without audiobooks?

[Lyubov]

There was a similar discussion here a while back. I went in the opposite direction. I read mostly everything now. Yeah, books give diminishing returns after a while and you have to be strategic with what you pick. I even reread a few books instead of new ones because they were so helpful. I wouldn’t just commit to a book unless I’ve put it through vetting. I don’t believe I’m missing out on anything not being spontaneous about my book picks. Unless you have a super mind and are able to run through books like an athlete can run a kilometer it’s better to be intentional with what you pick. For audio books, to be honest if it falls into audio book territory it’s probably not good enough to be taken seriously anyways and could be supplemented with YouTube videos or research with AI. I treat anything as an audio book basically as a podcast where you can drift in and out of listening. 

Edited yesterday at 07:55 AM by Lyubov

[Joseph Maynor]

It is hard for me to read books anymore like I used to.  Things have changed for me in that way.  

[Ulax]

7 hours ago, Davino said:

And do you daydream without audiobooks?

Sometimes

[Heaven]

Can you please share what books are you currently reading and which books you recommend for basic self improvement 

[Davino]

3 hours ago, Heaven said:

Can you please share what books are you currently reading and which books you recommend for basic self improvement 

In general, I'm basically reading all of Leo's book list. It's very worth it.

I'm reading right now Ken Wilber: "Sex, ecology and spirituality" regarding audiobooks I've been listening to:"Changing on the Job" and "7 habits of highly effective people"

On a general note, I did like a lot Psycho-Cybernetics and Radical Honesty.

[Davino]

@Lyubov That sounds like a good strategy as well

[Heaven]

@DavinoI did purchase it and it’s quite a long list so I guess I need to focus on only a few. Also I am in a phase that I need to transcend basic survival and can’t go spiritually all the way.

Thanks for the recommendations 

[Davino]

@Heaven Identify what is the biggest block in your life right now and find what book from the booklist better fits.

Another cool experiment is ask AI to make you a guided questionnaire in an iterative manner to pin down the book you need that will most benefit your life.

Are you struggling with work? Or your finances? Can't you find passion in what you? Do you have a 30 year vision for your life? Etc. Find that bottleneck and then search for the best of breed book on the topic.

[Lyubov]

Vetting is very important though. It’s obviously really inefficient to sit down and read books that aren’t helpful. I found that AI is really good for this and also going on YouTube and researching a book beforehand. Especially for nonfiction and stuff you’re reading for your life, you don’t need to worry about being spoiled or anything. You can get an idea in what ways it’s good. I’ve saved a lot of time cutting down my read list with AI. 

[Lyubov]

Nonviolent Communication 

The Six Pillars of Self Esteem 

The Big Leap 

Thick Face, Black Heart

Tao Te Ching 

These are my S tier books for self work. 

[Davino]

@Lyubov thanks for sharing, I still have to read the first and the last one

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Nonviolent Communication is next on my book list.

The title always made me pass on it due to my own misinterpretation.

Someone I highly respect recommended it.

Regarding the OP. Unfortunately I need to read a book to take it in fully. When listening to audiobooks, I tend to be "optimising" my time and dual-tasking. This degrades the quality of my attention. I thought women were supposed to be able to multi-task. Fucking lies! 😅

I can barely chew gum and walk at the same time !

With audiobooks, I need to listen over multiple times to feel I have absorbed all the points. Books I tend to retain after one reading. One reading, sitting breaks + notes for heavy hitters like Ralston. I feel this could be very individual though; I've always been an avid reader of long novels. Nonficton. Fiction. Biographies. Since I was 8 or 9 years old. I never stopped.

[Cireeric]

I notice for me it is easier to get distracted, wander and not pay full attention when I listen to an audiobook or watch podcasts. With reading I am fully absorbed into the activity, all of me is going into all of the activity and it is easier to get into a flow state. You can also perfectly adapt the speed to the level that is appropriate for your comprehension of this topic.