Reading non-fiction books is utilitarian for me. They are not my favorite, but I read them to learn useful skills, like building team culture or understanding my biases.
Before, I read only on my Kindle, highlighting a lot. After finishing a book, I exported the highlights to organize in my database. But this method was hard. The highlights lost meaning when I summarized them, and putting everything together took a lot of time. It often led to delay, and I still have many highlights to sort out. Also, I easily fall asleep reading non-fiction. 🤷🏻♂️
I discovered I prefer listening. It helps me focus and remember better. This came from my experience with podcasts. Interestingly, I often recall where I was when listening to them. For instance, I remember the exact scene at the mall while listening to a talk about interview questions. Visual settings and hearing together helps me remember more.
Now, I listen to audiobooks while walking. If I hear something interesting, I stop to note it on my phone. Writing down my thoughts helps me understand and remember the content. It makes the final synthesizing easier and more thorough.
For this, I need a safe place to walk and read. I do this in a park, when the weather is nice, or at a nearby mall. This mall isn’t great for shopping and is often empty, which makes it perfect for my reading walks. I usually walk for an hour, covering about 4 km and taking 5,000 steps. I listen at 2.3x speed, going through roughly 20,000 words in that hour.
Finally, this method feels like a real workout. I’m not keen to start, but feel great afterwards, and I think that’s a good thing. 💆🏻♂️
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