You can read one book a day, but if you don’t apply what you learned, the hours spent reading become worthless.The time you spend after you put the book down, is even more important than the time you spend reading. Here are 11 ways you can use this time efficiently.
- Apply Something – Test out the author’s ideas. Try one thing that the author recommended. You don’t know if something works, until you try it yourself.
- Journal – A great question to write on the top of a piece of paper and write until you’re completed is, “What are 20 improvements I can make by applying the concepts in this book”. Do this once a day for a few days and your big idea won’t be far away.
- Give It Away – Give the book to a friend. Ask them to read it. Have a discussion about it, after they’re finished.
- Look at the Resources Section – If you loved the book, look at the resources section to find what inspired the author.
- Read Reviews on Amazon – Sometimes, someone has a complete different view of what the author was trying to say. The more angles you look at the information inside the book, the more you will learn.
- Sleep On It – If a book made you think, don’t rush out to read something else. Let the information take over your mind for a day or a week. Recognize different thought patters you might experience.
- Read It Again - If you really want to get all you can out of a book, read it again. If you want to get even more, read it a third time.
- Review It – Hopefully you made some notes or bookmarked a few pages while you’re reading. Make sure to return to those pages right after you’re finished.
- Revise Goals - If a book causes you to change your long-term vision of life, put those goals in writing immediately.
- Engage with the Author – The Internet makes every author approachable. Look for the author’s website and find them on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites. Ask the author a question or just listen to more of what they have to say.
- See What Other People are Buying - If you search the book on Amazon, you will find on the book’s page a section that says “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”. Review highly rated books that other people have read. Read those next.
In what ways do you get more from just reading? Let me know in the comments.
{ 2 comments }
Great list. I do most of these myself. Sometimes I read reviews on Amazon before deciding to read a book. If it has lots of positive reviews, I’m more likely to read it. And since repetition helps in learning, I’ve found that I learn something new after reading a book a second time.
Another tip that might help is to find out if there’s an audio version of the book. Some people learn better by listening, and may pick up something new that they wouldn’t have by merely reading.
These are some great suggestions! I have been reading a lot of new material and I think I should definitely start applying #6 from your list. It’s hard to retain all that information and giving it time to marinate will surely help.
I like to write down phrases, sentences, or even full paragraphs that really resonate with me. I prefer this over highlighting because I don’t want my second read (or third or fourth) of the material to be clouded by the first.
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