If you’re a non-fiction reader like me then you aren’t reading purely for pleasure. Instead you’re reading to improve your knowledge and your life. As a result, it is more important that you retain and apply what you’ve read. Well don’t worry I’m here to help you do exactly that. Keep on reading to find out how to get the most out of the books you read.
1. CHOOSE YOUR BOOKS CAREFULLY
In order to get the most out of the books you are reading it makes sense to choose your books carefully. Think about what is currently happening in your life, what your current goals are and what areas of your life you want to improve.
If you aren’t sure what areas of your life you should be focusing on right now complete the wheel of life exercise. This will help you to score different areas of your life and highlight where you should be looking to improve.You can find out how to do a wheel of life for yourself here.
By choosing books that are relevant to where you are right now or something you are really interested in you are much more likely to retain and apply what you read.
2. HIGHLIGHT AND MAKE NOTES IN YOUR BOOKS
For years I wouldn’t make a mark in a book. Books were sacred to me. Here is an example of a book I read for PropelHer’s Book Club.
As you can see the book is covered in post-it notes. That was how I would make sure I could easily get back to sections I want to discuss in the session.
Nowadays I do underline passages, but I still haven’t got to the point where I’m comfortable with highlighting or writing notes.
If you are someone who I comfortable with marking a book – mark it! Make notes in the columns, turn the corners over and use a highlighter. When you mark a book you are breaking up the motion of reading and giving you brain something else to help you remember. Also, a well-marked back makes it much easier to find something useful in the future. Have you ever thought “Oh I read that in X”. You’ve then got the book off your shelf and can’t find the write section. When you mark a book you are able to flick back through and find the section.
3. WRITE DOWN THE MAIN LEARNINGS
When you have finished a book take a moment to write down your key learnings from the book. Depending on the book this might be one thing, or you might have a few. Ideally you would want to keep it to less than 5. Remember it is more important to have a few key learnings that you can remember and refer back to than an endless list.
For years people would use an index card to write down their learnings on. A very common method nowadays is to use Evernote. Realistically, the way you record the learning is irrelevant. The important thing is to have a consistent system that you can refer back to with ease.
4. DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO APPLY
Hopefully you’ll have listened to my last point and start writing down the main learning once you’ve finished a book. Now if whilst doing that you think it would be really beneficial to apply on of the learnings to your life now – take action.
Once a book is closed and our shelf it is easy to forget there is something we should be working on. So, you need to add the action into however you usually manage your actions. This might mean having to add it to your to-do list, blocking time into your calendar or adding into your if it is a new habit you could add it to your habit tracker.
5. DISCUSS WHAT YOU HAVE READ WITH OTHERS
Having discussions about what you have read will others will help you to get more out of the books you’ve read. When you discuss what you have read you are forcing your brain to have to recall information. So rather than all that great knowledge sitting your brain gaining dust over time you force yourself to delve into the back, dust something off and then bring it to the front. Also, as you have discussions you are likely to make further connections. This might be with other books, other resources or maybe even something you hadn’t considered at all that the person you are discussing the book with has mentioned.
If you are reading this and thinking I don’t have anyone to talk to about the books I’m reading then you should definitely join a book club and obviously I would urge you to check out PropelHer’s Book Club.
PropelHer’s Book Club is a non-fiction book club for ambitious women who are committed to their personal development and professional growth. We meet monthly on the first Monday of the month and you can find out more about PropelHer’s Book Club here.
6. SHARE WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT
Discussing what you’ve learnt is great, but personally I find the best way to get the most out of what you read is by sharing what you’ve learnt. Writing a book blog and running PropelHer’s Club Book has drastically improved how well I recall what I’ve read, as well as how much I’ve applied to my own life.
Now I’m not saying you have to start your own book club or book blog, but see if there are any ways you can share what you have learnt.
There you have it! Now you know how to get the most out of the books you read.
I really hope you follow this advice because if you have spent the time to sit down and read a book then you might as well get as much value out of it as possible.
And if you would like to read more great books to help you improve your life, be in a supportive community of women to discuss what you read and have accountability to action what you’ve read the do check out PropelHer’s Book Club.
There you have it! Now you know how to get the most out of the books you read.
I really hope you follow this advice because if you have spent the time to sit down and read a book then you might as well get as much value out of it as possible.
And if you would like to read more great books to help you improve your life, be in a supportive community of women to discuss what you read and have accountability to action what you’ve read the do check out PropelHer’s Book Club.
