Great, You Read A Lot Of Books. So What?

How to get the most out of the books you read. Knowledge transfer is the most important skill for learning.

Photo by Joyce McCown on Unsplash

In the past year, I fell in love with reading again.

My love for reading started out as a necessity for growing my business. It was a way to teach myself all the things that institutionalized education does not teach you about running your own lemonade stand (on a budget).

As beautiful as this love story has been…I’ve been plagued with the question:

“Great, you read a book. So What?”

All those groundbreaking ideas flashed through my mind upon reading certain passages. They came in one eye and out the other. So fast, so fleeting.

Like a goldfish, I forget almost everything.

Within a week, all the actionable steps and lessons learned? Forgotten. Hours of eye strain, momentary “a-has” only resulted in lost time. And for the entrepreneur, time is the most precious resource.

Reading is important for entrepreneurs, but taking notes correctly is the most important factor in knowledge transfer — Denny

That’s when I came across Tim Ferriss’ take on digesting books. He has some great tips. I added some of his techniques to my own. I’d now like to share how I save time and energy while getting the most out of the books I read.

How to get the most out of the books you read:

Like a cow and its “4 stomachs”, I digest a book 3–4 times. Each time filtering out the important take-aways.

First Pass:

This is when everything is new and fresh — the best time to capture “inspo”.

1. UNDERLINE what you find interesting — this sounds too simple but it really helps to narrow down the focus, especially if the book is long. I use a different colored pen — pink or purple so it stands out. (Use highlight function on digital readers.)
2. Write a WORD or two — next to the underline to remind myself of the connection I made. No goldfish memory. No regrets.
3. Make INDICIES — start an index on an empty front page of the book (or an empty word doc. if you’re using digital). Write down page numbers with brief descriptions of what I was found interesting. This makes it extremely easy to find what you’re looking for without having to flip through the entire book.

• Add “Ph” — if I liked the phrasing OR if I found the description to be beautiful.
• Circles page number — for any potential next actions/things to try.

(For digital device ie. Kindle, you can actually keep and transfer your highlights directly through your digital library.)

Second Pass:

After I finish a book, I go through my notes and comb through what was actually important and useable (especially for future writing).

1. Add a STAR next to the underlined passage OR highlight the underline — for phrases or information I actually want to use or need now — the “Just-in-time” information as Tim Ferriss likes to call it.

(If you are using a digital device, you can add an asterisk next to your quote on your index.)

Third Pass:

1. Group the underlined phrases into THEMES — Write down themes and the associated page numbers.
2. Write down QUOTES that you want to use in the future — for future writing or projects.

Fourth Pass (optional):

I do this if I find something truly impactful.

1. Write a SHORT ESSAY with quotes or ideas — For certain books and quotes that really impacted my thinking and perspective, I write down into a short essay in their themes and try to share it.

I find that I learn best by teaching and sharing. It also helps me think through the ideas thoroughly and understand it so well that I can explain it to someone else. I’ve found this to be the best way to retain information.

“Just-in-case information” vs. “Just-in-time information” — Tim Ferriss

“Just-in-case information” is “recreational” — good to have for reference just in case you need it in the future.

“Just-in-time information” is “retentional”— what you specifically set out to obtain when choosing the book. You need it now.

Quick Recap:

Understanding the distinction and taking notes in the 4-step process helped me get organized.

• FIRST PASS — allows me to gather both types of (recreational and retentional) information. It helps me collect ideas I can use now and also ideas to ponder about in the future.
• SECOND PASS — narrows it down to what I specifically need to get out of the book now.
• THIRD AND FOURTH PASS — help me think of ways to share the knowledge with others. This is how I truly retain information.

“Learning is rooted in repetition and convexity, meaning that the reading of a single text twice is more profitable than reading two different things once, provided of course that said text has some depth of content.” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Keep reading and stay curious. Seemingly unrelated books can trigger ideas for your personal business. You never know where inspiration can come from. So always keep your pen and highlighter in hand. Learning is largely nonlinear. One word, one phrase can spark a cascade of ideas.

Always remember that “knowledge is power.”

Tim Ferriss got ideas of how to organize a fundraiser for research in the science of psychedelic from a salad dressing founder memoir. He says it helped him raise 8 million out of 17 million dollars. All from taking good notes from his readings and planning plausible next actions.

With that said, happy digesting! I hope this helps you make the most of what you read.