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What’s the Best Way to Read a Book?
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What’s the Best Way to Read a Book?

Liang Shuang
Cha Zuo MBA, 2018
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Well Structured
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Many readers struggle to make information stick once they finish reading a book or a long-form article. As any student can attest, you can absorb only some of what you read. Once you’ve finished the book, you immediately start forgetting what you learned. The new pieces of information the Internet continuously hurls at you – along with other modern-day distractions – make it even harder to preserve your memory. Book lover Liang Shuang, who contributes to Cha Zuo MBA – a Wechat wemedia account that offers career advice – tackled the challenge and adopted new reading habits that help him remember and apply what he reads. In this post, he shares four tips to help fellow readers do the same. getAbstract recommends this article to readers who want to learn more and use their time more efficiently. 

Summary

A Chinese saying goes, “It’s only when you find yourself in need of knowledge that you realize you haven’t read enough books.” A new variation could be, “It’s only when you need to apply what you’ve learned that you realize you don’t remember anything from the books you’ve read.” Readers not only struggle to retain what they have read but have difficulties recalling and applying knowledge from books to their life experiences. Try these four tips on how to become a better reader:

  1. Have a mental debate with the author – If you passively follow and accept the author’s arguments, you are likely to forget what you’ve read. Writers are thinkers – and to be an efficient reader, you must also be a thinker. To get the most out of a book, interact with the material you’re reading. Set up a stage in your mind where you debate with the author. If you find yourself in agreement with the author on many points, you can speed-read through that part of the...

About the Author

Liang Shuang is a writer for Cha Zuo MBA, a WeChat wemedia account focused on career advice, workplace acumen and China’s job market.

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