A reading habit I never thought I’d pick up
Write it down
I’ve started developing a certain reading habit that I used to consider overkill. But my recent experiences changed my mind.
The practice I’m referring to is taking notes on the book you’re currently reading (something I’ve encountered for the first time on Jared Henderson’s YouTube channel).
Here’s why I decided to try it and what I’ve learned along the way.
The struggle
The core reason that led me to pick up the habit is this very publication: Unwritten Tomes. While creating content on YouTube I encountered many obstacles:
I couldn’t figure out what point I wanted to make – every new video idea felt shallow to me
I wasn’t able to formulate my thoughts – I had an unclear image of what I actually wanted to say
Running out of material – I knew there was more to the subject but I had gaps in my knowledge
Throughout all of this I was admiring speakers who seemed to be able to talk effortlessly for hours – it took a moment before I realized it’s not their oratory skills making it possible (they simply hold so much knowledge about the subject that the 20% they’re able to share straight away is still plenty).
Searching for the answer
While trying to improve I’ve been testing out different theories and methods while looking back at any pieces of knowledge I had that could prove helpful.
I’ve learned more about public speaking – a logical course of action since I wanted my speeches to be better but I was still missing the crucial element of the puzzle.
I practiced getting fluent in English – which is slowly improving my pronunciation but still didn’t result in any major changes.
I analyzed the storytelling of other channels – this one was actually really helpful but didn’t address the core issue.
Eventually, I accepted that the problem might lie in my lack of knowledge – I had an illusion of knowing things since I’d read about them, but the information turned out to be very fragmented and disorganized.
Often the best way to find gaps in your knowledge is to try to explain it to someone else.
When I finally started taking notes
“I want to be able to carry the knowledge with me – like those great speakers.”
This is what I had in mind when I finally remembered that reading habit which I believed could help solve my issues.
The way it works is that the habit imposes several useful practices at once:
Writing as a way to organize your thoughts (this reminded me that the act of writing itself can be worth it)
Pen and paper forces you to slow down your thinking (why I should consider using a traditional notebook instead of my laptop)
Engaging several senses makes learning more effective (instead of just seeing the information you’re also rewriting it with your hand)
At this point I convinced myself that it’s worth trying it out. So I picked up the latest book I’d finished, took out my old diary and started noting things down.
My takeaways
From now on I’ll be trying to stay consistent with my “book notebook”. But there are some final takeaways I want to share after the first day of trying this habit.
Real growth takes time – if you want to get long-term value from the things you’re reading you need the time to process it (no matter how fast you read, your mind is limited in how fast it can upload information to long-term storage).
The act of writing is one of the best ways to learn – I would even argue it’s a necessary path to reaching an advanced level in any subject (this is a strong statement so I’m open to having my mind changed).
Finally, this article you’re currently reading exists as a conclusion of all the problems I encountered and conclusions I’ve reached. Writing out what I want to say in a structured format was incredibly helpful during recording. It’s the first time I feel like I’ve conveyed everything I wanted to about the subject.
If you would like to watch the video about this topic (where I explain the entire journey) you can find it here.
Thanks for reading,
Luke Skoneczny, Unwritten Tomes
P.S. I’ve moved over to Substack – some things might look a bit different but the content stays the same.