Reading to Recall

Moving from Notes to Actions

Leaders are readers. But why read if you cannot recall 90% of what you read by next week? A good leader is carved from the challenges, trials, hardships, and enlightenment that are provided through experience. This is a variable that leaders cannot control, right? Sort of. The method for filling gaps in your knowledge base and level of experience can expanded via reading. Books, articles, or white papers provide leaders insight into the experience of others. Literature, in all forms, can help sand the edges of our experiences, give them more clarity and perspective, and allow us to incorporate those lessons into our own lives. As the retired General Mattis said, “If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate.”

Many 21st century leaders find it difficult to set aside the time to read. This means that the time spent reading is more valuable than ever before. If we value our time, we must use it efficiently and effectively.

Reading is just the starting point. From the perspective of a leader, we read to learn, to lead better, and to become a better version of ourselves. Reading a book or an article is only step one. Without deep thought, reflection, and action we are simply reading for leisure. If leisure reading was the goal when you sat down, that is okay, but if you picked up a book with the intent to improve some aspect of your life, then this quick guide will help you meet your end state.

The Problem: Reading Retention

Reading retention is the key to moving from concept to action. Within 24-48 hours we forget up to 75% of what we read. If you were asked to throw away 75% of your time, would you be okay with it? Of course not. If you are looking to capitalize on your valuable minutes, start with retention. Make emotional connections to the words on the page. Stop and think about what you just read. It is not about the number of books you can burn through in a year; It is about the value they are adding to your life.

Reading retention was an issue I dealt with growing up. As I invested more time in my profession and self-study, I knew I had to address this burden or risk investing hundreds of hours per year in an activity that provided little return.

I have found many techniques that have vastly improved my ability to retain information in the books, articles, and papers I read. I wanted to share these with our junior leaders that find themselves struggling to put written word into action.

The Solution: Strategy

The term “reading strategy” can mean many things, and is by no means the only solution. It is the solution that worked for me and I believe can work for others. Below are some concrete actions that I take every time I pick up a written document. Whether it is fiction, nonfiction, an article in the Harvard Business Journal or on Facebook, there is always something that can be derived from it. Gifted with a terrible memory and a cluttered mind, I find these strategies to be the key to retaining more of what I read, converting more ideas into action.

Highlight the High Points

Highlighting is a method we have used to study throughout or academic lives. The mistake most people make is highlighting too often and including too much information. You want to save that magic marker for the information that really strikes at the heart of the subject.

I focus my highlights on the main point or “take away” for each section. This may amount to one or two highlights per page or one or two per chapter. It depends on the type of literature. The goal is to highlight enough information that a second or third read will take a fraction of the time and you will still reap the benefits of the writing.

If you commit to highlighting key material, focusing on the main points of a section or chapter, you can create a library full of 20-30 minute rereads. Immediately rereading your highlighted segments upon completion of a book can improve your retention and allow those key take aways to be stored permanently into your consciousness.

Tip: Use multiple colors to highlight specific subject matters or level of importance. This will serve as a reference to vital information during your reread.

The Margin Real Estate

Researchers have found that writing or highlighting while reading, creates multi-sensory pathways in the brain that can increase learning and memory by up to 50%”

The margin is a gift. This space allows you to take notes as you read and reference them at that exact location. This visceral connection allows you to immediately absorb and add context to whatever you are reading. This tangible connection feeds directly into your thought process, further solidifying what you read, how it relates to your independent thoughts, and strengthens the connection regarding retention and recall.

The margin is reserved for your shorter, fleeting thoughts, or those that require the full context of a paragraph or page to fully comprehend. Your margin notes are a gateway into your impulsive reactions and thoughts that are captured like a firefly in a jar.

Notes in the margin of a book also allow you to engage with the author while relating his or her writing to a specific theory or experience. Use this technique as extensively as you wish, but ensure you are adding value to the original content. You do not want to bog yourself down during a reread because you inserted too many margin notes.

Once you have completed a book or work, go back and record your margin notes in a notebook. Expound upon the details of your notions now that you are further removed from your initial reaction. This will add to your retention of the information, while also promoting deeper reflection and transition that information into action.

Tip: You need to own the physical or digital copy of the book or document if you plan to write in the margin or highlight important passages. I recommend buying used books, seeking out copies that already contain some highlights and notes. This can amplify your experience as you share in the experience with one or more previous readers. Consider it a pseudo book club, complete with discourse and unique perspectives.

Put the Note in Notebook

Keep a notebook just for insights and quotes. This allows you to separate the daily grind from your creative growth. Having a specific notebook helps delineate your thoughts and ensures your reading-related perceptions are in one place.

I recommend writing in your dedicated notebook as you read. This will allow you to immediately reflect and connect what you are reading to your own thought processes and experiences. If you find yourself in a groove, you can always star or mark a particular section or quote as you read. Once you finish the chapter or entire book, you can go back through and record those insights. You may leave some information out upon reflection, but this strategy is still better than leaving your notes unrecorded.

The way you organize your notebook is completely up to you and the way you think. After all, this notebook is for you and your reflective process. I chose to use a color-coded system that indicates the source of the note. For example, I have distinct colors for direct quotes; summarized ideas from a book or podcast; original thoughts, among others. You may elect to use a system based on themes, content, diagrams, or symbols. It is up to you, but a system is required. Without it you will get lost in your own notes and the true value comes from rereading, reflecting, and building upon those notes well after you have recorded them.

Tip: Your notebook can be used for more that reading insights. You can use it to record thoughts, reflections, and material from other mediums. This will help crystalize your thoughts and make the most of your time. Find a book that is durable. You will be carrying it everywhere.

Talk About It

“Talking about and sharing information helps you learn it better and remember better.”

Engage yourself (yes, talk to yourself, it is okay!). Engage with others. Mention what you are reading and how you have processed it. This will further solidify the information in your mind by repeating it aloud. It will also help validate your thoughts by applying the logic of conversation. Something that may have made sense as you were reading may be inconsistent with reality or common sense.

The more you share what you have read, the more you understand the value it brings to your life. We talked about action being the reason we read for professional development. This is where you make strides in converting lessons, reflections, ideas, and raw information into viable actions enriching your personal and professional life.

Go out of your way to share your thoughts with others and try to draw out the actionable information between the lines of the book, the document, or your notebook. This is how you start to use your highlights, margin notes, and recorded insights in the outside world, putting them to the test and figuring out what their practical application is: the action.

Tip: Find people that are enthusiastic about the topic about which you are reading. This will not only lead to engaging conversation, but also add to your knowledge base on the topic.

We all have limited time, so it is vital that we maximize the time that we do have. If we are going to invest time in reading for self-development, then we owe it to ourselves to have a strategy. Without mechanisms to capture our thoughts, insights, and reflections we are not going to retain the majority of what we read. That is just cognitive science. By highlighting, taking notes as we read, keeping our notebooks close by, and talking about what we are reading we can ensure that our time is time well invested.

Capt. Michael Everett is currently a Squadron Intelligence Officer at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. He previously served as the Commander for C Company, 309th Military Intelligence Battalion, Battalion S-1, Troop Executive Officer, and Platoon Leader. He has his Bachelor of Science in Sport Management from St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, New York and is pursuing a master’s degree in Intelligence Studies from American Public University.

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