Post: #1

I have a long list of books to plow through, covering how-to guides, textbooks and language materials and purely academic works like history. A weird thing and a real impediment which, on thinking, has been bugging me most of this year, is that i find it unbelievably hard to get through a book, unless, strangely enough, it happens to be fiction.

If i pick up a book on project management, or learning a new skill, or on some essayist, often I can barely manage a few pages before dropping it and wanting to pick up a novel or my iPod or fuck around on youtube. If i finish any of these books, i barely remember anything I covered. I don't know what lead to this but I'd really like to change it

I've been fairly inactive for a while, and when jobhunting, i drank a LOT of instant coffee and didn't always eat incredibly well; I guess these are factors that have a negative effect, and I'm putting them right gradually, but is there anything else I can do to improve my learning?

Post: #2

Take notes and take your work more seriously. It will take some time to get used to but don't let that be an excuse. If you're reading fiction and writing English at a native level there is no reason you need to improve before you can jump in, it will come as you go.

Post: #3

Have you tried Audio books or training videos such as Lynda? It might be a starting point. Also try the "learn in 24 hour" or "head first" series of books which is a bit more interesting. You might also want to check out Youtube on subject matters that you have to read through, a lot of times that can help you learn to see something visually. I think your issue is commitment. Do you really want to learn those skills that you are writing about? It seems to me that you feel like you "have to" rather than you "want to". Just try to stay focused by establishing deadlines and you should see some improvements. Good Luck.

(10-08-2012 09:11 AM)shameus_oreaaly Wrote:  I have a long list of books to plow through, covering how-to guides, textbooks and language materials and purely academic works like history. A weird thing and a real impediment which, on thinking, has been bugging me most of this year, is that i find it unbelievably hard to get through a book, unless, strangely enough, it happens to be fiction.

If i pick up a book on project management, or learning a new skill, or on some essayist, often I can barely manage a few pages before dropping it and wanting to pick up a novel or my iPod or fuck around on youtube. If i finish any of these books, i barely remember anything I covered. I don't know what lead to this but I'd really like to change it

I've been fairly inactive for a while, and when jobhunting, i drank a LOT of instant coffee and didn't always eat incredibly well; I guess these are factors that have a negative effect, and I'm putting them right gradually, but is there anything else I can do to improve my learning?

Post: #4

Reading is truly a fascinating cognitive task. It seems that your disinterest in reading is more from the content than a struggle to decode and make sense. Many people have the same problems with non-fiction, and it goes back to your upbringing. The way your brain is wired to read largely occurs before you enter adolescence. After that it becomes very difficult to change, per se, the way in which your brain unconsciously take in information. There are some strategies to interpret non-fiction, but it requires a conscious effort for a sustained period of time to rewire the way the brain interprets information.

The two most proven strategies to increase non-fiction comprehension are asking questions as you read about the material, and visualizing the material. Asking questions, even if you cannot obtain the answer open up your brain to abstract possibilities about the content you read and allow for greater engagement and comprehension. Additionally, visualizing, while commonly associated with fiction can lead to powerful insights into non-fiction. When reading about a person or skill, envision using as many senses as possible the scene or task in your head.

As I noted earlier, for readers who were taught these skills as young children(4-10 years old) these practices become subconscious. For readers without these ingrained skills, a conscious effort has to be made to use these strategies. It's a shame when the secondary education system is blamed for churning out unprepared college students when the most important critical reading and thinking habits are formed in early childhood.

If you're curious about the "hows" of the way the brain works when reading check out the Frank Smith's "Understanding Reading", which I believe is on its 6th edition. This is the seminal text on reading.

Post: #5

(10-08-2012 09:11 AM)shameus_oreaaly Wrote:  I have a long list of books to plow through, covering how-to guides, textbooks and language materials and purely academic works like history. A weird thing and a real impediment which, on thinking, has been bugging me most of this year, is that i find it unbelievably hard to get through a book, unless, strangely enough, it happens to be fiction.

If i pick up a book on project management, or learning a new skill, or on some essayist, often I can barely manage a few pages before dropping it and wanting to pick up a novel or my iPod or fuck around on youtube. If i finish any of these books, i barely remember anything I covered. I don't know what lead to this but I'd really like to change it

I've been fairly inactive for a while, and when jobhunting, i drank a LOT of instant coffee and didn't always eat incredibly well; I guess these are factors that have a negative effect, and I'm putting them right gradually, but is there anything else I can do to improve my learning?

I am the same way. I think I have some slight ADD though. If I have to remember the book material to regurgitate for a test or exam, it becomes tedious and boring to read. Even when I read books that I enjoy, such as fiction or very exciting factual informational stuff, I skim through it quite quickly.


Do you find that you are scatterbrained? Maybe you can supplement by eating more wild salmon. The fish oils help with the focus. If you are still procrastinating, maybe try a different method of learning.
I find that if there is an immediate cash incentive from digesting that information from studying then I am galvanised into action.

Let me know.

Post: #6

I can only read books at the beach/pool or at starbucks. I think the environment has tons to do with it. I fall asleep or end up going on facebook at home. I fall asleep or get dizzy on the plane. Too busy in an airport. Looking around too much in the car.

I recently signed up for audible.com and I'm listening to books in the car while I'm driving in my bluetooth headphone.

Post: #7

(10-08-2012 09:11 AM)shameus_oreaaly Wrote:  I have a long list of books to plow through, covering how-to guides, textbooks and language materials and purely academic works like history. A weird thing and a real impediment which, on thinking, has been bugging me most of this year, is that i find it unbelievably hard to get through a book, unless, strangely enough, it happens to be fiction.

If i pick up a book on project management, or learning a new skill, or on some essayist, often I can barely manage a few pages before dropping it and wanting to pick up a novel or my iPod or fuck around on youtube. If i finish any of these books, i barely remember anything I covered. I don't know what lead to this but I'd really like to change it

I've been fairly inactive for a while, and when jobhunting, i drank a LOT of instant coffee and didn't always eat incredibly well; I guess these are factors that have a negative effect, and I'm putting them right gradually, but is there anything else I can do to improve my learning?

Try looking up learning strategies for people with ADD. Not saying you have ADD, just that those tend to work. For example,
- Go to a coffee shop with only your book and notes
- Minimize distractions e.g. ipod, novels, internet

I tend to type up notes about books I'm reading and material I've learned, it helps reinforce the material and can be very helpful later on. I now actually will more often simply skim the material, build an outline, and then fill in the parts I'm interested in. Sometimes this will end up being the entire book, but because I do a top-down learning strategy it is more satisfying.

This is one of the reasons I hate watching learning videos. However, some material is not suitable to top-down so you need to always calibrate your techniques to the material you're approaching.

If you provide a specific example I could break down how I would go about learning it.

Post: #8

@Skeleton: yeah, will start doing that again. I'm no longer a student, so maybe I'm out of learning mode?
@livefree: I'll look it up, thanks. It is true i'm doing this for improvement rather than qualification, so progress is inconsistent.
@MaleDefined: I am not really engaged with the stuff i read though this is a recent thing. I'll try your advice too.
@Moma: yep, recently i'm very absent minded, can't keep to a schedule. My mind is on a hundred things as I'm writing this. Do you notice a difference with Scottish salmon? I did try a fish-oil supplement years ago
@Partyon: yeah, big problem is environment, not much privacy and no public library atm. need to move

Post: #9

(10-09-2012 06:43 AM)storm Wrote:  

(10-08-2012 09:11 AM)shameus_oreaaly Wrote:  I have a long list of books to plow through, covering how-to guides, textbooks and language materials and purely academic works like history. A weird thing and a real impediment which, on thinking, has been bugging me most of this year, is that i find it unbelievably hard to get through a book, unless, strangely enough, it happens to be fiction.

If i pick up a book on project management, or learning a new skill, or on some essayist, often I can barely manage a few pages before dropping it and wanting to pick up a novel or my iPod or fuck around on youtube. If i finish any of these books, i barely remember anything I covered. I don't know what lead to this but I'd really like to change it

I've been fairly inactive for a while, and when jobhunting, i drank a LOT of instant coffee and didn't always eat incredibly well; I guess these are factors that have a negative effect, and I'm putting them right gradually, but is there anything else I can do to improve my learning?

Try looking up learning strategies for people with ADD. Not saying you have ADD, just that those tend to work. For example,
- Go to a coffee shop with only your book and notes
- Minimize distractions e.g. ipod, novels, internet

I tend to type up notes about books I'm reading and material I've learned, it helps reinforce the material and can be very helpful later on. I now actually will more often simply skim the material, build an outline, and then fill in the parts I'm interested in. Sometimes this will end up being the entire book, but because I do a top-down learning strategy it is more satisfying.

This is one of the reasons I hate watching learning videos. However, some material is not suitable to top-down so you need to always calibrate your techniques to the material you're approaching.

If you provide a specific example I could break down how I would go about learning it.

Thanks, i will try that. I do tick a lot of boxes for ADD, although it may just be lifestyle.
It's not really needing to learn material, I'm just frustrated that I can't get to grips and that I get bored so easily when I used to spend all day in the university library! Ironic, someone gave me a book on speed-reading in may. I still haven't finished it.

Post: #10

What I do when I'm going to read a book about a specific person or era in history is to read a quick abridged version of it like a Wikipedia page. Then if your interest in the subject is piqued, it should be easy to breeze through the book. Problem is that most of those books are written by professors, and it seems that their top priority is to impress their colleagues rather than provide an enjoyable learning experience for their readers. It can get annoying listening to or reading shit from pedants.

Management, strategy, and how-to guides I approach differently. I try to apply what I'm reading as I'm reading it to my business or personal life. If you find that some areas of management or business strategy is not applicable to you yet, create a company in your head with the problems that the solutions in the book deal with. This also helps tremendously in memorizing the material in the book, because you're associating it with a personal situation/problem, real or imagined. Also, you can jump around the book to find parts that are more interesting to you. You will probably go back and read what you skipped if you find the information later in the book to be valuable.