Learning How to Learn

The thing about this sabbatical, with all my history/econ/general non-fiction reading, which is both exciting and shameful, is that I’m finally developing the study skills I should have had in high school. I think the difference is a mix of motivation and self-awareness. You might think that “not fail this class” would be a more SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound, for those of you have been spared the delights of corporate management training sessions) goal than “understand how the world works,” and yet… I’ve also learned that I’m not as clever as I thought I was back then.

Normally, my reading comprehension is horrible. I’ll read something, and my brain will give me that little chemical reward, that feeling of understanding, but I won’t really get it, and I certainly won’t remember it. I read a lot, but I’ve come to recognize that it’s completely compulsive. It’s all about that little neurochemical kick, not actually gaining knowledge. Actually learning requires that I fight that urge. I have to slow down, re-read, and summarize. I have to ignore that part of my brain that thinks it’s done and wants to move on to something new and different.

I’ve had to accept that if I don’t do that, I won’t remember it in six months. I might as well have been watching TV or playing video games. The harder thing to admit is that I don’t truly understand it even at the time I’m reading it. I’ll think to myself, “yeah, I get it,” but I couldn’t turn around and explain it to someone else. That’s my criteria now: I don’t know something unless I could teach it to someone else.

My goals now, though less focused, are more ambitious. In school, I only wanted to hold on to a set of testable facts long enough to pass next week’s exam. Now I’m trying to build up an understanding of how the world works and how we’ve got to where we are today. That’ll take me the rest of my life, and I’ll never be done. It’s way too much stuff to hold in my head at once. I need to build a framework and gradually fill in bits and pieces of it.

If I’m going to do that, I need to be able to condense a book down to a few key points that I can refer back to later. I’ve talked about how valuable it is to read several books back to back and be able to see the connections between them. Even better would be to have concise notes so I can effectively skim through dozens of books looking for connections, conflicts, reinforcements, and so on. I have this idea that I’ll eventually build up an ever-evolving, cross-linked Book of Me which captures and maps out what I know about the world.

What I do now when I’m reading is: read each chapter quickly to get the gist; re-read it and summarize each paragraph in a few words, and copy out any particularly good quotes; write a paragraph summarizing the chapter; and when I’m all done, list key points, insights, etc. from the book as a whole. I’m still working on this process, and it varies a bit from book to book. Some are more dense with ideas, some ramble or detour into personal anecdotes, some have relatively few key points with a lot of supporting evidence that isn’t in itself interesting.

Basic stuff, but it makes a world of difference. The first skim gives me a high-level sense of where the chapter is going. Trying to summarize each paragraph keeps me focused on what the author is saying. Having that chain of summaries makes the logical structure (or lack thereof) much clearer. Going back at the end for a high-level summary and conclusions gives me a tidy takeaway, the handful of things I’ll remember about the book, enough that I’ll know when I should refer back to it.

Again, all totally remedial. It’s a mix of “yay!” and “doh!” I’m sure someone tried to teach me this thirty years ago, and it just didn’t stick. All of my teachers get a well-deserved “told you so.”

I’ll leave you with one helpful tip that I don’t remember ever being taught. Whatever I’m working on, I always keep a sheet of paper handy labeled “distractions”. Any time some random thought pops into my head - errands to run, chores to do, people to email - or I get snagged by some interesting tangent from what I’m reading, I scribble it down on the distractions sheet. That lets me ignore it for now and get on with my work, and not worry about forgetting it.