When reading books, I try to keep my phone nearby to research tidbits, facts, cultural phenomenon, media, people, studies, words, etc that I knew little to nothing about. I mainly do this when reading nonfiction with a lot of facts, studies, sidenotes, and other info to unpack. I also tend to pull out google when reading historical fiction or other books with a lot of references that go beyond my cultural knowledge.
But I have found that I often will be consulting the internet every few pages I read. While not necessarily bad, I tend to either go down rabbit holes or get bored with trying to research lines/concepts/references that are important to the story or book. It also harms me at night when I'm reading before bed.
I have tried to write things down on a piece of paper so I can go back and do my research later, but I often forget to go back or lose the paper, or worse, look at the long list, and just throw it into the recycling bin.
My reading habits are starting to nag at me. How can I manage these notes to better understand what I'm reading without making reading a laborious task?
by Shoddy-Relief-6979
3 Comments
I have considered buying one of those ereaders where you can take notes but im scared I would make notes and then never look at them
Try using a notebook or an app to jot down things you want to look up later. Instead of checking your phone right away, just make a note and keep reading. You can highlight or mark sections in the book to revisit later. Set aside specific times for research instead of doing it immediately while reading. Keep a running list of topics to check later, and write a brief summary after each chapter to help you remember key point
Put little sticky tabs in where there’s something you want to look into further, but then keep reading. At the end of each chapter, flip back through and write a list of all the tabbed bits, then look them up.