reading

We are getting better

Bardees, , , Leave a comment

My bedtime reading is usually spiritual. I’m loving my recent selection so much, it’s a book called “Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers” by Anne Lamott.

I’m sharing with you a quote I read last night that perfectly aligns with the blog post I wrote in the morning.

“I pray not to be such a whiny, self-obsessed baby, and give thanks that I am not quite as bad as I used to be (talk about miracles). Then something comes up, and I overreact and blame and sulk, and it feels like I haven’t made any progress at all. But it turns out I’m less of a brat than before, and I hit the reset button much sooner, shake it off and get my sense of humor back. That we and those we love have lightened up over the years is one of the most astonishing sights we will ever witness.“

I feel the same. We are becoming more resilient, we are bouncing back faster after failure. This makes me hopeful and more committed to all my good daily habits.

Let’s keep waking up early, meditating, journaling and reading. Let’s keep praying and moving our bodies. Let’s keep reading our affirmations and visualizing our success.

We are getting better.

We are getting better

How to Take Book Notes

Bardees, 1 Comment

“When reading a paper book, I just underline or circle the bits I find surprising or useful. Then when I’m done reading the book, I type those bits into a text file.“
-Derek Sivers

“The Blank Sheet Method:
–Before you start reading a new book, take out a blank sheet of paper.Write down what you know about the book / subject you’re about to read — a mind map if you will.
–After you finish a reading session, spend a few minutes adding to the map with a different color.
–Before you start your next reading session, review the page.
–When you’re done reading, put these ‘blank sheets’ into a binder that you periodically review.“
-Shane Parrish

These days I’m thinking about a question I receive a lot which is how to retain information we read. I don’t retain information enough, yet, especially that 80% of books I consume are in audio format. I don’t take notes about audiobooks or paper books I finish, I just highlight a lot in paper books. When I read on kindle I highlight what I like and thanks to the magical Readwise app, which imports my highlights and shares a few of them with me every day, I am remembering more of what I read recently.

I have also been using Blinkist app (this link gives you a one-month free trial) to review summaries of books I already read or new books to see if they are worth buying. I use Blinkist every single day. It’ brilliant and I love that I have the option to read or listen to very well executed summaries.

To better be able to retain and use what I learn from books I started reading How To Take Smart Notes. When I write here I want to start from somewhere and not stare at a blank page and this book will teach me how. I am learning a lot and will share with you as I go. I definitely need to start taking notes of books I read and tag them properly so I find them when I need them, that’s a confirmed piece of information you can use right away.

I have always known how Ryan Holiday and Gretchen Rubin take notes, I just need to start a sustainable way that works for me.

Another sources that would help you take book notes are these posts by Derek Sivers about his process for taking book notes and how to read a book.  

How to Take Book Notes