你的阅读有效吗

西西

I know you can read. You’re reading this, aren’t you? (If you’re not reading this, never mind.)But are you productively literate? That is, when you read, do you learn anything that you can apply immediately to your life, or do the words and ideas just bounce around your brain’s pleasure areas for a while before disappearing like so many wisps of morning fog?
Not that there’s anything wrong with reading just for pleasure now and again — by all means, grab a novel and hit the beach. But too often we read important stuff — how-to manuals, business and personal development guides, science and current affairs treatises, and yes, even personal productivity blogs with the same mindset. We read to make us feel good, about what we’ve done or what we could do or what others have done — even about what a smart person we look like reading such a smart book on the subway — and not as an exercise in personal growth.
This post is inspired by Seth Godin’s post, How to read a business book, which I linked to earlier this week in our link round-up. Godin — the author of quite a few business books — offers these three tips for reading productively:
Commit to making at least three changes in your life as a result of your reading.
Create todo lists as you read, instead of notes.
When you’re done, give the book away, so someone else can learn from it.
Godin’s advice applies to more than just business books, I think — imagine committing yourself to making at least one change a week based on your reading at Lifehack, for instance.
Here are a few more tips about reading productively:
Use an index card as your bookmark.That way you always have something to write on while you’re reading. Go ahead and stick a few post-its to the back for marking significant passages, too.
Have expectations.Not about quality, but about content. Before you start, ask yourself, “What do I expect to gain from reading this?”
Keep a reading journal.When you finish a book, write down a quick summary of the book, any quotes you highlighted or flagged, and what you learned from it. Or keep a collection of chapter-by-chapter notes — maybe on a blog or wiki. Thursday Bram has some tips on journaling in one of her Lifehack posts.
Talk about it.Tell you boss about the new working strategy you just read about. Tell your friends about the interesting history you’re reading. We labor under the misconception that we learn by reading; we don’t. We learn by using what we’ve read.
Teach it. You don’t have to be a formal teacher to share your knowledge with those around you who might need it. When you can, take the opportunity to present the information you’ve gleaned: set up a seminar at work, organize a workshop at the local library, etc. This may not be for everyone, but let me tell you: nothing will help you make better sense of a topic than teaching it to others.
Pay attention to structure. You can often learn as much from the way the author has organized their information as from the text itself.
(Let me give you an example: for several years, I taught anthropology from a textbook that promoted a view of humanity as defined by a group’s relationship with the natural environment. The central part of the book had a chapter on foragers, one on horticulture (small scale farming), one on animal herding, one on agriculture, and finally one on industrialist societies. Then I switched to a textbook that saw political organization as the key element in understanding human behavior. This book devoted its central chapters to the different kinds of political structure: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states.)
Google it. Nowadays, it’s easy to find authors on the web, who often post new material expanding or correcting their work after it’s published. Check out their websites — even strike up a conversation with the author if you feel like it.
Take a moment.People want to read fast, to get it done. That’s why speedreading courses are so popular, despite the fact that you almost never come across anyone who can successfully speedread. The reality is, reading takes time, and learning takes even more. If you only have 20 minutes to read, read for 15 and spend 5 minutes thinking on what you’ve read. If you’re not pressed for time, take long breaks between chapters, even between sections, to reflect.
Interrogate. It’s a cliche, but not everything is true just because it was in a book. While developing a Stephen Colbert-like distrust of books is probably overkill, it’s a rather good idea to ask from time to time, “How does the author know this?” and even “Does what s/he’s saying really mean this?”
Make a list.Always carry a list of books you want to read or topics you want to read up on. You never know when the opportunity might arise — maybe you stop into a Borders to kill some time between obligations, maybe you notice a new used book store in your neighborhood and want to check it out, maybe someone in your office clears out a box of books from their office, whatever. As you read, add books recommended by the author to your list. (P.S. Mine’s in a tabbed page in my Moleskine. Of course.)
Switch it up. Every now and again, read something you wouldn’t normally read. Check out an aisle of the bookstore or library you’ve never been down. Take a friend’s recommendation even if it doesn’t sound very interesting. You might be pleasantly surprised — or you might be challenged to your very core. Either way’s a net gain.
Accept defeat.On the other hand, if a book isn’t doing it for you, drop it. Some books are over-hyped pabulum, and there’s no need to feel guilty if you got caught up in the hype. Other books, you just aren’t ready to read yet. Whatever the case, if you’re forcing yourself to get through a book page by page, drop it and move on — you’re not being productive reading like that.
(Of course, if you’re a student and it’s a required text, you’ll need to read it somehow — make sure you talk to your professor or teacher about the trouble you’re having.)
Any other advice for more productive reading? Let me and your fellow Lifehack readers know in the comments!

你会阅读。你正在读，不是吗？（如果你说你没在读……当我什么也没说过。）
但是你的阅读富有成效吗？你读书中学到的东西，是不是可以马上在生活中运用？还是那些词语、点子让你的大脑兴奋一阵子，然后就像早晨的雾气一样过一会儿就消散无踪？
不是说我们不该在阅读中寻找乐子。找一本小说，怎么高兴怎么读。但是有很多时候我们要读的是非常重要的东西，比如操作手册、商业发展、个人规划、科学时事论著等等。读那些关于产出率的个人博客也是一样。我们已完成的事情、我们可以做的事情、别人完成了的事情……阅读中我们感到愉悦，有时候只是因为拿着本书坐在地铁里看起来像个聪明人。我们却忽略了重要的一点，读书，是个人成长中的一种训练。
我之前在一次链接汇总的时候提到过Seth Godin的《怎样阅读商业书籍》，我这篇文章也是受到了它的启发。Seth Godin本人也写过一些商业书籍，他在提高阅读成效方面提出了三点建议：
让阅读至少改变你生活的三个方面
阅读中，不做笔记，列出你要做的事情。
读完一本书，把它送给别人，让别人也从阅读中受益。
我想Godin的建议远远超出商业书籍这个范畴。阅读lifehack上面的文章，一个星期至少会在一个地方给你的生活带来变化。
关于阅读产出率，这里我再提一些建议：
用一张索引卡做书签。这样阅读中你总能记下些东西。在卡片的背面贴上一些便签纸，用来标注重要的段落。
对阅读内容（而非阅读质量）有所预期。读书前问自己，我在书中能获得些什么？
做读书记录。读完一本书，简要总结书中标出的段落，以及你的一些收获。也可以在读书过程中每一章节都做好笔记，写在博客或者维基上都可以。Thursday Bram曾在她的博客中列出过一些记笔记的方法。
谈论你读到的内容。跟你的老板谈谈你刚读到的工作策略，向你的朋友复述你读过的有趣的历史故事。我们因为阅读误解而吃尽苦头，我们也在阅读中总结经验教训。我读，所以我收获。
教给别人。不是说，你要像位老师那样去教会你周围的人他们需要的知识。你需要做的只是有机会的话把你收集到的信息传达给别人。你可以在办公室或者图书馆开个小会讨论一下。也许并非每个人都能做到这点，不过通过教来学确实是个非常有效的方法。
注意文章结构。了解作者串连信息的思路也能帮助你提高阅读成效。在这里我举一例说明。有几年的时间我按照一本教材学习人类学。那本书把人类定义为和自然环境存在一定关联的一种群体。书的中心章节分别讲原始人采集果子、小规模农业、动物饲养、农业，最后降到工业社会。读完这本书，我又读了另外一本以政治组织形式为主线来研究人类行为的书。书中主要介绍了家族群、种族、酋长制、国家等不同的政治构成。
Google一下。现在想在网上找到作者很容易，一般来说作家们都会在书籍出版之后把一些扩展或修改内容发布在网上。去作者的站点看看，甚至你还可能和作者聊上一聊。
别着急。人们总想提高阅读速度，赶紧把书读完。这也使得快速阅读的课程特别受欢迎，虽然其实真的会速读的人没几个。事实上，阅读很费时间，学习就更费时间了。如果你只有20分钟时间读书，花15分阅读，剩下的五分钟思考一下你之前都读到些什么。要是没有时间限制，在各个章节间停顿一段时间，反刍一会儿。
学会质疑。这是老调重弹了，不过切记书中并非全是真理。也许把自己搞得像Stephen Colbert那样怀疑一切有点太偏激，不过最好是不是地问问自己，作者怎么知道会是这样？他真的是这么想的吗？
列书单。给自己写一个书单，罗列出来你想读的书，想了解的主题。也许是偶尔为了消磨时间走进了Borders（书店），也许是为了看看旁边新开的一家二手书店，或者你的同事正好从他的办公室整理出一箱不要的书，总之，你随时可能看到自己想读的书。读书的过程中，把作者推荐的书籍也写进你的书单里。（PS. 我的书单当然是写在我做好标记的Moleskine笔记本上面咯。）
换个口味。时不时读读你不怎么读的书。逛逛书店和图书馆你没去过的书架。试试朋友推荐的听起来你不怎么感兴趣的书。也许你会感到惊喜，或者觉得充满挑战。不论怎样，都只赚不赔。
接受失败。如果觉得那本书确实不合胃口，尽管放弃。有的书平淡无奇，只是宣传夸大罢了，没必要因为上当觉得不好意思。有的书呢，你只是还没有做好准备去读。不管是什么原因，不要强迫自己逐字逐行读完一本你不想读的书，你不需要用这样的方式来提高阅读成效。（当然，如果你是学生，必读的课程内容还是要读完的。如果读不下去，和你的老师沟通一下你的难处。）
你还有什么办法来提高阅读成效吗？说来听听吧！