Even in today’s age of information, reading is very important for arming our minds and nourishing our hearts.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Common sense of management” (ID :Guanlidechangshi), author Qiu Zhaoliang.
Shakespeare once said: “Books are the world’s nutritional products.” The Chinese also have the saying that “the book has its own gold house.”
There is no doubt that even in today’s age of information, reading is very important for arming our minds and nourishing our hearts. However, regarding reading, there are generally the following difficulties or challenges:
Less reading: Some people can’t read a few books a year. According to the investigation by the authoritative department, in 2017, the average per capita paper book reading of Chinese nationals was only 4.66, and the number of e-books was only 7.78. !
Can’t read: Even if a friend buys a bunch of books and wants to read it, he can’t read it. Sometimes, he can read a book in a few months.
I don’t read: Many people just read what is hot, or they don’t have a system at all.
Nothing after reading: Even after reading a book, it seems that there is nothing to gain, and I forgot it after a while.
E-reading: Many people read and access information through mobile phones or the Internet (the proportion of e-reading is getting higher and higher, reaching 73.0% in 2017), but it reflects that e-reading is often disturbed and it is difficult to stay focused or think deeply.
So, how should we study? How can we get more from reading? Doctor of Management and Certification Project Management Specialist (PMP) Mr. Qiu Zhaoliang compiled a “five-step reading method” based on personal experience. Below, Enjoy:
01 Clear goals
In the face of vast books, only with a clear goal, can we not lose our way, and we can do half the work. To this end, reading must have a clear goal.
When setting goals, you can refer to the “Hawthorn Law” and focus on the following three areas:
1. Current needs:
What is your current main task?
What is the biggest problem to solve?
What are the more important and urgent needs that need to be prioritized?
2. Future development:
We often say that “people have no long-term concerns, and there must be near-worry.” We can’t study only to solve the current problems. We should also consider what direction you want to develop in the future, and let reading become a ladder to support your future growth.
3. Personal Interest:
We all know that interest is the best teacher. If you are interested, you will have the energy to sleep and forget. Therefore, taking full account of personal interests is also a major factor in determining goals.
Based on these three needs, you can define the areas of knowledge that you need to focus on, set your goals, and know exactly what you want.
02 Select the right book
After the goal is clear, it is necessary to assess your current situation and select the book to be read and the corresponding plan based on the current knowledge base.
So, how do you choose the book you want to read?
1. Select “three strokes”
I think there are three ways to choose a book:
1) Ask a master
Beginners often have no choice when choosing a book. In this case, find and consult industry experts, or some experts who have research or achievements in the areas you want to learn, and listen to their suggestions, it may take half the effort.
2) Careful analysis
Start with our needs, see what knowledge you have mastered, and what skills you need to learn. Based on this, determine the system’s reading and learning plan—that is, to “read the subject” around a certain knowledge area, in order. Read a series of related books, instead of reading them in a general or disorderly way. Look at them for a while, and don’t just follow the trend, the hot spots, or the people.
When reading the theme, it is recommended to start with the classics, and then gradually expand and deepen into the relevant subdivisions.
Although some books may have been published for many years, they are the basis of all kinds of changes in that field, just like the pinnacle of the sea. If you thoroughly understand the classics, just as the foundation of the house is particularly stable, it is convenient for future development. Otherwise, it may be lost in the “jungle”, and the effort is not good.
My personal experience is that if there are no teachers or experts to consult, you can consider the following two ways:
One is to find some opinion leaders, recommended titles or reading lists through search engines or online, forums, Q&A sites, etc.
The second is to go to the library and read some papers on related topics in authoritative academic journals.In the review, you can often find classics or experts in this field and read their representative foundations.
For the former approach, it is necessary to identify the quality of information, because the information on the Internet may be muddy, uneven, and indeed there are experts, but it is also likely to be rumored; the latter approach, although traditional, may be more reliable.
3) Do your homework
When choosing a book, read more book reviews, recommendations, and whether the author is qualified to identify.
For example, if you choose an academic book, does the author have enough theoretical foundation and academic attainments?
If you choose a practical reference manual, does the author have actually done it, have a wealth of practical experience or consulting experience? At the same time, has the author published books in this area before? What is the word of mouth? From these facts, we can see whether the author is good at summing up and refining.
At the same time, if there are conditions, it depends on whether the action guide given is practical and has certain universality. In fact, the two are contradictory to some extent, and they need to grasp the degree:
If it is too specific, it may only be effective under certain circumstances;
If it is too abstract, it is difficult to have actionable suggestions. It is just an empty theory, an idea, or a dry principle. It requires the reader to comprehend and digest it.
In both cases, the effect of reading may be unsatisfactory. With the freedom of information and the emergence of a large number of self-medias, publishing books is actually very simple, but it is rare to make good books.
In addition, for Chinese, the level and quality of translation should also be considered.
2. Reasonable collocation
In the selection of books, another factor worth considering is that, like eating, reading should also pay attention to nutritional mix and dietary balance. In this regard, Taiwanese publisher Hao Mingyi wrote a book called “Vietname Reader”. He used diet to compare books and proposed that we read books like eating, and there are four types of needs:
1) Staple food, such as rice, steamed buns, etc., let us eat full
This mainly corresponds to the reading required for survival. It is to find individuals who have some practical problems in career development, work, life, physiology, and psychology. The goal is to find a solution that is directly available.
2) Food, like fish, shrimp, steak, etc., is our high-nutrition food supplement protein
This mainly corresponds to the reading of thought needs, which can help us think about life,Comprehend the wisdom of the world and explore the nature of some problems or phenomena. Although such books are difficult to digest, they are very important to our long body and strong body.
3) Fruits and vegetables can help us absorb fiber and promote metabolism
This corresponds to the needs of tools and guides, to help us to read the meanings, languages, allusions and sources that are not understood during the reading process.
4) Sweets, such as cakes after meals, ice cream or daily sweets, snacks, etc.
This corresponds to reading, entertainment, or reading and supplementing purposes, and may also expand the horizon.
In short, we must pay attention to nutritional balance when we study. It is also a good idea to combine a reading recipe according to your own physique.
In today’s era, everyone is “very busy” and has little time to read books, but, nevertheless, I think books of the “staple food” should be guaranteed as much as possible.
To this end, you can choose some practical books to read according to your current actual needs, including some specific guides, methodologies and the like. After reading, use it to guide practice and promote problem solving or performance. improve. Such books emphasize practicality, clear and specific methods, and have strong operability. Combined with the actual application scenarios of the readers, they can often be effective quickly.
Afterwards, in order to make your life more abundant, long-lasting and healthy, you should still take time to pick up some “food”, and then mix some “vegetables” and “sweets”, which are delicious and enjoyable.
03 clear strategy
Different books have different readings. After choosing a good book, you need to clearly understand the strategy of reading, that is, make a choice, prioritize. When I was reading, I felt that there were five strategies for different books:
1. Do not read:
Some books don’t need to be read, including some junk books and unrelated books.
The so-called irrelevant book is a book that is not on your book list and reading plan;
The so-called junk book refers to books that are produced, fast food, platter, lack of rigor and even correctness.
If you read them, just taking up or wasting your time is a disturbance to your goal. Try to resist as much as possible.
2. Browse:
Some booksTo quickly browse, including the latest books in the subject area of knowledge (especially some commercial bestsellers), or reading for relaxation, relaxation, leisure, and expansion.
3.Reading
For some classic and standardized reference books and reference books, always put them on hand and on the desk for future reference.
4.Deep Reading
For some professional fields or practical books, in-depth case studies, etc., you should read them in depth.
5. 精读
For those classic and professional basic books, you should read them thoroughly and thoroughly. For this reason, it may not only be read once, but repeatedly read many times.
This kind of reading and the books that need to be read in the past can’t be turned over at random. You can’t take a look at the water. It’s not suitable for using books and other methods. You must sink your heart and read and read through it. .
04 Mastering method
Reading, in essence, is a process of dialogue with the predecessors of “space”, the purpose is to provide “encoded information” from the predecessors 
Therefore, to achieve such a “knowledge transfer”, you need to go through four stages (as shown), which I call the “U-style reading method.”
“U-Reading Method”
1. View the text
Learning begins with observation (Observe). The first step in learning by reading is to receive literal information.
This step is not difficult, as long as you know the word, have patience, and concentrate on it, you can do it.
2. Check the meaning
If you want to learn from the book, it is definitely not enough to read each word. We need to understand the true meaning of the literal information (Assess).
To do this, you have to start your mind, think, and have a certain level of understanding, and have a corresponding knowledge base that can “restore” the situation when the author writes those words. Only in this way can we truly understand the author’s original intention.
3. Identify it
The purpose of learning is to guide us to act effectively, not just “know”. Therefore, after “reading”, you should contact your current reality and think about how the author’s ideas can be applied to your current practical work (Decide).
This step is not a small challenge compared to understanding. We can even call it a “thrilling jump” because it needs to be put into practice from the knowledge.
A lot of people are not good at this step. They just study mechanically and stereotypes. They think they understand it. They don’t know that they are just “paper talk” or “death study”.
4. Proof of effectiveness
Finally, you need to really act, follow the spirit or method of the book you understand, and then use the “recovery” to see what works and what doesn’t work?
If it works, what is the real thing to analyze? Is it luck, or do you really master the inner laws of things?
For the place where it is not used, it is necessary to carefully analyze the reasons to see if you do not really understand it, or does the spirit or method described in the book have applicable conditions, or is it just bad luck?
In the above four steps, the first to the second steps are the process of “from the inside and the inside”, requiring the intention to seek “truth” (through “normal”); the second to third steps are “from this The process of “and” requires flexibility and is good at “constraint”; the third to fourth steps are from theory to practice, and are the process of “going out the rough and fine” and “going to the false.”
The outline of the whole process is like the English letter “U”, so I am called “U-shaped reading method”. Compared with the “U-style learning method” that is learned from their own experience, the two are almost identical, but the information sources are different and the required skills are slightly different.
If the book you read is very different from your actual application scenario, such as a book written by an ancient or a foreigner, the scene of the author may be very different from our current situation, although we do not deny that it exists. It can be used as a general “law”, “common sense” or the “nature” of people and things. However, such knowledge is difficult to “bring” directly. It requires the reader to understand and understand the essence, and use it in combination with the current reality.
For such situations, I call it “far transfer.” The “U-shaped reading method” introduced in this paper is especially suitable for “far transfer”.
Instead, if the author of the book is very close to the scene you are in (possibly contemporary or of the same type, I call it “near transfer”), the ideas and methods described in the book are also