The Art of Reading More Effectively and Efficiently

It might seem odd to have a blog post devoted entirely to reading. After all, if you’re reading
this, chances are you can read. But reading effectively and efficiently is its own skill - one that
we are never really taught how to do.

Throughout our academic life, we are programmed to believe that effective reading is measured
by speed and breadth. The more we can read, the smarter we look. And the more broadly we can
read, the more intelligent we seem.

In fact, we have fallen prey to a video called ‘How I Read 100 Books a Year’. Full disclosure: I
don’t actually. It’s closer to 50.

Because of this obsession we have with reading more, we miss out on a lot of valuable insights.
Wisdom from across the ages, the lessons mastered by people who have overcome extraordinary
challenges, and the chance to gain knowledge that challenges our beliefs. All because we are
never taught the ultimate meta-skill: the art of reading.

Reading more effectively and efficiently means developing a watertight process to capture
ideas, analyze arguments, and ask the right questions. It means identifying the right books to
read, understanding the different reading goals, and using evidence-based techniques
to increase reading productivity.

In many ways, improving the way we read is the number one skill that can change our lives for
the better.

The Importance of Effective & Efficient Reading

“A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read" - Mark Twain

Books have had an enormous impact on our lives. They have acted as a personal mentor, and as a
vehicle for compounding knowledge.
Books have been Personal Mentors

If someone asked to name the most influential people in shaping our lives (outside of our
immediate family), We wouldn't find it too hard to identify a group of people who have
transformed our thinking through their incredible actions, ideas, and journeys. But the number
one influence in our life would not be people at all. It would be books.

By reading lots of books (and by trying to read effectively), We can manage to accumulate
decades’ worth of knowledge and experience from the world's most incredible minds, with
minimal personal effort. Most of us have learnt from mistakes without having to fail, have learnt
from successes without having to take huge risks, and have travelled thousands of miles without
leaving the comfort of our bed.

Books help us Compound Knowledge

"Compound interest is the 8th Wonder of the World" - Albert Einstein

Just as money accumulates exponentially, so too does personal knowledge as it snowballs and
branches out over time. In other words, the more we read and the better our reading processes
are, the more our ideas, beliefs, and opinions begin to develop at an ever-increasing rate.

Not only does our brain begin effortlessly creating connections between seemingly disparate
pieces of information, but cohesive and creative solutions to some of our most puzzling and
perplexing problems gradually emerge. It's a personal superpower that all of us can discover.

“To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; Study the art of science. Learn how to
see. Realize that everything connects to everything else” - Da Vinci

The Reading Objective

Increasing our ability to read more effectively, as a means to unlock our own personal potential,
begins by deciding on a reading goal. After all, we are probably going to have a different
objective and experience reading Paradise Lost compared to our favourite Harry Potter book.
Many brilliant authors talk about books as having a rather loose objective of success, happiness,
and personal fulfilment. Roald Dahl, for instance, said that "if you are going to get anywhere in
life, you have to read a lot of books". And J. K. Rowling once said that "something very magical
can happen when you read a good book".

It is easier and more useful for our purposes to segment reading objectives into three distinct
categories, as identified by Mortimer Adler in How to Read a Book.

Category 1: Reading to Entertain

In this category, we read books purely for enjoyment. It is how we spend the majority of our time
as readers. There are no rules and there's no need to think too deeply or critically about what
we’re reading. The goal is simple: we can relax and immerse ourselves in the story.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with reading to entertain ourselves.

It's a healthy way to escape from everyday stress and, a perfect way to finish a productive day of
work. In particular, we enjoy reading (or listening to) fantasy novels.

Category 2: Reading to Inform

In this second category, we read books to learn specific facts or information about something.
These books are typically easy to navigate and simple in their layout and structure. This lets us
consume them effortlessly and jump around to relevant sections without losing the gist of what's
being said. The goal is to learn without judgement.
For example, we would read the newspaper, a tourist guide, or the Guinness World Records, all
to inform. Although we may find aspects of each of them entertaining, we primarily read these
things to develop a factual picture of current affairs, a particular location, or some other snippet
of knowledge. Again, for most of us, reading to inform is not too problematic.
Category 3: Reading to Understand

It is the final category of reading - reading to understand - that most of us tend to struggle with. It
therefore deserves most of our attention when it comes to improving the efficiency and
effectiveness of our reading.

The problem is that out of the three reading categories, reading to understand requires the
greatest cognitive effort. It forces us to challenge our preconceptions, critically analyze the status
quo, and directly confront ideas that we may not be immediately comfortable with. This is hard.
It can be uncomfortable. But it’s the only way for us to level-up our thinking and personal
growth.

Ultimately, this is a skill that few of us have mastered. But it's at the very heart of meaningful
productivity and improving the way we read. Therefore, we need a method that takes us from
reading at an elementary level (like when we’re reading to entertain and inform) to reading at an
analytical or synoptical level. Let's dive into how we can do this.

The Four Levels of Reading

While the three categories of reading help guide our reading goal, the four cumulative levels of
reading help guide our reading style. These levels were again devised by Mortimer Adler and
operate to help us understand a book at a far deeper level than what most of us are used to. As we
move up the levels we'll not only find ourselves more capable of grasping the author's
perspectives and forge deeper insights, but we'll have a process that works with every single
book we decide to read.

Level 1: Elementary Reading

The first level of reading is the style of reading that everyone knows how to do, as it's what we
are taught in school. As an elementary reader we can easily understand the words on the page,
follow the plot, and have a solid grasp of what the book is trying to say. However, even at this
elementary level, it is easy to screw it up by trying to read too quickly.

As you know, it is all about increasing productivity, but trying to improve reading speed before
understanding the fundamentals of effective reading is only going to hinder our capacity to learn
new information. Advice - we should try and first improve our reading level. Then, once we have
mastered the art of reading analytically, we can worry about reading faster.
"Every book should be read no more slowly than it deserves, and no more quickly than you
can read it with satisfaction and comprehension” - Adler

Level 2: Inspectional Reading

This second level of reading requires marginally more skill than at the elementary reading level.
As an inspectional reader we are tasked with unearthing the overall framework of the book and
mapping out the general picture the author is trying to paint. The idea is that we are making some
preliminary calculations about the book's content and worth before delving into it properly.
There are two aspects to inspectional reading: systematic skimming and superficial reading.

Systematic Skimming
With systematic skimming our aim is to decide whether or not this is a book we actually want to
spend the time reading. We like to ask ourselves "is this one of the greats that I would happily
spend the next few hours of my life looking at?". If the answer is anything less than "hell yes!"
then we won't bother reading it.

To help me answer this question, I first look at the title, the blurb, and the contents page to
determine what the book is about and understand its high-level structure. I then flip through the
book concentrating on each chapter's introduction, conclusion, and any sub-headings that interest
me. In other words, I do a surface level examination of the book before writing a couple of
sentences that neatly summarises everything.

Another way to systematically skim a book is by reading a book summary. My favourite way of
doing this is with the service Shortform. If a book’s available on Shortform (they’re always
adding new titles), I’ll read through the summary first, and if I think it’s interesting, I’ll buy the
book on Kindle and read it properly.
Superficial Reading

The objective of superficial reading is to quickly read the book without stopping to reflect or
analyses. Speed reading isn't a problem here as we're still not reading to understand but seeing if
it is interesting enough to continue onwards to level 3. This process shouldn't take too long. And
if the book doesn't instantly grab us, we can just put it down. There are plenty of better books we
could be reading.

A quick note - Sometimes, a book might be really good, but we’ve just encountered it at the
wrong time. That’s okay. We don’t have to read it if we don’t find it interesting right now. We
can always come back to it later.

Level 3: Analytical Reading

The third level of reading is about examining the book in-depth. I’ll be honest - I’m not great at
this level of reading, but I’m always trying to improve.

Analytical reading involves discovering the book's central meaning, evaluating the author's
arguments, and developing a thorough understanding of the book.

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested"
- Francis Bacon

In particular, this level requires us to actively read the book and "the more active the reading the
better" (Adler). I'm a big fan of just making the book my own by highlighting text, linking
arguments, and synthesising information through marginalia.
“Marking a book is literally an experience of your differences or agreements with the author. It is
the highest respect you can pay him” - Edgar Allen Poe

However, perhaps the most critical component of active reading is continually questioning what
we're being told. Specifically, there are three core questions that we should be asking when
reading a book analytically:

The Holistic Stage: What is the book about as a whole?

We largely uncover the answer to this question during the systematic skimming and superficial
reading within level 2. The main difference is that, in the holistic stage of level 3, we're tasked
with identifying the questions the author is asking and trying to solve. Put another way, what was
it the author was trying to answer by writing this book?

Furthermore, our written summary of the book is going to be more comprehensive than a couple
of sentences. Think about how the structure and ideas flow in general, helping to guide us to the
given conclusion.

The Specific Stage: What is the book saying in detail and how is it being said?

While reading the book, we need to ensure we've fully understood the author's approach and be
comfortable with interpreting their thinking. We should take the time to identify the special
keywords that the author has chosen, verify our understanding of them, and try to appreciate
their perspective.

In each chapter, the author will also make certain claims and propositions, which we should
restate in our own words and decide whether or not their argument is strong. We should carefully
evaluate how these claims and propositions are connected, and check to see they flow logically
from one point to the next.

The Veracity Stage: Is the book true, whether in whole or in part?

In the veracity stage, our task is to constructively analyse. To show where the author has been
uninformed, misinformed, illogical or incomplete in their arguments, clearly explaining what the
shortcomings are and how the author's reasoning could be improved. If we can't do that then our
criticism is unlikely to be constructive or valid.

“The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what
he thinks” - Adler

Level 4: Syntopical Reading

The final level of reading is about our understanding of a subject more generally. Whereas
analytical reading focuses on our comprehension of a specific book, syntopical reading helps
shape our opinion and increase our overall fluency of the wider topic through understanding how
different books relate to one another. This may sound a little abstract, but bear with me.

"The benefits [of syntopical reading] are so great that it is well worth the trouble of learning how
to do it" - Adler

The first step is to begin by deciding the subject we want to tackle (eg: productivity or habit-
formation). We can then draw up a bibliography of books on the topic, and select just a handful
of them that we believe to be most relevant.

Having compiled the list of books, we can begin reading syntopically. This means reading each
of the books analytically and building mental connections between each of them. I try to define
common subject keywords in my own words, identify and answer the most pressing questions
that the books collectively address, and make an informed decision about the strengths of each
author's argument.

"Creativity is just connecting things" - Steve Jobs

Through syntopical reading we're connecting the best ideas on a subject, which acts as a
powerful catalyst giving rise to creative solutions and real insight. It's truly game-changing
(when we actually do it).
How to Read More

Only once we've mastered how to read effectively, by working up the four levels, should we
think about reading efficiently.

Reading more exposes us to more opinions, helps us build connections between different ideas,
and entrenches our existing knowledge. Think of effective reading as a well constructed rocket,
and efficient reading as a necessary upgrade to its performance. It just takes things up a notch.

There are three steps to reading more:

Step 1 - Love to Read

The first step of reading more is having the willingness to read more. And falling in love with the
act of reading itself. If you don’t already love reading, Naval offers some valuable advice: “Read
what you love until you love to read”

In other words, don’t just pick up the classics because “that’s what clever people do”. Find the
books written on topics that fascinate you and by those people you admire most. Just as we can
fall in love with exercise by finding the sports we enjoy; we can fall in love with reading by
finding the books we enjoy. The ‘fun factor’ is essential to productive reading.
Similarly, if you begin reading a book and you aren’t enjoying it, then there’s no obligation to
continue. Just stop. We don't need to finish a book just because we started it. Otherwise we'd be
committing to a classic sunk cost fallacy, investing further time into a book simply because
we've spent valuable time on it already. The truth is most books won't deserve our attention. So
find the books you love and discard the rest.

Step 2 - Make it Easy to Access Books

Make it as easy as possible to pick up a book and read it. If there's one piece of advice I'd
recommend here, it would be listening to audiobooks - particularly when reading to entertain
rather than to understand. Personally, I've found audiobooks to be pretty awesome when working
out or driving in my car, as this allows me to incorporate 'reading' into my life where I'd
previously have been "too busy". There's literally no excuse for not reading.

However, when reading to understand and analyse, we're going to want to actually carry the
book around with us. Even a Kindle would suffice. That way we no longer have to waste time in
queues, on public transport, or even when going to the toilet. Throughout the day you'll find
numerous opportunities to spend 5- or 10-minutes reading. So, keep a book nearby. You don't
know when the next great reading opportunity will arise.
Other than that, try minimizing distractions. One study in 2009 found that we're exposed to
approximately 100,000 words each day from all the media and information we consume. By
comparison, that's about the same length as one-quarter of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It's a
constant stream of disturbances that impede our ability to think and limit our desire to read well.
If you're struggling with this, try creating a comfortable reading space, downloading a
productivity app, or just being more mindful with your note taking. Anything that increases your
focus.

Step 3 - Work on Improving your Reading Techniques

The final, and least important aspect of effective and efficient reading is technique. This is
typically where most articles on reading begin but I've realized that this stuff is pointless unless
everything else is in order.

If there's one reading technique that's going to help the most, it's improving our
consistency. Consistency really is king. Just as the key to YouTube growth is posting 1-3 new
videos every week, the key to reading growth is picking up our book for a small chunk of time
every day. Although James Clear recommends reading 20 pages at the start of our day, I think it's
easier to set a time target of 20 minutes. And if we have an average reading speed of 250 words
per minute, we’ll roughly get through a book every week by doing this. Small actions really do
lead to big results (see my video review of Atomic Habits for more on this).
Making a public commitment to reading is also incredibly powerful. In one study, it was found
that the simple act of betting on a horse to win, and publicly committing to it, elevated the
punter's confidence in their chosen horse's chance of winning. Taking a stand placed pressure on
them to behave consistently with that commitment. Similarly, by using a site like Goodreads
(please follow me lol), we can remain accountable and place reasonable pressure on yourself to
stay true to our reading goals.

The final reading technique is speed reading. However, this comes with a word of warning: only
speed-read books that you don't want to understand. Why is that? Well, when reading at speed
we're not going to have the time to think about what is being said or develop the insights
necessary for true comprehension. As Woody Allen humorously observed: “I took a speed-
reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.” Despite
this, reducing subvocalization, reading the middle, and using a pointer are all valid speed reading
techniques that may be appropriate with inspectional reading or when reading to inform.

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but
rather how many can get through to you" - Adler

Conclusion

Reading is hard work, but if we want to rapidly build our knowledge and have high-impact ideas
then it's a crucial skill to learn. No true genius has got to where they were without understanding
the importance of effective and efficient reading. It really is the number one factor that will
change your life forever. I promise.

If you're ready to commit to levelling up, why not check out the Notion template I use to take
notes when reading. It incorporates the advice in this article and gives you a simple framework to
capture your thoughts as you read. You'll never look at books the same way ever again.