"What I Learned About How to Read Books"

Hello.
This is Aoyagi.

This week's column is about how I read books.

The way I read books changed between last year and this year, and I noticed a difference in input, so I thought I'd share it.





Last year, I would put sticky notes on parts that caught my attention while reading a book.

After finishing the book, I would reread only the parts with sticky notes and post my thoughts on Instagram.

This was also knowledge gained from a book: practicing output helps internalize information more effectively.


Posting to Instagram doesn't take up anyone else's time, and I can output immediately even if there's no one to talk to, so I kept doing it.

However, it took me six months to realize that my reading style had unconsciously changed since the beginning of this year.


I had read more books, and even when I found something relatable, if I thought, "Oh, something similar was written in another book I read before," I stopped putting sticky notes. My Instagram posts also became limited to only books whose content I truly wanted to share.

The other day, when I happened to look at where I store my books, I noticed that the books I'd read recently had no sticky notes at all.

When I looked back at them again, I found that for books with sticky notes, just by looking at the cover, I could somewhat recall the content and impressive words.

On the other hand, for books without sticky notes, I often couldn't remember what resonated with me the most unless I flipped through them, thinking, "Huh, what was the most impactful part of this book?"





1. Read and reread with sticky notes.
2. Post reviews of read books on Instagram.

By having these steps, I was engaging with the content repeatedly while reading the book.

Rather than just reading and **thinking** "What does this mean?" or "How would I think about this?", I would transcribe or organize my thoughts to convey them clearly to someone.

I think that time allowed for a deeper understanding.


Input is important, but I try to keep output in mind when I input.

I'm always conscious that my theme for this year, "Action (Output)," should be the goal.


Whether it's to help someone,
or for my own growth,

Ultimately, it's about what actions you take after inputting.


If you don't clarify what the input is for, the meaning of inputting itself will fade, I think.

Not just with reading, but if you stop at just input, nothing will change.

It's only through output that the quality of input improves, I believe.


Thinking about it that way, even though my theme for this year was "action," I somehow neglected the easiest action: putting what I learned from books out into the world.

My apologies, my apologies.


Sometimes, the purpose of what you're doing can become unclear.

That's why it's necessary to occasionally take time to look at yourself from a broader perspective.

It's me who realized this after six months, but still. LOL