6 tips to help you get most out of books

Stop reading books you don't enjoy

If you find yourself rushing through a book, it's worth asking, "Is this book good?" You turn off TV shows or movies if they're boring. You stop eating food you don't like. You unfollow people when their content becomes irrelevant. Life is too short to read books you don't enjoy.

The rule: 100 pages minus your age—if you're 30 years old and the book hasn't gripped you by page 70, stop reading it.

Make notes

In 2010, during the renovation of the Reagan Presidential Library, a box marked "RR’s desk" was discovered. Inside were Ronald Reagan's personal items, including several black boxes filled with 4×6 cards. These cards held quotes, thoughts, stories, political aphorisms, and jokes, categorized by topics like "On Nation," "On Freedom," "On War," "On People," "World," "Humor," and "On Character."

This was Reagan’s version of a notebook for quotes and notes. Lewis Carroll, Walt Whitman, and Thomas Jefferson also kept their own versions of such notebooks.

Revisit classics

Reading "The Great Gatsby" in high school or being introduced to the story of Odysseus as a child are just first steps. But that’s not enough. One shouldn’t settle for just having read a book once and judge it by that experience; this is why reading and re-reading are essential. As the world constantly changes and we evolve, what we gain from books can also transform.

Ask for recommendations from other people

Philosopher Ralph Emerson said, "If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads."

If a book has changed someone’s life—regardless of its topic or style—it’s probably worth your time and effort. If it has impacted others, it’s likely to help you at least partially.

Don’t limit yourself to your own experience

People have struggled, died, tried, and done the same things for centuries. Not taking advantage of their knowledge is both arrogant and foolish. How can you waste investors' money without reading and learning from other entrepreneurs' mistakes? How can you treat your marriage or children so dismissively by figuring things out only through your own errors?

Too much depends on you to rely solely on your own experience—you must also learn from others’ experiences.

Break free from stagnation

Reading slumps are common, such as when starting a book and finding it nearly impossible to focus. But you can break free by revisiting something that profoundly impacted you in the past. Instead of waiting for a random book to captivate you, return to what already spoke volumes to you before... and discover how much more it can say.

Sources: the Academic Success Center of Oregon State University and TED lectures.