BenLowell comments on Rational Reading: Thoughts On Prioritizing Books - Less Wrong

27 Post author: patrissimo 27 March 2011 07:54PM

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Comment author: juliev 28 March 2011 12:30:57AM 5 points [-]

I balance non fiction by reading multiple non-fiction books at once and then prioritizing and making time investment judgements based on current needs. I typically am reading 4-7 non-fiction books, where 1-2 are related to the professional development component of my work, 2-3 are related to the research component of my profession, and 1-2 are for personal interest or personal development. I would assume the ability to do this correlates with how comfortably a person is with multi-tasking, which you seem to be. And, of course, I abandon what is not of interest and skim when I am less engaged.

I always keep a subset of these books with me, one in my purse and a couple in my car trunk, and read while waiting in line at the grocery store or other opportune moments. I prefer reading to using the iphone/smart phone when waiting, as I consider myself more productive reading a book and tend to engage in time kill activities on the phone. I also keep 1-2 fiction books going, but limit those to reading at home. 9 books is around my breaking limit for remembering what I read where, but I am sure some people can handle more.

Comment author: BenLowell 01 April 2011 07:45:32AM 1 point [-]

I read in a very similar fashion. On my favorite days I usually skip from book to book, reading a chapter of two out of three or more books, often directly after one another. I am a terrible multi-tasker though---I enjoy reading and working best when I focus intensely on one thing for about two hours, then switch to another.

I will start reading one book, then keep picking up books until there are too many for me to handle. Then the books that are less interesting to me tend to be left alone and I end up focusing on about 2-3 non-school books and 3-5 school books.