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Ass-Kicking Email – Read for Speed?
Hey,
In this email I discuss the “sequel” to my speed reading guide,
showing the other side of reading better: reading to understand
something deeply.
In this email:
1. I discuss the Active Reading implementation guide
2. Why you should never “study”
3. Mastery as a Side Dish (or Why Many Overachievers Burn Out)
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If you haven’t already, the Active Reading guide can be downloaded
by opening up the CONTENT page under MONTH 2:
https://scotthyoung.com/members/?page_id=42
Active reading is a tactic I recommend before speed reading for most
classes. While speed reading can be useful, particularly in allowing
you to get comfortable reading at higher rates, it doesn’t foster
the same kind of deep understanding that other tactics do.
Active reading is a great tactic to use for a 30-Day Trial since you
can incorporate other tactics within it. That can allow you to try
out more of the techniques in the program.
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Why You Should Never “Study”
For most students, “studying” is an undefined blob of a task that
has no starting point, no finishing point and certainly no point
where they feel confident about how they did.
That’s a recipe for stress and poor learning.
Instead of “studying” you should always carve up your work into
specific tasks. These need to be clear action items that have an
obvious *done* status.
For example, if you have on your to-do list, “Review Statistics”,
that isn’t very helpful. What exactly does “review” mean? At which
point have you finished reviewing? When can you relax, knowing your
work is done? I’m sure I’m not the only one that has difficulties
answering those questions.
A better way would be to break up “Review Statistics” into component
tasks, such as:
– Create notes compression of subject.
– Complete 4 practice problems from each chapter.
– Read actively on Layer 5 (confused? it’s in the new guide)
Task-based learning is more effective than “studying” and, best of
all, you can relax guilt-free when you’ve finished.
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Mastery as a Side Dish
What if you want to have an interesting life, full of varied
pursuits, but you also need to focus in order to achieve your goals?
My solution is to pursue many other activities (programming, art,
philosophy, psychology, dance, handstand pushups) without
*committing* to any of them.
If you’d like to read more about my philosophy of mastery as a side
dish, and how it might reduce your stress, check out my article:
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