Books are great however they are time consuming so to read books affectively follow these steps.
Define your goal
What specific knowledge/skills do you want from the book? Focus on chapters or sections aligned with this.
Use the 80/20 Rule:
Read the table of contents carefully to understand the book’s overall framework
Focus on the 20% of content delivering 80% of value (e.g., bolded terms, case studies, actionable steps).
Skip anecdotes, repetitive examples, or filler stories unless they clarify a concept.
Speed-reading tactics:
- Skip sections that don’t serve your goal
- Read groups of words, not individual words.
- Each page read the start and the finish to get a quick idea of the page structure so you can ignore side stores and pick the value
Color each page with the page points:
- Main argument/point green
- Supporting evidence blue
- Key concepts introduced pink