I’m getting back into the rhythm of reading more consistently. I generally read for about 30-40 minutes in bed right before sleeping on my e-reader, regardless of fiction/non-fiction.

This made me think, for people who prefer physical books, do you underline, highlight, take notes in the margins, etc. when reading theory?
Back when I did have a few physical books I never wrote anything in them, I guess to keep them in “good” condition. Even in school books I only answered exercises in pencil, lol.

So I’m wondering: what approach do you have for reading theory?

  1. Is it more like reading and absorbing the information more passively, where you read in bed, at a park, while commuting, etc.?
  2. Or do you treat it more like studying where you’re sitting at a desk or at a library, pen in hand with notes and such?

I’d love to hear your thoughts/approaches/advice regarding this.

  • tamagotchicowboy [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    7·
    13 days ago
    1. Though I just jot down notes quick on my old firetablet using notally, when it eventually dies I’ll just use obsidian on a laptop. If its super dense theory I’m unfamiliar with I try to write some reflection or rehash every page or so even though its slow, its its very unfamiliar maybe even once a paragraph. If its just standard theory maybe a summary in my own words/thoughts a chapter or so. If its just a refresher I may just do option 1 and only type down the most novel observations.

    I can’t afford physical books, so I’ve always been a note and write down the page sort, it worked in college, so it should work for theory just fine.