Use Online Reading Pyramid For Lasting Impact

Hey 👋 - Ilya here.

What's up and welcome to the Weekly One on One!

Here's one short tip on how to Level Up as a developer.

Today's issue takes about 2 minutes to read.

Enjoy

In today's issue I will share what I call the reading pyramid. This is a process I use to read lots of articles and blog posts online, extract information and reflect and create novel ideas out of them.

Let's dive in.

For a long time, my reading on the internet was either or:

1. Immediately reading and forgetting
2. Bookmarking for later and never coming back

The key to actually reading and doing something with the information is making use of different modes of reading. I like to think of it as a pyramid with different levels, time and attention commitment at each one of them, and finally some tools to assist in the process:

1. The Base - Browsing/Collecting
2. The Middle - Reading
3. The Top - Deepening/Reflecting

1. The Base - Browsing/Collecting

This is the foundation.

• Browsing
• Following links
• Newsletters, etc.

The goal is not to read but to build up an index of possible resources interesting to you. It requires minimal intention and attention. Interesting blog posts from your colleagues go here as well.

Tip: Use low energy moments and waiting time for research, browsing, and saving for later.

App suggestion: Instapaper for Chrome and mobile to save and forward articles from everywhere.

2. The Middle - Actual reading

This part is of the pyramid is more narrow and requires attention and focus.

• Actual reading
• Highlighting
• Adding notes

I like to binge read articles on topics I am interested in. Let's say I collected 3 articles on test automation, I will try to read them all in one session.

Tip: Schedule uninterrupted reading time.

App suggestion: Readwise for importing highlights from Instapaper, Ebooks, and other devices. You can even add highlights from paper books.

3. The Top - Deepening/reflecting

This is the tip of the pyramid and has the most lasting impact.

It is also the hardest part.

Here you go through your highlights and notes and write your unique thoughts, connections, and associations. You create your own content with fresh ideas in mind that you can later on use.

Tip: Set a reminder to read through random notes, and see if you've got new ideas or associations that you might add.

App suggestion: Obsidian for managing your notes and ideas. It is also able to import your Readwise notes and highlights.

TL;DR & Do it now

Whats a topic you're interested in right now?

1. Find 3 articles on that topic and save the links
2. Schedule 30 minutes focus time to read and highlight
3. Schedule another 15 minutes to go through your highlights

That's all for this One on One. 1 tip at a time to Level Up as a developer.

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See you again next week.

Cheers,

Ilya