Photo: Pixabay

How to Read Blogs:

I know, this is the dumbest title to a post ever and maybe a little condescending, but I feel like I can help you here. Stay with me for a few hundred words because this will change your life.

Step 1:

Find good blogs to read. Generally I like to read blogs that will improve my life and give me tips on how to live a happier more efficient existence (you know, like this one). Anyways, bookmark them all and, better yet, subscribe to them for e-mail reminders of new posts. If you have not already done so for this blog please do right now. I will wait for you to finish!

Step 2:

Find a time when you can quietly read them. If they are pure entertainment or fluff you can read them whenever, but for the serious stuff with actual ideas you may want to implement, you need to focus. I  generally read them in the late afternoon or evening but everyone is different.

Step 3:

Have several of these ancient devices on hand to transcribe the best ideas (strawberries optional).

Photo: Pixabay

Yes, I know everything is fancy and digital and in the cloud or whatever, but it’s not enough. Chances are you are reading dozens of articles a day, all with earth shattering ideas of awesomeness…and you are going to forget most of it unless you write it down.*

The brain is a terrible recording device. Write things down!

I know its old school but it works. Be very selective about what you write in these notebooks. Have a book for each category of blogs you frequent. Maybe have a notebook for finance, another for food, another for workouts, travel,etc. Sub-categorize them with as much detail as you are comfortable with. Use those little sticky tabs if you want. Doodle in them. Put stickers on them. Keep it simple enough to be easy, but complex enough to be useful. Put the best of what you read in there and in no time you will have a very rich book of extremely useful ideas. Every time you write something new you will be glancing over much of the related information and integrating it into your mind. Soon these ideas will become subconscious habits and will spill over into your actions.

I have also started doing this with each book I read. It takes longer, but after I’m done I have a several page summary of my favorite parts. For long passages I just summarize and put the page number(s) in my notebook.

Try this out and tell me what you think. Do you have a different way that works well for you? Please comment, I would love to hear from you.

*I know there are electronic ways to save content such as Evernote. I use these too, but I find the act of physically writing something down distills the information and cements it a little better in the mind. I have hundreds of web-clippings I never return to. It’s just too easy to clip an article and never go back to it. Digital and paper each serve a purpose; use them both.