Students often ask me how they should be approaching their studies and how to make full use of the study materials provided in the courses. Here are 4 tips from one of my favourite videos: “How Bill Gates reads books.”
We all know that Bill reads a lot of books – he reportedly reads 50 books a year! But he doesn’t just read the books, he actually understands the concepts and lessons in each book he reads to help him in life and business.
The video above covers how Bill gets the most out of every book he reads but here are 3 salient points I got from the video:
Take Notes in the Margins
Especially with non-fiction books, it’s very important that you understand this new information and attach it to your existing knowledge. Taking notes helps makes sure that you’re actually thinking hard about what is being written.
Paper Books > eBooks
This might be an old-school tip but somehow carrying around paper books just feels better than eBooks. I also seem to remember better when I’m handwriting notes on a piece of paper. Where possible, I always recommending printing out our textbooks and having them with you when studying the online materials.
Block Out Time
This tip is also very important. Spot reviews or stealing a few minutes to study while you’re on a commute or doing housework can be a great strategy when reviewing. But when you are trying to learn new information, it is important for you to block out some uninterrupted time to really sit down and concentrate on the material. For Bill, he can concentrate for 1 hour, for other people, it might be longer or it might be less. But no matter what, try to block out at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to study.
These are the 3 tips I took away from the video and I hope they help you. If you have takeaways that you want to share (and potentially see added to this guide), let me know.