Re: PhotoReading Challenge
Drew
01/25/21 12:34 PM
Week 3
What's Gone Well?
Activated the book that I didn't complete from week 2. - Many exercises to complete, yet I'm OK with that. Added to my diary to complete. (If it's not on my calendar it does not happen).
Prepared, Previewed, Photoread and Postviewed over 30+ books on Excel. Some were 1000+ pages long. I didn't always have a fixed purpose, other than just to download the information into my head for later use. As I started doing this collection of books. Every Excel expert was recommending another book. I can add them to “my to be read list” during the next few weeks.
I've noted down where I might want to spend some time playing with various ideas, techniques etc. from some of the books.
One day this week I had to crack out some Excel items for somebody else. I knew which book I wanted to go to and following alone with to complete several tasks. The speed to complete certain tasks was also fairly quick.
Just doing the above on all the books has helped. I would not have got to the books anytime soon. The PRWMS is as much about spending time with books and getting comfortable with them as much as anything else.
Rule 1 If you don’t' like a book change it, unless it has been assigned to you. In which case, how fast can you use the PRWMS to get the information that you need at the level of comprehension you want (where have you heard that before?). Make it a game.
I now would rather apply the first steps of the system to books, rather than binge watch..... That is a massive change for me.
Growing up I would actively avoid reading (fiction) books. I got zero enjoyment out of it. I remember being in school as a teenager and we had "reading time". I took the same book in each week for months, never going any further in the book. The teacher did not seem to notice, I didn’t care.
The PRWMS is for people that didn’t or don’t like reading, but ‘have to’. If you’re a straight A student. You either like studying and/or reading. Even if you don’t you know why studying and learning is important to you.
For the rest of us, studying is nothing more than a chore that we’d rather not do or get done as soon as possible. I liked school, but I was far from a A grade student (I should academically gone to uni.). I was never taught how or told why to study.
I remember an A grade student, getting top marks on a piece of work because he had copied it from a book. I remember looking at it and going how can that be? He’s just copied the work (I know – I had the book!).
In my head copying was such a bad thing to do. You didn’t do it, yet here he was getting an A. He was an out and out grade A student, super bright…but even so. I didn’t question or speak to the teacher. Copying was cheating to me.
Things I noticed
I am not sure how many books you should do in one sitting. I seem to remember reading somewhere no more than 12. My goal was at least 9 a day. If I could also wait 24hrs before coming back to do any formal activation, so much the better.
I think this might be based on your energy levels, interest in the topic and goals. Applying the first stages of the PRWMS to some books which were, 1000+ pages, would be zapping Some times applying this system I would almost receive more energy and it was easy to keep going. It was not a chore.
I think. If the information is important to you, you are going to revisit the material often anyway. PRWMS is not about having perfect recall or assimilation of the material.
I sometimes feel like I'm running out of time. Yet I've plenty of weeks to go. I said I’d write here for 12 weeks. This is normally, (4 weeks in) when I stop the latest goal, habit, thing. Writing here is selfishly keeping me accountable.
On a digital device, some of my books are very picture heavy. Flipping the pages, some pages couldn't refresh fast enough and appeared white. I gave up fussing about this. Given 4-11% of the information is the actual meaning. I felt my mind would pick up what I needed. If I felt I needed something else, that's what activation is for and remember activation happens in layers and multiple passes through the material.
The advantage of applying the stages to more than 1-3 in one go is, you soon forget about every little nuance and just do it.
What Am I Delaying Right Now?
Reading and applying all my personal finance and money psychology books to my own life. It may make very uncomfortable reading/applying.
What Do I Want To Do To Improve Next Week/ What Am I Going To Do Next?
Take longer postviewing i.e. 10-15 mins. You can pick up a lot from postviewing. I read several books by the same author. They were virtually identical. (Nice job if you can get it.)
