Don't Read Books - Create Notebooks

When I read books for professional development, I have a few "rules":

1 - Always buy a printed version of the book (hard cover is best)

2 - Always have a pen, pencil, highlighter, index cards and post-it notes in hand

3 - Only read for as long as I can process what is on each page

4 - This book is mine! It is now a notebook: margins and end pages are left blank for me to write and draw in.

I have used stickers, highlighters and different colored pens and pencils as I have read dozens and dozens of books over the years. I take a long time to get through each book because I pause and take note of every idea that comes to me while I am reading. Many notes are connections to other books and ideas.

I have notes and drawings and flowcharts describing how I can use or apply the material.

End pages become an index for my notes, I have page numbers with a few words so I can quickly find particularly inspiring passages.

I have hundreds of index cards with ideas for articles I want to write because of what I have read and agree/disagree with. (Not that I have written hundreds of articles!)

When I pick out a book from my library, I can easily find why I have kept it on my shelf. This notebook approach to "reading" has kept my mind open and on a path of perpetual learning because I am not reading as much as I am curiously looking for new ways to work better smarter and faster as a leader and a follower.