如何更聪明的阅读，事半功倍

after writing my popular article on speed reading, i received a lot of comments from people who wanted to read faster. but reading faster isn't the whole picture. if you want to get more information with less time, you can't just pick up the pace. you need to read smart.

在我写完关于快速阅读的一些文章之后，我收到了许多想读得更快的人们的评论。但是，仅仅读得更快并不是全部，如果想在更少的时间内获取更多的信息，仅仅加快速度是不够的。你应该学着更聪明地阅读。

it doesn't matter how fast you can read if you aren't reading anything important.

重要的不是你能读得多快而是你读的东西是否重要。

here are some methods i've found when buying books to help eliminate the junk and read smart:

下面是关于买书时如何筛除掉烂书，从而让你能更聪明阅读的技巧。

popularity - although i wouldn't say popularity is a universal measure of quality, it does help filter out a lot of crap. a great book might not be popular but if it is on the amazon bestseller list it usually isn't complete garbage.

流行程度 —— 尽管我并不认为流行程度是一个选择图书的万能标准，但是在一定程度上它确实能够帮我们过滤到很多垃圾。一本好书或许并不流行，但是能够出现在amazon畅销书榜上的书一般都不会是彻头彻尾的垃圾。

subjects that interest you - i only use popularity for about 20-30% of my books. the rest i often pick through simply searching for a subject that interests me. this means i get specific, if you narrow down your subject of curiosity enough you can usually get a book that matches. that means don't search for “fitness” when you want “beginners running.”

感兴趣的主题 ——我只对20-30%的书使用上面的方法。其余的，我经常简单地通过寻找我感兴趣的主题来过滤。这意味着我开始对内容变得更挑剔。通过你感兴趣的主题来渐渐地缩窄你的浏览范围，最终你就会找到适合你的书。换句话说，在最初开始找书的时候，不要刻意寻找“最合适的书” 。

use the library - books aren't expensive, i can get several weeks worth of reading from amazon for less than a hundred bucks. but often once you buy a book you feel obligated to read it, even if it is drivel. economists call this a sunk cost. get books from the library so you don't feel guilty leaving it unfinished.

使用图书馆 —— 书并不算贵，我常常能用不到一百块从amazon上买回值得我看几个星期的书。但是你可能经常会买回来一本你发现并不喜欢的书。经济学家们将这种现象叫做 ” 沉淀成本”。从图书馆借书，这样就算你没读完，也不会有负罪感。

but how you get books is really the least important aspect of reading smart. i've read few books i could say were complete crap. most had at least a few interesting ideas. the best had great ideas densely packed into the pages and the worst had one or two within three hundred pages of noise.

但怎样挑书，只是关于怎样更聪明的阅读的最不重要的一个方面。事实上。没几本书能算得上是彻底的废话，大多数的书里面至少会有一些能吸引你的观点。尽管好书往往全书充满了好的思想，而烂书可能几百页的篇幅只有一两点精华。

the first way to start reading smart is to start cutting out garbage. remember, time is short, information is limitless - read what you need. here are some tips i use to cut down on the amount i read while preserving the best information:

想要更聪明地去阅读，第一步就是不去读无价值的东西。时光短暂，信息无限，读你所需。下面是一些技巧，它教你在能获取那些最优秀的信息的前提下，尽可能地减少你的阅读量。

know when not to start - trust your instincts of the book based on the first fifteen pages. i know they tell you not to judge a book by its cover, but if a book is great it usually shows itself within the first few dozen pages.

留意开头 —— 在读一本书前十五页的时候 相信你的直觉。有人会说，不要凭封面判断一本书，但是如果一本书真的很好，那么往往在头十五页你就会发觉。

know when not to finish - there is nothing wrong with putting a book down that you were halfway through.

适时结束 —— 半路就把一本书放下没有什么不妥。

speed read - speed reading isn't about going faster, but controlling your tempo. know when to speed up and when to speed down. i often reread slowly really good ideas and blur over things that don't interest me.

速读 —— 速读不是一味的读快，而是要适当的控制你的阅读节奏。 你要知道什么时候该读快，什么时候该读慢。 我一般会跳过那些不感兴趣的话题而详读那些好的观点。

skip chapters - sometimes the book has interesting ideas but has chapters that don't interest you. if you are reading a book on starting a business for the web company you want to setup, skip over the section on franchising. if the upcoming sections look awful, just skip ahead a chapter to see whether it turns around.

跳过一些章节 —— 有时候一本书会有吸引你的观点，但在这本书中其他的章节你并不感兴趣。那么你可以跳过去. 比如说你为了想建立网络公司看一本关于创业的书, 那么你就跳过关于特许经营权的部分. 如果哪部分看起来很难懂, 也可以跳过去, 看看后面是不是还会说到这一话题.

the second way to read smart is to utilize the information you want. you've spent a lot of effort filtering out the junk, you might as well use the gems. here are some tips i use to help emphasize good ideas:

第二步就是利用你想获得的信息。在这以前，你已经花费了很大的精力来过滤掉那些垃圾, 所以你应该好好利用剩下的精华。下面是一些小技巧。

use a highlighter - use a highlighter to reinforce ideas you want to remember. i'm very stingy with the highlighter because it does slow you down, so only the important stays.

用一只高亮笔 —— 用高亮笔把你想记住的观点划下来。在用它的时候我很”吝啬”，因为它减慢了阅读速度。所以，只在重要的部分停下就足够了。

stop reading and think - one fault of great books is that they have so many ideas you end up losing them trying to intake too much. whenever i cross a threshold of new ideas in my head i put the book down and think.

读的时候停下来思考 —— 在读好书的时候，你失败的原因之一可能是它们信息量很大而不能很快的接受。我在遇到很多新观点的时候，我会把书合上开始思考。

applications - when you hit a good idea, ask yourself how you can use it immediately or in the near future. this makes the idea more memorable and more useful.

应用 —— 遇到新观点时， 试着去问问自己能否立即应用它。这将令这个观点更容易记住而且更实用。

connections - sometimes good ideas are disguised. when you read something you find interesting but isn't relevant to you, think again. ask yourself how topics from one subject can enhance your understanding in another.

联系 —— 有的时候好的思想往往被掩盖住了。当你读到你感兴趣的然而与你不相关的书，再想想。 问问自己这个方面的话题能不能增进你在其他方面的理解。

these techniques for reading apply mostly for non-fiction. if you just want to read a book to be entertained, don't worry about highlighters and skipping chapters. but if you are reading a book because you want the information it contains, don't just read fast, read smart.

这些阅读技巧主要是针对非小说类图书的。如果你读书的目的仅仅是为了消遣，就不需要高亮笔和跳过部分章节了。但是如果你是为了获取信息而读书，那么不要仅仅读得快， 而且要读得更聪明些。