07/31/2025 There are a couple different techniques that I've come upon to do this. I haven't implemented either because I've avoided reading. I used to get headaches when read when I was a child, because I had eye issues. I don't have the issues anymore, but the habit of reading I've continued to avoid. Upon writing both of these down, I think one could do a combination of the both of these methods for an even greater retention experience. I will be trying both of these methods out. ### Summarizing in the Margins (Marginalia) Jeffrey Kaplan lays out a very cool approach to taking notes. He says summaries every paragraph in one sentence and then write as you continue reading, combine the two previous summaries. Here's how it would go: write a summary for the 1st and 2nd paragraphs, and on for the 3rd paragraph, write a sentence out of the previous two sentences and then one for the 3rd paragraph. For the 4th paragraph, write a sentence out of the combined sentence for the 1st and 2nd paragraph and the 3rd. And then of course you write the sentence for the 4th paragraph. You write two sentences at every paragraph, except for the 1st and 2nd ones. This forces you to think about what you're reading and makes sense of the information. You then have to put how you think about that information into word on the page. You rewrite the book in your own words. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uiNB-6SuqVA?si=z2fIqOBMqFZcagn1" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Index Creation Tim Ferris creates an indices (an index) in the beginning of every book. He underlines and brackets sections of the book that stand out to him and writes a page number along with a phrase in the index. He tags some of these with PH (phrasing), he also stars, and puts boxes around things that stand out to him upon his subsequent re-visits of books. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YQOrqAKKcUQ?si=_XXnhZygezr08OUn" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> --- Email any questions, or comments to [email protected]. You can also find me on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/thegregleopold/), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@thegregleopold), and [X](https://x.com/thegregleopold).