Inventing Elephants

Developing a habit of reading critically seems to be an important component of improving the way I think, but I’ve run into some snags.

When I first decided to try questioning the words on the paper I though I’d start after I completed reading a small stack of relevant magazines.  But when I went back to the first one to begin asking questions I came up with a complete blank.  It was as if the elapsed time let the original information sink into my brain as accepted truth and it was much harder to react to it.

Then I tried to read with a notepad next to me for jottings down.  That was marginally more successful, but I kept getting caught up in what I was reading.  I’ve always been able to get lost in books, and not just fiction ones, either.  It’s difficult to slow down enough to really think about it.

I’m finding more success by reading at my normal pace with a pad of small post-it notes next to me.  When a thought comes to mind I jot it down and stick it in the book or magazine.  Then, when I go back a second time, it serves as a reminder of the questioning state I was in the first time through and I’m able to elaborate more easily.

Now there’s another problem.  I have a backlog of magazines that are directly work related coming across my desk.  I have a list of books I want to get from the library.  I find myself ignoring the post-it notes and just reading, because thinking about what I’m reading is more difficult and more time-consuming.

I’m considering deliberately slowing down for only certain materials, picking just the best to read with critical intent.  The entire process of deciding what I want out of myself and my reading material is evolving.