#15 - How I Read and Consume Audio/Video Content
Workflow, apps, techniques
I recently posted a list of book recommendations for Data Engineering and Data Analysis on my Facebook account. One friend made a comment that the books are quite expensive when converted into local currencies. Yes these technical books averages at USD 30 which could get you 10-15 decent meals in Jakarta, the capital city. and probably 20-30 meals in other regions.
I suggested finding book notes and summaries for those books as a more affordable option because from my experience, these are actually good enough substitute for most technical books. I can almost always patch the remaining details by extra research and trial & errors.
And I realised I have been doing some form of that when reading and learning. So in this post I will share my workflow, habits, and techniques when learning from books, podcasts, and video content.
How I read non fiction books
read 2-3 of book summaries other people created
summarise the summaries
read the book's ToC
skim a couple of interesting pages / chapters
read the book's last chapter, usually there's summary
start reading if still interested
For each step, I ask myself "is this (still) interesting? is this what I was looking for? what will I get here?"
What I'm looking for when reading
the main argument
how the author / content creator structure the arguments (find supporting arguments)
different angles, framing, and interpretation people have on the piece (the arguments)
the takeaways: tactics, principles, and any exercises
For each step: "do I agree, do I disagree, why, what do I think of it"
What I'm deprioritising in the first pass
the supporting anecdotes and fillers
the intro. skip skip skip. wish there's a way to quickly skim A/V content. like TED's interactive / clickable transcript to skip around.
How I consume audio/video content
Audio (usually podcasts): on my Android phone while exercising (I use Simple Audiobook Player). at 1.8x speed, pausing on interesting points.
If shorter than 15 minutes: jot down on Simplenote, keywords, 2-4 phrases
If longer: bookmark (the app supports it) to come back to and transcribe later (I like having things in text, can remember better).
Video: on laptop, 1.5 - 2x speed, turn on caption, download caption (using youtube-dl) if interesting (so I can take notes more easily)
I do similar note-taking pattern with audio but it's more convenient to watch Youtube videos on desktop because Youtube doesn't support playing in the background. It's a hassle to keep Youtube on the phone's screen, and I don't want to pay for Youtube Red. Split-screen mode helps though.
Note: Note taking is also an indexing activity for me. I just keep the high level concepts, perhaps go a level deeper, but I still do it with the intention of going back and reviewing it later when I need it, or hoping it will come up for retrieval when I need it (Just In Time).
Originally posted at Proses.ID and Medium.com
Hi there! Almost all activities in life revolve around 1) getting things into our heads, 2) out of our heads, and 3) hopefully across into someone else's head.
We learn, we think, and we communicate.
How are you managing these activities right now? Are you doing any deliberate practice to get better at them?
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