This is the trickiest part of reading I suppose; retention.

I find that when I’m reading (or listening to) a nonfiction book I retain the information easier than I would a fiction book. Nonfiction books are based in fact and they reference real life scenarios and objects, so your mind doesn’t work as hard as it would while reading a fiction book; one which is filled with scenarios beyond this world that require you to use your imagination.

I usually multi-task when I’m on a nonfiction book, and single-task when on a fiction book. The fictional retention rate would drastically fall for me if I tried to do anything that required serious thought while listening to them (for example, I listen to them while washing dishes, cooking, housework mostly because that’s something I’ve gotten used to over the years and I can do it with little thought).

Yes, I do go back and re-read/re-listen books. Generally I reread nonfiction books due to a scenario I’m facing that I remembered that certain book addressing, and I reread fiction books to remind myself of a certain feeling/way at looking the world/writing style. When I reread nonfiction I reread it in snippets, getting the information I want and getting out there. But for fictions, I reread the entire book because my aim in rereading the fiction is to see the flow of the words, the use of language and imagination, etc. etc.

The whole ‘natural muti-tasker’ thing doesn’t exist to me. I think natural muti-taskers are actually unnatural naturals. Meaning that they’ve trained themselves on how to multi-task to the point that it’s natural (nothing natural about training). But I find that few people train themselves on single-tasking (focusing) and I find that sad because I think that’s what important in this world. Focusing on one task at a time.

What I do for myself is rank tasks according to how much brain power they require of me, and then I set myself a limit of 10. For example writing requires all my concentration, so it’s a 10. So I can’t multi-task while doing it or it’ll show in my work. However eating alone requires a concentration of about 2-4 (depending on how good the food is), so I generally listen to audiobooks while eating (they require a concentration of about 6-8), so it all adds up to 10 in the end.

That’s what I see retention as. Everything under 10. You can either single-task, or multi-task, but be sure to keep it at a certain limit, for if you surpass that limit you won’t retain much.

Hope that helped.

I suppose if I shot-gunned a (audio) book in a matter hours instead of weeks, then I could repeat it a number of times and theoretically get the same level of comprehension in a fraction of my usual time. Even with audio books, though, I find myself having to slow down and focus in order to follow along. I usually can’t do anything else but listen, or at most engage in some non-cognitive repetitive work. I’m just not a good multi-tasker.

So I guess my question for you is: do you find that you are able to retain as much when you are speed reading/listening? Do you normally need to go back to a book to refresh your memory on certain sections? Would you describe yourself as a natural multi-tasker?

I didn’t stick with it before because I felt like I didn’t have enough time to sit down and read, so with the polyphasic sleep schedule that should change. My goal is to read my college textbooks from cover to cover, among other texts.

Facebook? Since we’re related and all?

I like the fact that my name is auto-completed (didn’t know that). But how do you brag about that… “hey guys, my name get’s auto-completed on Google, yeah, I’m the shit now”…???

ps- I’m a genius now?

And sort of crazy, but then all geniuses are.