Help! Can't skim!

Post Reply New Topic

I'm just starting out in grad school, and I'm really happy about it. Only problem is I have a schedule that would be a challenge for someone who didn't have massive time-management issues, which you might guess, is not me. I got 60 pages of reading this week. Under normal circumstances, I could manage reading all of that, but I'm also trying to GA 10 hours a week and maintain a contracting position part-time on the side! And I'm moving this week! It's... a bit more than I can handle. Being able to skim the readings would be a massive help, but I've never been good at that. I tried it in undergrad, but I always wound up missing half the things everyone was talking about the next class, even though supposedly everyone skims. Any advice on how to skim? Or on fixing this ridiculous situation?

I'm also in grad school, and I've never been good at skimming either. I always try my best to get the readings done, but if it is just not possible I'll do part of the reading and be prepared to discuss that, and catch up on the rest later, that way I'll at least be able to contribute to part of the discussion. This tends to work best for sets of articles or chapters. Also, I'll read any shorter assignments first, as I find they tend to get a disproportionate amount of discussion time.

I dropped out three years ago and just re-enrolled (I'm still a goddamn underclassmen). Not only can I not skim but I now compulsively do detailed active reading and comprehensive Cornell notes while I read for class. I read all of the "fire and ice" series in 2 weeks but it takes me an hour to get through 10 pages of my textbook and god help me for readings where I have to try and comprehend the subtext well enough to reference quotes on a paper later. I'm so bad at skimming that when I tried water skiing I sank.

I had to adapt a different reading style, but I don't think what I did was really "Skim".

It may help to start from the end of the chapter and look for clues on what is important. It depends on the publisher.

For example, what are the Key Terms? You might be able to just look them all up in the Glossary. Also skim the Chapter Summary if there is one and make notes on what is important.

Finally, lookup things you think are important from the chapter in the Index and look them up in the chapter. This is important so you can "Skim" the context.

I'm not a good skimmer either... I mean, it's either worth my reading time or not, right? It drives me crazy.

What works for me sometimes:

Start with the chapter summary to get the main points.

Then go to the main text and begin by reading the first and last sentence of each paragraph.

Make notes of topics/page numbers as you go.

When done, look over the notes and go back to actually read the stuff you don't have a good grasp on.

Also, make note of tables/graphs. Most of the time they can give you enough info to skip text.

If it's fiction like in a literature course, read the beginning, skim much of the middle, and read the end. And keep pushing forward. If it's boring, skip a couple of paragraphs or a couple of pages.

If it's nonfiction, leaf the meaty middle part and let the class itself be a summary.

In the unlikely event someone publicly asks you if you've read it, be ready to say, much of it and I've been moving.

I love the idea of jumping ahead even if behind.

Hi, I'm assuming GA means graduate assistant?

And moving is always stressful for me. I sometimes approach it, the one most important thing. So, in moving, the most important thing is security, so a good deadbolt lock and first good opportunity maybe the window locks that you tighten with a thumb screw---and then everything else can slide or be deferred.

And, paradoxically, think of adding a free positive. Maybe make a trip to the school gym, something you may have been thinking of doing anyway, and the newness of it will be a break. And done with light-touch and in the style of a lark, instead of just one more 'should.'

Be aware of your high energy times, which for me even though I wake up relatively late is the first hour or two after I wake up. And maybe the most important stuff then, and then cut yourself some slack during your lower energy times.

Wow, I'm even slower than that. I read about 6-8 pages per hour. However, I study about 6 to 9 hours every day consistently (sometimes I even do as much as 10 hours/day) to compensate for that.

I actually got some good advice which is to just read the first sentance of each paragraph and move on. The topic sentance ususally gives you a good idea whats going to happen so you can decide whether it is worth the time.

You're welcome.

derp: from this thread

LOL.

I tried all of the above strategies. I am interested in study strategies as part of my life hacking interest. I've tried using all of these methods, but I find the summary text too general for my mind to even grasp. I typically cannot process anything vague or point-form well unless I know the information very well, like when I'm reviewing my lecture notes after having been to the lecture and having read the textbook. I find that if I'm focused on making note of topics, I will be so occupied trying to parse text into summaries that I won't be actually retaining information. I need a continuous, detailed flow of text in order to comprehend it properly, and getting the gist of the text actually only tends to come to me several days AFTER reading it for the first time (so I usually have to re-read it). I try to take notes when I read, but upon reading them later, I typically find them to not be representative of the most important ideas and difficult to follow.

The only strategy that worked for me consistently is looking at graphs and other content-related visuals. Sometimes I even end up looking visuals online because fully verbal explanations just don't do it for me.

Well, for me it works because I read the chapters in detail first (usually). But going back over you kinda know what everything is so you can pick out the important stuff. Also, a lot of text books are just examples, so you can skip them and wait for the thesis/ conclusions or major sub-points.

My book came with digital flash cards which, when printed out, are actually surprisingly helpful. I create three piles: unread, discard, recycle. I generally try and remember the card from memory and if not flash back several times trying to either remember the flip side verbatim or using a memory device (eg. inductive reasoning is a triangle because specific -> general and deductive is vice versa). I generally try 3-10 times before I put it in the recycle card, or if I get it verbatim first try I put it in the discard. In addition I create additional cards as needed and keep a stash of important concepts permanently set in "recycle" and I look at them before every class period.

I was taught to make cornell notes but it's really time consuming...

Another thing I do is highlight all of the names, major concepts, main ideas, and terms/definitions so that if I scan the page later I can just jump to highlighted terms.

I've never been good at skimming textbooks. That worked ok in undergrad, but in grad school I really struggled.

One thing that helped somewhat was that while reading I would us a highlighter to essentially create my own Cliff notes. I highlighted complete sentences so that when review time came I only needed to read the highlights yet me need for reading something closer to real writing (as opposed to just key words) was met.