10 Common Mistakes Professionals Make When Reading Nonfiction Books

There are common mistakes professionals make when reading nonfiction books they may not be aware. This post explores this topic, offering solutions.

Over the past two days. I’ve written about “15 Things You Never Knew About Reading Nonfiction Books” and “How I Came to Teach Courses on Effective Reading Strategies.” Today, I turn my attention to common mistakes professionals make when reading nonfiction books. Even if you make any mistakes from the list, don’t let them overwhelm you because you can easily correct them. This blog post will cover the following points:

Common Mistake 1: Not Preparing Your Mind for Reading

During my exploration into finding more effective reading strategies, I learned the importance of preparing your mind for reading, so that you absorb more of the information. Your mind needs to be relaxed, yet alert, and you want to use both sides of your brain. To remedy this mistake, it’s important to do brain gym exercises before you start to read. Do a quick search, and you’ll find exercises like jumping jacks.

Common Mistake 2: Not Having a Purpose for Reading

In How to Read a Book by Mortimer and Charles Van Doren, states that there are three reasons for reading any book.

Entertainment
Information
Further your understanding of a topic

Typically, when reading nonfiction books, you’re either reading for information or to further your understanding of a topic. But you need to go one step further. It’s essential to write a one-sentence purpose for reading any book. Your reason should be clear and succinct. Doing this focuses your reading.

Common Mistake 3: Not Knowing the Purpose of the Book

The author had a reason for writing the book. And because of that, they’ll have a certain approach to the topic. Nonfiction books are often read without knowledge of the author's goal or topic by professionals who expect to be enlightened. It’s important to gather intelligence about the author and why he or she is writing the book. What question is the author trying to answer? Or a problem he or she is trying to answer. Did the author manage to achieve the goal?

A book is much more than just a few words on a page. It can change lives. A book may serve various purposes, such as educating, persuading, entertaining or enlightening the reader. So spend a few minutes to determine the author’s goal.

Common Mistake 4: Taking Advice from Nonfiction Books Too Personally

Many times when you decide to read a nonfiction book, you either have a problem to solve, or you want answers to questions. But reading one book on the topic is not enough because you want multiple perspectives. Even if you find the solution to your problem or the answers to your questions in the first book that you read, how do you know if you have found the best solutions or answers?

When you read multiple books, you’re exposed to diverse viewpoints and advice. Therefore, you’re in a better position to make up your own mind. It makes sense to argue with an author and not simply accept what you read. A piece of advice is just that - a piece of advice. This does not mean you're a failure or that your situation is hopeless.

The advice someone gives you is based on their opinion, not on what is actually true for you. Despite how hard it might be to remember, it's important to keep this distinction in mind.

Common Mistake 5: Skimming and Scanning

I teach a methodology called leadership reading. That means that you read to learn what you need to know. When I start explaining what I do, some people respond, “Oh I do that already. I skim and scan business books.” They totally miss the point because they’re not listening to what I have to say.

Professional readers often skim and scan with the hope of finding important information. Skimming and scanning is not a good way to read because it causes us to miss key ideas and details that may be critical to the work we do. Skimming is the act of quickly reading through something. Scanning is the act of looking at an article or text, but not reading it fully.

When you skim or scan, you’re not trying to understand everything in the text; you are just looking for specific pieces of information that might be important to your job. A remedy to this common mistake is to have a purpose for reading the book, write down the questions you want the book to answer, then preview the book to find the sections of the book that have what you need. When you find what you need, you’ll take a deep dive into those sections.

Do you now see the difference between leadership reading and skimming and scanning?

Common Mistake 6: Not Reading for Understanding

To get the most from a book, you need to understand what the author is trying to communicate. If you don’t understand, why bother reading the book? Understanding what’s being said in the book and why, broadens your perspective on a topic. To remedy this mistake, learning more about the author and his or her goal will help. Another remedy, which is something I typically recommend, is that professionals read a good summary of the book before reading the book.

What this does, is give you a solid understanding of what the book is about. Another remedy is that you may have been distracted while reading, so rereading a section may be all you need to understand the text.

Common Mistake 7: Not Taking Notes While You Read

The best way to maximize your reading time is to take notes while you read. This will allow you to remember the key points from the book and will help you focus on important sections. When you take notes, several things are happening at the same time. You’re deciding what’s essential and nonessential information. And you’re also paraphrasing what you’re reading. This deepens your understanding of the material.

Common Mistake 8: Reading Only for Yourself

Reading is very personal. But because it’s personal, doesn't mean it’s only for yourself. When reading a nonfiction book, always think about what you can create with the new information. Think about how the new information can help you to help others. What problems can you solve? And how can you contribute to humanity? Reading books has the power to transform lives.

Common Mistake 9: Focusing on Big Pieces of Information Rather than Smaller Points That Add Up to a Larger Picture

Larger pieces of information are not always the most important. It is the smaller points that can add up to a bigger picture. This mistake can be seen in many situations, such as when people focus on the big picture instead of the smaller details, or when they ignore small details because they think they are unimportant.

To remedy this mistake, when you read a nonfiction book, make sure that you know what you’re looking for in the book. And when you preview the book, you’ll frequently discover where to find the information.

Common Mistake 10: Looking at One Side of an Argument Or Issue and Not Considering Other Sides of It

In the world of literature, every argument has two sides, and if you only consider one side, a biased conclusion or misunderstanding may result. For this reason, it is essential to read books from a variety of perspectives to gain a better understanding of an issue. In addition, develop the habit of questioning what you read. Is the information contrary to what you know? Never read in a vacuum, context is everything.

Concluding thoughts

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