How to Read a Textbook Without Losing an Hour
A short, practical guide to skimming for structure before reading for detail, so study time goes further.
Most of us open a textbook at page one and read every word in order, then wonder why so little sticks. A faster, more durable method is to read in two passes.
First, skim: read the chapter title, the headings, the first and last sentence of each section, and anything in bold. This takes two or three minutes and gives you a map of the chapter — what it is for, and how its parts fit together.
Second, read for detail, but with questions already in mind from the skim. "What does this section actually prove?" "How does this connect to the heading above it?" Reading to answer a question holds attention far better than reading to finish a page.
Finally, close the book and write three sentences from memory about what you just read. If you cannot, that is useful information: it tells you exactly where to go back, instead of re-reading everything.