Spags who can study (Nigel, Cain come to mind)

[Pæs]

I have thousands of ebooks to read while standing on the train on my 2 hour round trip commute each day. I arrive at work/home with very little of what I've read retained. Part of this is because I am catching up on lost information to give context to what I'm reading, but much of it is just that once I've passed a page none of the detail of it seems relevant anymore.

I'm thinking I need to be taking notes, restating the arguments made in the texts, but this takes my only free hand and then I fall over when we go around corners which interrupts my reading. What is the key to information-retention while reading?

[Junkenstein]

Hmm.

Could I suggest that perhaps it's the reading that's an issue? If there's a way to convert them to an audio format (Surely possible nowadays?) that might be easier to absorb while travelling. Make notes on a pad on topics of interest.

Personally, I can't settle into much reading on a train as I'm checking stops frequently so can't really get into much in depth before having to break the flow. That, and starting/stopping on the same page multiple times gives me the shits. To get the best level of retention from reading I really need a quiet room with fuck all interuptions. Commuting is less than ideal but the audio option seems to cover more info and blocks out nearby idiotic noise. It's the best case situation for me.

[The Johnny]

Texts are totalities that can never be fully grasped... but taking synthetical notes and having an ulterior purpose of why you are reading a given book will help.

Mind you, im the type of person that can never tell you where i read something and cant remember the titles of whats been read before and sometimes not even the author, but thats because ive read A LOT in quantitative terms and also been forced to do so thru small fragments of different authors.

So what the fuck did you learn, Johnny? For fact i dont know anything in its pure citational form, because im not an elephant or a computer... what i HAVE is a weird internal database of analytically organized "learns" arranged in the manner of say "learns of the human mind", "learns of mental health" etc etc which are overall general principles with their evidence/justification.

I hope you can understand what i mean.

[Reginald Ret]

Limiting distractions is a good idea.
This is sideways relevant: http://lesswrong.com/lw/kao/willpower_depletion_vs_willpower_distraction/

Tie everything you read into other things you know. Take your time for this, stop reading for a few second to think as often as you want. (It makes you look smart too!)
Knowledge needs to be built on other knowledge, you can't just jump in the deep end.
The more connections you create, the better you will remember and understand.

Engage the subject in several different ways, for some hearing works, for others writing or reading works best. Some people do best when doing all three.

I think I can help with specific tips if you give a specific example.

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

I often have trouble getting through a sentence without blanking what I just read. Normally it doesn't matter since a lot of my textbook material is just "blah, blah, here's a bulleted list with the things you actually need to know, blah, blah." When I'm doing case briefs, though, they're never kind enough to format it like that, so I end up just taking notes as I go along--basically making my own bulleted list with the things I actually need to know.

It occurs to me that I'm doing what a lot of people have suggested here, pausing to identify a specific concept, absorbing it and trying to etch it into my brain for a minute before moving on. I do use my notes when it comes time to actually writing the brief, but really only as an outline. The knowledge itself, is retained apart from the notes.

[trix]

Retention is a rather big problem for me.  I love to read, and I read a llloooooottttt, but I have a hard time remembering specifics of a book on my first read through, especially if I didn't find the book especially interesting.

What works for me is repetition. Certain books (like the PD, Zen Without Zen Masters, Chao Te Ching) I have read upwards of a dozen times each, and can remember them much better now.

I'm not sure if you have the time for such repetition, but it does help.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Are you reading for entertainment, or are you trying to jam facts into your head? If the former, I wouldn't worry about it too much, as long as you're finding it entertaining. If the latter, don't read on your commute, it won't work... I can study on my commute only if it involves flash cards (totally a good idea if you need to retain specific pieces of information) or if I'm skimming notes/text as a refresher.

At any given time, I am typically reading three/four textbooks and one to two entertainment books. With the textbooks, I assume the following strategy: Skim the chapter before class to introduce myself to the topic. Take notes during class, read the chapter after class, paying particular attention to concepts that were covered in class that I still have questions about. Look up any side-questions that come up. Do homework. Re-read my notes after class, and before exams.

See how many iterations of the topic I put myself through? That's if I want to have a working knowledge of the subject; a minimum of seven repetitions of the material. More if I make flash cards.

With the entertainment reading, on the other hand, I am really just looking to occupy myself on the bus, so I don't bother with the repetition/note taking, but if I encounter a particularly interesting tidbit sometimes I'll stop reading and just ponder it, or make a mental/electronic note to myself to look it up. What I find with entertainment reading is that it adds references to a database that works along the lines of "Hm, I read something about that somewhere", which I can sometimes then retrieve and reference. It's adding to my general knowledge of a subject, but not to my mastery of a subject. I will often read several related works in a row, because they reference and reinforce the same concepts.

[Cain]

Uh, I make notes and the act of making them makes me remember them.

That's all I got.  Sorry.

[Pæs]

Loads of excellent advice ITT. I found that reading Alexander the Great: Lessons in Strategy over the last couple of days that the bits of information that I had the best recall on were those for which I had the most context, as memories from Classics at school, so part of it will just be doing further research to add that context. Finding a practical way to take notes may also be good. If I manage to get a seat, it's all good.

I suppose one option I have is to read for entertainment on the train, to screen books in my collection and pick the ones worth dedicating time to actually learning later. It's such a significant part of my day that I'm keen to use it as best I can... but I probably need to dedicate some quieter less mobile time to study too.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I will give you one small regret of mine; I wish I had not held off on reading books I deemed worth more attention, because more just keep piling on forever. FOREVER. And then it's really hard to get to the old ones you planned on reading. Just read 'em, and if they make an impact on you, re-read them someday when you have more time. More likely, you will periodically remember tidbits from one or another, and then you can look up and re-read that particular part as needed. But don't feel down for not remembering the content of a book right after you finish it... that's rarely how memory works.

[Junkenstein]

I will give you one small regret of mine; I wish I had not held off on reading books I deemed worth more attention, because more just keep piling on forever. FOREVER. And then it's really hard to get to the old ones you planned on reading. Just read 'em, and if they make an impact on you, re-read them someday when you have more time. More likely, you will periodically remember tidbits from one or another, and then you can look up and re-read that particular part as needed. But don't feel down for not remembering the content of a book right after you finish it... that's rarely how memory works.

THIS.

My pile of untouched books infuriates me. Unfortunately I've become the "finish one, add two" guy and the problem is growing. 

[LMNO]

I will give you one small regret of mine; I wish I had not held off on reading books I deemed worth more attention, because more just keep piling on forever. FOREVER. And then it's really hard to get to the old ones you planned on reading. Just read 'em, and if they make an impact on you, re-read them someday when you have more time. More likely, you will periodically remember tidbits from one or another, and then you can look up and re-read that particular part as needed. But don't feel down for not remembering the content of a book right after you finish it... that's rarely how memory works.

THIS.

My pile of untouched books infuriates me. Unfortunately I've become the "finish one, add two" guy and the problem is growing.

Personally, I blame Cain and his petabyte's worth of books.

[Junkenstein]

I wasn't even considering the digital stash. I still need to properly get into the Problem of Punishment.

Shit. There's a distinct chance I now have more reading material than I have time left to read it.

[Pope Lecherous]

Uh, I make notes and the act of making them makes me remember them.

That's all I got.  Sorry.

Don't be sorry. This describes my general experience with explicit notation. I will like to add however, use multimedium teachers and be a multimode learner (5 seasons/senses)

Sorry, that's all I got for now.

[Pope Lecherous]

Limiting distractions is a good idea.
This is sideways relevant: http://lesswrong.com/lw/kao/willpower_depletion_vs_willpower_distraction/

Tie everything you read into other things you know. Take your time for this, stop reading for a few second to think as often as you want. (It makes you look smart too!)
Knowledge needs to be built on other knowledge, you can't just jump in the deep end.
The more connections you create, the better you will remember and understand.

Engage the subject in several different ways, for some hearing works, for others writing or reading works best. Some people do best when doing all three.

I think I can help with specific tips if you give a specific example.

I don't have time for the link at this point, but does it contain neuroscience or is it selfhelp?