The Kindle System I Use for Deep Reading
Over my years of reading on a Kindle, I have tried and tested a number of different features.
I am now at a point where I have a four-part Kindle system that’s completely changed how I read. I used to finish books and forget them within a week, but now I actually retain what I read.
Today, I’ll walk you through my complete system, including the final feature, which has added an hour of daily reading time to my routine.
Let’s get into it!
Part 1: The Three-Book Rotation System
Introducing this feature has been key for context switching.
I typically have three books on the go: a biography, a non-fiction, and a fiction. This isn’t about trying to rush through more books, but matching books to mental states.
On some days, my brain craves narrative and story, so I pick up a biography. Then I might be looking for something more practical, and a non-fiction would be best. On days I just want to be transported to a different world, I turn to fiction.
The Kindle allows you to seamlessly carry more than one book at a time and switch between them with ease. Tap, and I’m in a different world.
Part 2: The Highlight-First Retention System
This feature has changed how deeply I engage with books.
As I’m reading on my Kindle, I highlight passages that hit me. This is the stuff that really resonates with me in the moment. This could be an insight I want to remember, a quote that resonates, or an idea I want to explore later.
But here’s where most people stop. To really engage with our books, we need to go one step further.
I access my Kindle highlights using the link below:
I then go through the highlights of a book and make my own notes. This might be writing actions I want to take, or why a passage means something to me.
On some books I’ll have 5 highlights, on others 50 highlights. It’s not about the number for me, but rather the insights I take from the book.
Part 3: X-Ray for Multiple Book Management
When you’re juggling more than one book, sometimes you can forget what’s happening or characters that haven’t appeared for a while.
X-Ray on Kindle solves this problem. With one tap, X-Ray shows me every mention of that person in the book, including a brief description of who they are.
I tend to find that going between books in my system, X-Ray saves me a huge amount of time by giving me a clear reminder of what’s happening. Gone are the days of having to scroll back through pages and chapters trying to piece together what’s going on.
It lets you read deeply across multiple books without losing the thread. You're not re-reading chapters to remember who someone is. You're staying immersed.
Part 4: Whispersync for Focused Reading Time
Most people will use the Whispersync feature to switch between reading and listening. They might be reading on their Kindle at home, then listen to an audiobook of the same book in the car, and Whispersync matches your progress across both formats.
Instead of this, I read AND listen at the same time. The audiobook plays while I follow along on my Kindle.
I do this because it helps me to be present with every word. And that’s what deep reading is all about, being fully engaged with the text.
I set the audiobook to a 1.3x speed, which pushes me slightly faster than my comfortable reading pace. It’s not so fast that I can’t keep up, but fast enough that I can’t drift off.
This has given me an extra hour of reading per day; 30 minutes with breakfast and 30 minutes with lunch. Before this feature, I couldn’t read and eat at the same time. I just couldn’t focus deeply enough on the book I was reading.
Now these meals are a time where I'm actually present with a book. I'm retaining what I read because I'm fully engaged, thanks to the guidance of a narrator.
If you want to try this, I would recommend gradually increasing your narrator’s speed. For me, anything above 1.5x gets too chaotic. Find your sweet spot.
💭Closing Thoughts
So that’s my system for deep reading. It’s not about speed or hitting some arbitrary number of books read per year. It's about deeply engaging with what I read and actually getting something from it.
What system do you use for reading? Let me know by contacting me at Hello@charliesamways.com.
I’d love to hear your experiences reading and using e-readers, so please reach out to share your thoughts.
You can check out the video all about this topic on my YouTube channel below:
If you’re passionate about self-improvement, reading or want to discuss the subject of reading, I’d love to hear from you. So please drop me a message.
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