How to slog through dry, technical information?

[Bob]

Say 50, 100... -some pages. 

I don't know exactly how the information is used.  I'm not even understanding all of what I'm reading.  Very dry.  So I keep falling asleep of course.

How do you deal with inforamtion like that?

I take breaks.
Move while reading.  Tap my foot or something.
Music, but that is just distracting me today.

Try to figure out how to apply it. 

Basically, I just need to read through and get some type of understanding.

I'd like to move through it efficiently.  Dozing off is a pleasant break, but that's not really helping.

Taking notes...  Some type of written to keep me focused.

Adding in a break for exercise.  Some type of movement.  Or anything - Taking the garbage out becomes very interesting after reading this stuff.


What else can I do?

[iheartpiano]

I struggle with the very same thing.  The only advice I can give is not to go on a message board or a forum while you're taking a break, haha.  (Trust me, I know - what was supposed to be a few minutes turn into hours, literally).

I guess I would take bits and pieces at a time, and take breaks here and there as you said.  Taking notes is a good idea.  I don't think I could listen to music though when I'm trying to concentrate on something.

Is this for school?  Work?  You don't have to answer of course, just curious. 

Good luck.   

[Bob]

Both.  School and work.

I was setting an alarm clock timer.  About every 30 minutes.  When it went off I either did something more physical, even just standing up, or it would wake up and I'd get back on track.

Caffiene, but even that isn't going to cut it.

I suppose just keep hacking away at it. Try to make some sense of it.  Glance over the stuff that is too detailed or too unknown.  Just get some sense of essence from that.  And maybe review it, and hopefully it will make more sense later.

[slobone]

Oh dear, well I hate to sound like a teacher, but you really need to read actively. Never just sit there reading a book. Have a notebook open and a pencil in your hand. Jot down anything that seems important, or keep a running outline.

Don't write in the book itself, that never works and it makes your books look like s**t.

Another suggestion, if you're having trouble staying awake, read standing up. Rest the book on the top of a file cabinet or something. Worked for Thomas Jefferson...

[Bob]

Caffiene.

Willpower.

Habit after reading a lot for several days.

Reading in a cool or almost cold environment.  It's hard to nod off if your starting to freeze.

Changing position frequently.  Sit, stand, just sit in a different place, etc.

Take a cat nap.

[quantum]

Use OCR software, scan the book.  Have your computer read the book to you.

I did that with some dense university articles, ones where every other word you needed a thick dictionary to look up.  I may not have understood the meaning of every word, but the flow of the article certainly made more sense than me reading it by myself.