My 4-Step Framework for Learning With Audiobooks

2022-04-21 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 15:34 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books and reading · mode: Explanation and tutorial · tags: Sponsor segment present

Ali argues that audiobooks complement physical books through speed, quick sampling and multitasking, and sets out his four-step method for learning from them: intention, selection (a wide net and a narrow filter), consumption (autopilot tasks, speed set by the kind of book, guilt-free abandonment) and processing (notes in Apple Notes or dictated to Drafts, then the Kindle version and explaining the book to others).

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Listening to books versus reading books: speed, quick sampling, reducing friction

★★ Ali has listened to over 165 audiobooks in the last few years and calls them a total game changer for how quickly he learns new things. — 00:00:00 · Audible
★★★ Ali says the debate over whether listening counts as reading misses the point: audiobooks are not a substitute for physical books but a way to complement the reading habit in other areas of life. — 00:00:29

“this whole reading versus listening debate kind of misses the point”
★★ The first way audiobooks complement physical books is speed: at three times speed a 12-hour audiobook takes Ali four hours. — 00:00:58
★★ The second way audiobooks complement physical books is quick sampling: listening to an audiobook lets you sample a book before deciding to buy it on Kindle or in paperback. — 00:00:58 · Kindle
★★ Of the 165 audiobooks Ali has listened to on Audible, he has bought and read the physical version of only 20 to 30. — 00:01:27 · Audible
★★ The third way audiobooks complement physical books is reducing friction by allowing multitasking: Ali has listened to many at the gym, commuting, driving and doing things around the house. — 00:01:27

00:01:56 — Step one, intention: listening for pleasure or for learning; fiction at two times speed; start with fiction

★★★ Ali's workflow for learning from audiobooks has four steps: intention, selection, consumption and processing. — 00:01:56
★★ In the first step of Ali's audiobook method, intention, he asks whether he is listening to an audiobook for pleasure or for efficient learning. — 00:02:00
★★ Ali sees nothing wrong with listening to audiobooks for pleasure: around half of his audiobook listening time has been fiction, which he takes in purely for pleasure. — 00:02:10
★★ Ali enjoys fiction audiobooks more at two times speed than at one time speed, because he finds narrators at normal speed a bit too slow. — 00:02:40
★★★ To people new to audiobooks Ali recommends starting with fiction, since nonfiction can be dry, calling fiction audiobooks a great gateway drug: for example Stardust, narrated superbly by Neil Gaiman, or Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. — 00:02:58 · Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson

00:03:30 — Nearly 3 million subscribers and a giveaway on Instagram

00:03:44 — Step two, selection: a very wide net and a very narrow filter

★★★ In the second step of his audiobook method, selection, Ali's philosophy is a very wide net but a very narrow filter. — 00:03:45

“having a very, very, very wide net, but a very narrow filter”
★★ Ali's wide net: his threshold for getting an audiobook is very low, so he buys almost any book recommended by a friend, a YouTube video, a podcast or someone he follows on Twitter. — 00:03:53 · Audible
★★ Ali's narrow filter: about half an hour into an audiobook he decides whether it is still worth his time or whether to abandon it. — 00:04:10
★★ You are not obligated to finish a book just because you bought it, in print, on Kindle or as an audiobook, any more than a film or an article, Ali says. — 00:04:35 · Kindle
★ Ali is now writing a book of his own. — 00:04:50
★★ Ali says publishers know most readers do not read beyond chapter three, so nonfiction authors front-load the best material into the introduction and the first three chapters. — 00:04:55
★★ If the introduction and first three chapters of a nonfiction book give you little value, Ali says, the rest of the book probably will not either. (hedged) — 00:05:05
★ A book that does not land is not necessarily bad, Ali says: you may come back to it later, or it may have been more relevant earlier in your life. — 00:05:21

00:05:33 — Step three, consumption: four tips on multitasking, speed, mind wandering and guilt-free abandonment

★★★ Ali's first tip for consuming audiobooks is to choose a multitasking activity you can do on autopilot, such as cleaning, laundry or driving to work: anything even vaguely cognitively demanding stops the learning. — 00:05:50
★★★ Ali's second tip is to adjust the audiobook speed until it is fast enough yet comfortable enough to absorb the information, which depends on the narrator's speed and the topic's complexity. — 00:06:19
★★ Self-help books he listens to in order to apply them, on pop psychology, productivity, business or leadership, Ali starts at 1.5 times speed and switches to 2x once he keeps up comfortably. — 00:06:55
★★ Ali finds Derren Brown's Happy, a self-help book about stoicism and happiness, an exception: its complicated words make it hard to listen to at 2x speed. — 00:07:18 · stoicism
★★ For a general-interest book whose gist he wants, such as The Globalization Paradox, Ali does not mind missing words and listens at 2.5 or even three times speed, depending on the narrator. — 00:07:47
★★ Deep-learning books he wants to absorb fully and explain to friends, at present philosophy such as Alan Watts, Ali starts at one time speed. — 00:08:16
★★ Ali keeps deep-learning audiobooks between one and 1.5 times speed: even when it feels too slow, the deep learning happens behind the scenes as he thinks about what the author says. — 00:08:45
★★ Ali's third tip is to notice when your mind wanders: he rewinds a few minutes, and if it happens more than once or twice he closes the audiobook and switches to fiction, music or silence. — 00:09:20
★★ Ali's fourth tip is guilt-free abandonment: if his mind keeps wandering from an audiobook in later sessions too, he abandons it without feeling guilty. — 00:09:44
★★ Ali says you can abandon any learning material, from books and textbooks to lectures and podcasts, once you have its value or are not getting any, working with your natural ebb and flow of energy and interest. — 00:10:20

00:10:40 — Step four, processing: taking notes from audiobooks, buying the Kindle version, explaining the book

★★★ Taking notes is hard with audiobooks, which Ali thinks is a main reason people prefer reading for learning; the key to learning properly from audiobooks is finding a way to take notes as you listen. — 00:10:42
★★ Ali does not find Audible's bookmarks, which save a 30-second clip, helpful: revisiting and re-listening to them is too much of a faff. — 00:11:12 · Audible
★★ When he can pause an audiobook, Ali takes out his phone and writes a few bullet points in a book-notes folder in Apple Notes. — 00:11:41
★★ When he cannot take out his phone, as when driving, Ali dictates a note about the audiobook into the Drafts app on his Apple Watch. — 00:11:55 · Drafts, Apple Watch
★★ Later, whenever he feels like it, Ali goes through his Drafts inbox and copies each dictated note, such as one on Nine Lies About Work, into that book's note in Apple Notes. — 00:12:15 · Drafts
★★ To really learn from a book he has listened to, Ali buys it on Kindle, which he prefers for highlighting, syncing and faster typed notes, or very occasionally in print for margin notes. — 00:12:39 · Kindle
★★★ Ali learns most from a book once he can explain it to someone else: by writing an email newsletter or a tweet thread about it, or summarising it in a Book Club video. — 00:13:08 · Book Club

00:13:20 — The Workflow series on Nebula and the CuriosityStream sponsor read

In the description and comments

★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Replying to a viewer who says Ali should write his own book, the channel says the book is in progress. — creator comment

Threads in this video

refine · Should you read on a Kindle, on paper or by audiobook? — Ali says the debate over whether listening counts as reading misses the point: audiobooks are not a substitute for physical books but a way to complement the reading habit in other areas of life. (00:00:29)
restate · Should you read on a Kindle, on paper or by audiobook? — To really learn from a book he has listened to, Ali buys it on Kindle, which he prefers for highlighting, syncing and faster typed notes, or very occasionally in print for margin notes. (00:12:39)
restate · Is reading fiction worthwhile? — Ali sees nothing wrong with listening to audiobooks for pleasure: around half of his audiobook listening time has been fiction, which he takes in purely for pleasure. (00:02:10)
refine · Is reading fiction worthwhile? — To people new to audiobooks Ali recommends starting with fiction, since nonfiction can be dry, calling fiction audiobooks a great gateway drug: for example Stardust, narrated superbly by Neil Gaiman, or Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. (00:02:58)
restate · Should you listen to podcasts and audiobooks at higher speed? — Ali enjoys fiction audiobooks more at two times speed than at one time speed, because he finds narrators at normal speed a bit too slow. (00:02:40)
refine · Should you listen to podcasts and audiobooks at higher speed? — Ali's second tip is to adjust the audiobook speed until it is fast enough yet comfortable enough to absorb the information, which depends on the narrator's speed and the topic's complexity. (00:06:19)
refine · How do you read more books? — In the second step of his audiobook method, selection, Ali's philosophy is a very wide net but a very narrow filter. (00:03:45)
restate · How do you read more books? — Ali's fourth tip is guilt-free abandonment: if his mind keeps wandering from an audiobook in later sessions too, he abandons it without feeling guilty. (00:09:44)
restate · How do you remember what you read? — When he can pause an audiobook, Ali takes out his phone and writes a few bullet points in a book-notes folder in Apple Notes. (00:11:41)
refine · How do you remember what you read? — Ali learns most from a book once he can explain it to someone else: by writing an email newsletter or a tweet thread about it, or summarising it in a Book Club video. (00:13:08)
restate · How do you remember what you read? — Ali's workflow for learning from audiobooks has four steps: intention, selection, consumption and processing. (00:01:56)
milestone · Ali's first book, which a publisher asked him to write (2020) — Ali is now writing a book of his own. (00:04:50)
progress update · Ali promises to keep recommending fantasy audiobooks on the channel (2020) — To people new to audiobooks Ali recommends starting with fiction, since nonfiction can be dry, calling fiction audiobooks a great gateway drug: for example Stardust, narrated superbly by Neil Gaiman, or Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. (00:02:58)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Ali promises to keep recommending fantasy audiobooks on the channel (2020) — open (updates through 2023, not reported done); last: progress update, 2023-12-15
Ali's first book, which a publisher asked him to write (2020) — completed; last: milestone, 2023-12-26

Mentioned

Central: Audible · speed listening

Also: People: Alan Watts · Brandon Sanderson · Derren Brown · Neil Gaiman

Projects: Book Club · Workflow series

Works: Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine · Mistborn · Nine Lies About Work · Stardust · The Globalization Paradox

Organizations: CuriosityStream · Nebula

Concepts: stoicism

Products: Apple Notes · Apple Watch · Drafts · Kindle

Also centred on speed listening: 20 Lessons that Improved My Life · The Best Productivity Hacks of All Time

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