Last week tidying my bookshelf, I realized 80% of the books I bought were unfinished — and of what I did read, I remembered less than 10% three months later.
I got stuck here too. Back then I thought "finished reading = done," until I started making paid content and discovered those killer passages I'd just read... I couldn't recall a single one.
Last month, I saw how someone reads 600 books in 10 years
On sspai there's an author called "Chen Mo" (陈默) — an indie dev based in Shenzhen. He started reading habitually in 2017; exactly ten years in, 600+ books under his belt. His main reading slot: one hour a day on the commute metro.
His move: fully connect the three steps — read → capture → use.
- Use a read-later tool (e.g., Readwise Reader, Instapaper) to collect every highlight and underline in one place. "Read-later" basically means "save it now, revisit later."
- Use a notes tool (e.g., Notion, Obsidian) for structured organization — sort by topic.
- The key step: every week, spend 30 minutes "translating" that week's notes into your own words and writing them into your personal material library.
His take: reading isn't the goal — using it is. If a book's methodology never gets written down or put into action, it's the same as not reading it.
I built this myself yesterday — here's the actual cost
- Money: Readwise Reader is $80/year (~$580 RMB). Notion free tier is enough; Obsidian is fully free. Don't want to spend? Instapaper + Feishu/Memo combo also works.
- Time: 1 hour to set up the tools; about 2-3 weeks to build the "mark as soon as you finish reading" habit.
- Technical bar: just need to use browser extensions and copy-paste — no coding at all.
- First step: pick one read-later tool (I'd start with Instapaper's free tier), install the browser extension, and begin using it next Monday when you read articles or books.
I also messed this up: week one I installed 5 tools, used none consistently. Only after cutting down to 1 did the habit stick. More tools doesn't help — actually using them does.
If you're... here's what I'd suggest
- Just starting out (haven't begun content/paid work yet): don't rush to build a system. First build the instinct to "screenshot/save anything good." Wait until you land your first client.
- 1-2 clients / starting content: what you lack most is a "material library." I'd install one read-later tool this week and dump every solid thing I scroll past into it — organize it a month later.
- Scaling up (team / courses / productization): you don't need more tools — you need an SOP. I'd assign one person weekly to clean the notes pool, turning fragments into reusable docs.
This system isn't for everyone. If you can't even find reading time right now, skip the system — 15 quiet minutes a day beats any tool.