im currently spending my time off work reading and understanding Jung (im a software engineer). here's what i did that helped:
- identify the names of the basic concepts that the author uses throughout his/her work. no need to grasp their precise definitions, the goal here is to get a sense of the author's vocabulary of key words. this is easier to achieve for certain authors, especially if they use sensible names that are not too abstract nor too "far" from the concepts they represent. introductory texts, wikipedia pages, youtube videos are very helpful in this regard.
- understand the key words more precisely. once you've identified the key concepts, the next step is to understand their definitions, and how they are used by the author. focus on the context in which they are used. the trick here is to use the key words as pivots for understanding the sentences in which they appear. as you read more, you will see the same words reappearing in contexts that are similar. secondary/complementary texts, primary texts+study guides can come in very handy in this step.
- deep dive. at this point, if youve done your work, you should be able to see the key words and understand them without having to consciously recall what they mean or represent. for most people this is good enough, but if you want to know more (to be able to synthesise new thoughts or relate them to existing ideas in your head), you can go further and start diving into primary texts written by the author.
more general tips:
- study every day if you can, this helps with retention
- take notes, pen and paper if possible (i find that concepts retain better when i write them down, for me personally at least)
- focus, sometimes i find myself scanning through sentences without actually reading them (this is usually a sign of fatigue, you might want to take a break when this happens)
- if you are learning something practical, make sure to practise applying them
- identify the names of the basic concepts that the author uses throughout his/her work. no need to grasp their precise definitions, the goal here is to get a sense of the author's vocabulary of key words. this is easier to achieve for certain authors, especially if they use sensible names that are not too abstract nor too "far" from the concepts they represent. introductory texts, wikipedia pages, youtube videos are very helpful in this regard.
- understand the key words more precisely. once you've identified the key concepts, the next step is to understand their definitions, and how they are used by the author. focus on the context in which they are used. the trick here is to use the key words as pivots for understanding the sentences in which they appear. as you read more, you will see the same words reappearing in contexts that are similar. secondary/complementary texts, primary texts+study guides can come in very handy in this step.
- deep dive. at this point, if youve done your work, you should be able to see the key words and understand them without having to consciously recall what they mean or represent. for most people this is good enough, but if you want to know more (to be able to synthesise new thoughts or relate them to existing ideas in your head), you can go further and start diving into primary texts written by the author.
more general tips:
- study every day if you can, this helps with retention
- take notes, pen and paper if possible (i find that concepts retain better when i write them down, for me personally at least)
- focus, sometimes i find myself scanning through sentences without actually reading them (this is usually a sign of fatigue, you might want to take a break when this happens)
- if you are learning something practical, make sure to practise applying them