From "useful" to "useless"
Early on, reading was purposeful. Technical books to learn something, management books to run a team, psychology to understand people.
I took notes. The notes had to be organised, and once organised they needed conclusions. Finishing one book took more effort than a day at work.
Then it changed. Now I read whatever I happen to open, put it down when it stops holding me, and never push through.
What I have been reading
Mostly history and essays. Books where the pleasure is the writing itself rather than the takeaway.
The unexpected side effect: I remember far more than I did when I was taking notes. Because I am not trying to extract anything, I am actually present while reading.
What "useless" gave me back
Attention. That is genuinely hard to find now.
An hour with a book is an hour nothing can interrupt, because there is no notification to check and no output to produce. That is the whole value — not the content.
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