REAP: A Four-Step Method for Active Reading and Note-Taking

Drowning in a sea of words; books, articles, essays, podcasts, newsletters, tweets. An information addict, not learning anything. Only skimming the surface while reading, then forgetting most o f it immediately. Overwhelmed by an endless deluge of content unable to make sense of the chaos.

If any of this sounds like you, you’re certainly not alone. You just need a conscious strategy for curating and processing it all. You need a way to transform your reading from passive consumption to an active, intentional skill. You need to learn to take thinking notes.

Enter REAP.

REAP is a note-taking method that stands for Read, Encode, Annotate, and Ponder. It was developed by two educators in the 1970s as a way to improve reading comprehension, writing abilities, and study skills.

I knew as soon as I discovered it that it would make a great template for creating evergreen notes in my mind garden.

Let me show you how it works.

Note: This article is a general overview. If you want a more in depth explanation of REAP, check out the article below.