Readwise and the IDEA Workflow
How I use Readwise Highlight Reviews for Knowledge Retention
We are constantly bombarded with information. You might try to be intentional about what you consume—books, articles, videos, or podcasts—but the sheer amount can still be overwhelming. Years ago, when I was looking for ways to handle this, I stumbled upon the concept of knowledge management. It became clear that having a system for consuming and organizing information would make all the difference in making the most of my time and whatever I consumed.
As I refined my own system for learning and processing information, I realized the real challenge was to internalize knowledge so it could be put into practice rather than just accumulating it. While searching for a solution to address this, I discovered Readwise—a highlights manager that has been with me for a couple of years now. My system has never been the same ever since finding this tool.
I want to share with you an overview of how I integrate Readwise into my workflow. This app has truly been HUGE for me when managing my notes and highlights from the content I consume. If you have no idea what Readwise, BASB, or "knowledge management" is but are interested in learning, productivity, and personal development, this might just be for you!
If you'd like to see a more detailed walkthrough of this, I've created a video:
Note-Taking as a Learning Tool
While note-taking is an incredible tool for learning, it's not without its challenges. One of the most significant issues that I've encountered is information overload. We may diligently take notes on everything we consume, but those notes often end up buried in a pile, never to be seen again.
This is where Readwise comes in. It's a powerful tool that helps you resurface and review your highlights, making sure the knowledge you've captured doesn't go to waste.
Why Readwise?
Readwise is a highlights manager that connects to various sources, including web articles, physical books, ebooks, Kindle, and different applications. It automatically organizes your highlights by source, author, tags, and media type, making it easy to find and review the information you've captured.
One of the my favorite features of Readwise is its "Highlights Review". This uses a spaced repetition algorithm to resurface your highlights at optimal intervals, helping you retain the knowledge for the long term. By regularly reviewing your highlights, you can transform the information you've captured into a part of your everyday thoughts and knowledge base.
While Readwise is an incredible tool, it's important to adapt it to your personal needs and workflow. In my case, when I discovered that not only could you review highlights but also format them, tag them, and annotate on them within the platform, I decided to restructure my entire system around this concept of highlighting and reviewing. I want to emphasize that note-taking is still an essential part of the learning process. Readwise simply enhances and complements my system.
I’ll be honest with you here: I don't believe any one specific tool is necessary for effective note-taking and knowledge management. However, I have yet to find anything comparable to what Readwise offers in terms of highlight review and resurfacing.
My Workflow with Readwise: IDEA
To simplify things for the purpose of this article and the video I shared, I've condensed my overall workflow with Readwise into a four-step process that I call "IDEA." This stands for Ingest, Distill, Edit, and Assess. Let's dive into each step:
1. Ingest
The first step is to have a systematic and organized approach to ingesting or consuming knowledge. Readwise allows you to connect various sources, but they also have a companion app called Reader, which streamlines this process.
Whenever I come across something interesting, instead of immediately diving in, I add the link to Reader. I also receive newsletters directly within the app, plus I have it connected to several RSS feeds of sources I find worth following. Reader also has a review feature that helps me decide whether to read the content soon, archive it, remove it, or save it for later. This approach gives me control over my time and attention, ensuring that I focus on high-quality knowledge.
2. Distill
The next step is to distill the core ideas and important insights from the content I consume. I do this by highlighting the key points that stand out to me. I've found that a simple approach works best, as it allows me to enjoy the process of consuming information while still capturing the essentials.
When highlighting, I look for insights that make me ask questions, challenge my way of thinking, or provide new perspectives. I'm VERY selective in what I highlight, focusing on the most valuable and thought-provoking content.
Both Readwise and Reader allow you to add tags at the document and highlight level, which helps with organization. Whenever I finish reading something in Reader and have highlighted at least one sentence, I add an "INBOX" tag to the document. This tag is crucial for the next step.
3. Edit
Every day, I set aside a few minutes to edit a handful of highlights in Readwise. The daily review feature presents me with a manageable number of highlights (I have it set to 5 per day), making the task feel achievable and low-friction. In Readwise I have my frequency tuning all the way up for the “inbox” tag because I want to give those a first pass while they are still fresh in my mind.
During the editing process, I use a technique called progressive summarization. This involves formatting the text to make the central idea stand out. I bold the main points and highlight the core concepts within those bolded sections. Over time, as I review the same highlight multiple times, I refine the formatting and add personal notes to provide context and clarify my understanding. I may also edit the highlight to make it more concise or simplify it—I know I can always restore the original text if I take the editing too far. When I am in my Highlights Review I also take the chance to add highlight-specific tags to categorize the content by topic (if it’s related to something that could be used in a separate context from the original document) or type (e.g., quotes, takeaways).
What has been very important for me in this step of editing and processing individual highlights is to take advantage of Readwise's "Highlights Review" feature for this. Individual highlight-level process instead of document level processing allows me to extract insights and connect ideas within a wider range of topics, instead of just limiting myself to the content of an entire book/article or text. While I do find Readwise's search and filtering features somewhat limited, the act of editing, adding personal notes, and tagging serves as an opportunity to interact with my highlights on a daily basis, reinforcing my learning and retention.
4. Assess
Once a week, I dedicate time to assess my system and evaluate the content I've recently consumed. I check my "INBOX" tag in Reader and ensure that all highlights from a given document have received at least a first pass edit in Readwise. It’s in this step that I may also decide to export some highlights, texts, or links to Bear for further processing, to use them in current or future projects, or even to mention them in my weekly newsletter.
After editing all the highlights from a document, I remove the "INBOX" tag, indicating that the document is now part of my regular Readwise review rotation. This weekly assessment helps me stay on top of my knowledge management system and ensures that I'm consistently engaging with the information I've captured.
Creating with Your Knowledge
The ultimate goal of knowledge management is to not only consume and organize information but also to create something new with it. That's where the power of internalizing and deep-learning everything with the help of Readwise comes into play. By constantly ingesting, distilling, editing, and assessing my highlights, I'm able to remix the knowledge I've acquired into original content. This was one of my main inspirations when I started this newsletter, and it continues to be a significant part of my everyday life.
Creating with knowledge can take many forms, such as writing articles, creating videos, or even sharing insights with others. For example, I often do my daily Readwise review while walking in the park with my wife. This often presents the opportunity to have an informal chat about a specific highlight that pops up during our walk. These kinds of conversations not only allow me to use knowledge to inspire me or create something new but also help me explore different perspectives and even come up with solid arguments to support my own ideas. By actively engaging with my highlights and using them as a foundation for creation, I'm able to solidify my understanding and contribute my unique perspective to others.
Closing
By using Readwise and this IDEA workflow, I've been able to transform the way I consume and retain information. I've come to love my daily reviews so much and they've been so useful that I decided to adapt all my knowledge management system around this practice of constantly interacting with my highlights.
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Do you use Readwise? Do you have any special tips or would like to share something about your particular workflow? I'm always on the lookout for ways to improve my own system, so if you have any insights to share, please feel free to hit reply or comment!
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