I stopped using readwise and I ended up reading more
I found out that I was the problem not the apps
Since I got into personal knowledge management, note-taking, and productivity, I have been using apps like Readwise and web clippers to make sure I capture everything that looks important. For the last couple of months I have moved to a more analog system, and I have found that I read more, I enjoy reading more, and I remember more. This goes for both articles and books. So my reading is better in all aspects, even though I take fewer notes? It felt really weird, but I took some time to reflect on it, and in this article I will try to share my personal reflections.
What the issue was
The issue was not Readwise. Actually, after realizing the issue, I think I can easily go back to Readwise and still keep reading a lot, taking a lot of notes, and generally doing as well with my reading as I do now. So the problem is not the apps, but the philosophy I brought with me when I was building my second brain. I saw other people’s second brains and they had so many notes, all connected together, and it looked really beautiful. I wanted that, and instead of taking my time building a second brain with things I cared about, I decided to capture everything.
I created a second brain that felt more like a dumping ground than an actual second brain. This is the philosophy I brought with me when I read books and articles. If a book or article could not be highlighted and added to Readwise, I would just not read it. It was a waste of time, because if I did not capture anything for the projects I was working on, I was not being productive. So the reading would be a waste of time if I did not capture everything. This also meant that I would read books and articles not focusing on learning or understanding, but rather on what I could capture. I would read books searching for quotes, read articles looking for stats, and try to find things I could add to my note-taking app. It changed the way I thought about knowledge. Knowledge was no longer something I needed to understand, it was something I saved for future reference. In the end it became annoying and it made me tired. Always analyzing everything you read in order to find something to add to your note-taking app gets exhausting. I lost the fun and enjoyment of reading, and that is what made me stop.
Reading is actually a really fun experience. I spent a lot of time reading the wrong way. I read books I did not enjoy, I read as work and not for enjoyment. It was a shift in mindset that made reading enjoyable again. I am no longer thinking of reading as productivity. I am thinking of reading as enjoyment, like watching sports or TV shows. I spend longer on each book and read fewer books, but I read more. I remember how I would just skim through books to capture as much as I could, and then I could not tell you what the book was about. I would go back to Readwise and see all of my highlights, and I still was not sure about the core ideas. That is different now.
This realization came from watching a couple of YouTube videos. I saw people summarizing books and their core ideas using AI and adding them into their note-taking apps. For me that felt off. There are some use cases where it makes sense, like when I am reading a report I am not particularly interested in and am just looking for one specific piece of information to use in a report, video, or article. For example, I once needed the consumption of Pepsi Max in Norway for a LinkedIn post. I was not going to read through entire reports or articles for that. But I could not imagine doing that with all of my reading and learning. Automating all of it. I then realized that my habit of chasing what to capture was just a version of AI summarization. That is when I figured out that my way of reading was actually stopping me from really reading.
There are real benefits to reading, and I want those benefits. Not only that, I wanted to learn to enjoy reading again, because I used to love it. So removing apps like Readwise, and even my regular note-taking app, for a while helped me build a better reading habit. That habit has since actually helped me create a better second brain. So basically, I had a second brain and app detox, and it helped.
The problem is not the apps. It was me, and the way I thought about productivity. Quitting those apps helped me understand that I was not living the way I wanted. My philosophy of productivity and life in general is to go deep on ideas and things. I want to prioritize depth. Unfortunately, I had not been doing that. So taking a break from apps like Readwise helped me realize how I was not acting according to my own values.
To summarize: I stopped using Readwise for a while. Not because I did not like Readwise, but because I had stopped reading. The problem was not the app — it was the philosophy I had adopted, which was wrong for me. I am not saying that reading in order to capture things is inherently wrong. The problem was that it did not feel like I was living the way I wanted. This connects to the bigger idea of slow productivity and slower living, which in the end gave me back my joy of reading and I am happy about that. At some point I will probably return to apps like Readwise, because it is a really good app. But if I do, I will come back with a different philosophy: one of doing things more slowly and focusing on going deeper. Because that is the life I want to live, and one that I think many others can benefit from too. Live slower, and live in the moment.