How To Read More Carefully At Work

Work reading is often rushed because the document looks familiar. That is how important details get missed.

Ask what the document wants from you

Are you approving, learning, editing, finding risk, or preparing a response? The purpose changes how you read.

Mark claims and decisions

Highlight claims, assumptions, numbers, deadlines, and decisions. These are the parts most likely to matter later.

Write a one-sentence takeaway

After reading, summarize what changed. If you cannot write the takeaway, you may have scanned instead of understood.