You would have thought I had learned this earlier.

(Sorry it’s so big, click the link below or scroll to the right)

Artifact: https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/c2212195-e786-4608-9f9a-707eb6dfc912

Code (mermaid)

flowchart TD
    A[Start] --> B{Is this the best and most<br/>relevant one you can find<br/>in the next hour?}
    B -->|No| C[Find another paper]
    C --> B
    B -->|Yes| D[Read through quickly,<br/>skip any tangents you're<br/>not interested in]
    D --> E{Does this paper still<br/>seem worth investing into?}
    E -->|No| F{Would it be helpful to<br/>make some notes to remind<br/>yourself about this paper later?}
    F -->|Yes| G[Make notes]
    F -->|No| A
    G --> A
    E -->|Yes| I[Read again carefully<br/>attending to points of detail]
    I --> J{Is it still worth<br/>investing into?}
    J -->|No| F
    J -->|Yes| K[Read again carefully,<br/>this time attending to footnotes<br/>and material they are engaging with,<br/>quickly read some of the most<br/>interesting papers that they<br/>are engaging with]
    K --> L[Make careful notes<br/>that you can read later]
    L --> M{Reevaluate}
    M --> N1[Option 1: This is still the most<br/>important paper I could be engaging with]
    M --> N2[Option 2: There is likely<br/>something else more important]
    N2 --> A
    N1 --> N[Carefully write out your initial thoughts<br/>about this paper - objections,<br/>counterarguments, extensions]
    N --> O{Is this still your<br/>most important project?}
    O -->|No| P[Work on what is most important]
    P --> A
    O -->|Yes| Q[Revise your argument based on feedback.<br/>Pick whichever seems most helpful:]
    Q --> R[More time spent thinking]
    Q --> S[More time spent reading]
    Q --> T[More time spent writing]
    Q --> U[More feedback]
    R --> V{Is this project finished?}
    S --> V
    T --> V
    U --> V
    V -->|No| O
    V -->|Yes| W[Yay! You read a paper.]

I used AI to generate the flowchart quickly, the ideas and wording are my own.