A paper-first reading field guide

Decide Which Tabs to Remove After Finishing

For each remaining tab, choose retrieve, discuss, revisit, or remove. Keep the page only when you can name a future use.

Finished books can stay crowded with tabs that no longer mean anything. A purpose test turns cleanup into a usable index.

Step 1

Anchor the location

Record the page or chapter before interpreting the moment. Add the current reading boundary when later knowledge could change the note.

Step 2

Touch every tab once after finishing.

Step 3

Give useful tabs one future purpose.

Step 4

Remove any tab whose purpose you cannot name.