The unintended benefits of reading several books at the same time - multi-disciplinary thinking in action

I used to think that reading is something very sacred, so I should dedicate my undivided attention to read one book at a time. Until I find out how much more thinking could be provoked by reading different books in the same period. 

It's not something that I intend to do at first. It all happened when I started to read the first book that is showing up on my Kindle library, only to realize later that this is not the one that I have started the day before. But as the content was very engaging, I didn't want to put it down and go back to the other book. Somehow, although the two books are talking about different things, my brain started to make connections before the two, shedding new lights into the content of both. 

Since then, I would intentionally mix the books that I read, in the same period. And I would try to pick them from different subject areas, even they seem to be completely unrelated to each other. The approach would naturally confuse my brain about what I am reading, and make it think across the two. How easy it is now indeed to think in a multi-disciplinary way!

In fact, I can even substitute the books with other things that I am watching or listening to everyday so I just mix up all sources of information that I get everyday. I can start to read a book on psychology, and then also watch a documentary on buddhism. On the way to work, I can listen to a podcast on business news. Certain connections would naturally arise and flourish, giving new revelations.

Reading books, listening to podcast, and watching TV programs are probably just we do everyday already. The thing is that we need to first make an deliberation to mix them by different subject areas. Sooner or later, we would discover fresh new thinking coming out from a multi-disciplinary approach. This is especially helpful when we are stuck with a problem, as insights often arise when we are thinking about something else.