paying attention while reading

Checklist for solitary intellectual activity:

1. Take a 20--40 minute walk.
2. Sit somewhere where you won't do anything that interferes with working. No computer!
3. Continue to sit even if nothing is happening.
4. Write down every on-topic thought on scratch paper.

I'll be doing a lot of math reading for the next few months, I think, as I get started with having an advisor.  Math reading is slow and requires a lot of scratch paper.  First I tell myself to look at the text by writing on my scratch paper, "Okay, what's the next part about?"  Then I look at the text and read a sentence.  I paraphrase the sentence onto my scratch paper.  I explain on my scratch paper how the parts of the sentence refer to earlier parts of the text.  I write down, "Good, fine," and then look around the room for a while.  I write down, "Pay attention!" and then repeat from the beginning with the next sentence.

Practicing violin can be done without paying attention.  I would assert that reading cannot be done without paying attention, any more than driving a car can be done while napping or chopping onions can be done with one's eyes closed.  But I remember that in high school I read Catch-22 entirely without paying attention, so I caught the funny parts but couldn't remember any of the characters' names on the quiz.  I don't think reading math can be done without paying attention, so I direct my attention using scratch paper.  Presumably this would help with reading non-math as well.  Maybe this is why my high-school English teachers always wanted me to write in my books.