Apply the Pareto Principle (i.e., the 80/20 rule)

Apply the Pareto Principle (i.e., the 80/20 rule)

If 80% of the benefit is all you need and can be had for 20% of the effort, then do it.  Learning to effectively skim and comprehend a reference book is one such example. For each chapter, read the first paragraph, the first sentence of each subsequent paragraph,...