#books
How To Read More Often.
Something I get asked often is how I manage to read so many books. People often want to know how to read more. A book a week, gives me more than enough to chew on while doing some “real work.”
How to read more often:
1. Schedule it.
I have reading times on my calendar and treat them like appointments. I don’t schedule anything that conflicts unless it’s extremely urgent or important. The most effective time I’ve found for reading is before bed when it’s easy to block out time.
After lunch or as an afternoon break, when running low on energy, is perhaps the most effective time since I’m low on energy anyway but is harder to schedule.
2. Replace Social Media reading with Book.
I love reading social media posts, but I consume less time now . When I read short form content, I’m largely just looking for and reading things that confirm existing biases and paradigms.
When I finish books on the other hand, I feel that way all the time. Books tend to whisper, not talk.
3. Quit More Books.
In my experience, if it’s not good by 50 pages , then it’s never going to be. It’s hard to quit books and this is something I’ve gotten better at very slowly overtime. By putting down books that you aren’t excited to read, you’ll get through a lot more of ones that you are.
4. Hang out with People that Read More and Feel the Social Pressure.
Another method to read more often is to surround yourself with others who also read a lot.
5. Track it.
Anything measured improves. Since I started keeping a list of books I read, I started to realise it was a good way for how to read more often. Having a To Read list as well puts pressure on you to put less than great books down because you can see what the opportunity cost is of what else you could be reading.
6. Love It.
A lot of people think they should learn how to read more often because they think they should and that it’s a prerequisite for success.
The main reason I read so much, is because books have made a tremendous impact on my life, and I love the experience of reading.
– Joy Kallivayalil.
