If you want to Read More Books, then do These Things
This post is inspired by Kalen Bruce’s, “How Ten Feet Helped Me Read 5 More Books Last Month.” I am a Bookaholic, so I am always reading! I usually have a book in my purse, as well as many books on my phone thanks to the Kindle app, so I can read while I am waiting or on the go. There are many instances when I missed my subway stop or nearly missed it because my head was buried in a good book. On Christmas Day, I was waiting for a friend to pick me up from the subway station, so I thought I would read while waiting. Well, I was so engrossed in my book that my friend arrived and I didn’t even notice because I was having so much fun with my reading. Most people do not read books because they feel like they do not have enough time. But everyone has a few moments many times during each day. Therefore, one of the way to read more is to practice interstitial reading.
According to a study by Pew titled, “A Snapshot of Reading in America in 2013,”
“As of January 2014, some 76% of American adults ages 18 and older said that they read at least one book in the past year. Almost seven in ten adults (69%) read a book in print in the past 12 months, while 28% read an e-book, and 14% listened to an audiobook…. Women are more likely than men to have read a book in the previous 12 months, and those with higher levels of income and education are more likely to have done so as well. In addition, blacks are more likely to have read a book than Hispanics. There were no significant differences by age group for rates of reading overall.”
Brandon Vogt, from Read More Books Now, did an informal poll of his friends and contacts to determine their reading habits. He discovered that they didn’t read books because they either didn’t have the time to read or couldn’t focus while reading. Based on what he discovered from his poll, Brandon decided to produce a video that addresses the two issues. In the video, he tells us that there are many moments in the day that we can apply to reading: In a waiting room, during a commute, and while eating. I have a serious problem with reading while eating because when you eat while doing another activity you tend to overeat. And in many instances, eating is a time to build community or relationships. The other two suggestions I heartily agree with.
To read more books, Brandon says to challenge yourself to read a certain number of pages in a sitting. So for instance, the average person takes one minute to read each page, therefore, she can read 30 pages in 30 minutes, making it possible to read a book a week. I have no problem finding time to read books because I simply make the time at the cost of other activities that are not a priority for me. But the problem for me, and it has been a problem for a long time, is reading more business books. I find a lot of business books to be very dry and so they do not engage me. I read Zero to One and Show Your Work quickly because they were interesting and I enjoyed them.
In his post, Kalen Bruce talks about having a favorite chair that he likes to sit in, and when he moved the books from his reading pile to within an arm’s reach from his chair, he started to read more, simply because the books were easily accessible from the spot where he spends a lot of time. He also talks about your environment, does it encourage you to read more books, or to take part in another activity?
After reading Kalen Bruce’s post and watching Brandon Vogt’s video, the question is, how can you change your environment to read more books? How can you use the few moments that you do have, to read more books? And for me specifically, it is how to change my environment to read more business books? I will start to read a business book, and if it’s not interesting, I will put it down and read another book in a very short time. But in the past, when I read at least 100 pages of a business book in one sitting, I would likely see it to the end, before moving on to another book, and perhaps that’s what I should focus on to read more business, which aligns with what Brandon is saying.
Find more statistics at Statista
If reading books is indeed important to you, make sure that you have a book with you at all times, and this could be a physical book, an audio book, or an e-book on your mobile device. If you want to read more books, then do these things.
Get Started Here – I want to help you get started on your learning journey. Ask yourself this. Are you really ready to make a change to read more books? If so, Join The Invisible Mentor 2015 Reading Challenge today, connecting the ideas from the books you read!
In the meantime, THANK YOU for your time… Thank you for sharing this post, and thank you for connecting with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest! What was your biggest takeaway from today?
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