With Little Time on Your Hand Can You Benefit from Reading Books?
The Lifetime Learner's Guide to Reading and Learning
I love reading books. I’ll forgo doing other things, so that I have time to read. I’ve made reading books a priority for me. That’s not the case for most people. You’re thinking you lead a busy lifestyle. And on top of that, childcare and eldercare is a part of your reality. You may be feeling that you don’t have the bandwidth to take on anything else – including reading books. Could getting the most from the books you read in the time you have become a reality?
Workplaces are changing rapidly, how will you find the time to develop the skills you need to thrive in the future? Some of the most successful people read books with the intent to learn. They lead busy lifestyles, yet they make time to read. If you’re not among the elite readers, don’t stress yourself out. I’ll teach you how to read books in what little time you have.
Have you read?
Read with Purpose to Get the Most Knowledge from Books
What You Need to Know About Getting the Most from the Books You Read in the Time You Have
Publishers Have Word Counts
There are a few things that you need to know first. They’ll convince you that you don’t have to spend hours reading non-fiction books. First, have you ever noticed how the books in a specific genre in a bookstore are roughly the same length. Of course, there will always be outliers. Yes, some of us still visit bookstores. The reason why the books are roughly the same length has to do with word counts that publishers dictate.
I was reading a non-fiction book recently. The author said he’d always wanted to write a book on the subject. He’d been studying the topic for decades. After writing down everything he wanted to say, he had fifty pages, which is roughly 25,000 words. This would depend on font size and whether it was single or double spaced. The problem was that the publisher told him they wanted 100,000 words. Therein lies the problem.
That’s 75,000 words short. Even if he added in some case studies and other relevant information, he’s still going to have to add a lot of extraneous information to honor the word count commitment. As a busy professional, why should you spend time reading non-essential information? What you must do first, is to preview the book before you start reading it.
Some Books Are Only Meant to Be Tasted: Getting the Most from the Books You Read in the Time You Have
I’ll give you clues how to do that, but first, I want to tell you the second thing that you need to know. And it relates to the first point. It’s a famous Francis Bacon quote.
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”
The quote is telling you that you cannot read every book the same way. Not every book is worthy of being read cover-to-cover. You get to decide which book you’re going to taste, swallow, or chew and digest. That’s right you are in the driver’s seat. You’re taking control of your reading time. What I’m sharing with you is for non-fiction books. So, getting the most from the books you read in the time you have will become a reality if you need to only taste or swallow the book.
On Average Between Four Percent and 11 Percent of a Book Has Important Information
The third thing I’d like you to know, is that recently, while taking the PhotoReading
course, I learned that Russell G. Stauffer reported in his book, Teaching Reading as a Thinking Process
, that between four and 11 percent of the text in a book are essential information. You read that correctly.
However, the trick is to figure out which four to 11 percent of the book you must read. That’s where previewing the book comes in. If only between four and 11 percent of a book has important information, then getting the most from the books you read in the time you have is absolutely possible for any professional.
Anyone can spare 30 to 60 minutes in a week. No one is busy every minute of the day.
Preview to Get the Most from the Books You Read in the Time You Have
To preview a book, you want to look at the table of contents and place a check mark beside sections or chapters that have the information that aligns with your purpose for reading the book in the first place. You also want to read the preface, foreword and introduction and as well as review the index if the book has one. And you also want to quickly flip through the book looking at the images.
Previewing is the helicopter view of the book. It allows you to see the big picture of what the book is about. The other thing it does for you, is to give you a place to hang the information you decide to read. This helps you to remember more of what you read. When previewing a book, you can set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes. There’s a lot of information you can cover in 30 minutes. If you have the Pomodoro app, use that. If you’re not finished previewing the book in 25 or 30 minutes. You can spend a bit more time. Your goal is to be able to preview a non-fiction book in no more than 30 minutes.
To Taste, Swallow, Or Chew and Digest a Book: Getting the Most from the Books You Read in the Time You Have
Back to Francis Bacon quote. You may find that after previewing some books that’s all you need. This is decision time, to read or not to read the book. If you’re reading for information or to deepen your understanding of a topic of interest, 30 minutes may be all you need. If you need to delve deeper into the text do it. But only focus on the four to 11 percent of the text that’s important. What you’ll discover, is that instead of spending six to eight hours reading a non-fiction book, you’ll end up spending only a fraction of that time when you preview the book first.
As someone who reads a few books each week. I’m noticing that a lot more books don’t have table of contents. If that’s the case, quickly flip through the book to see the chapter headings. You may have to read the first and last sentence of each chapter to get a sense of what it’s about. Even when you have to do this, it’s less time than reading books the traditional way. And remember to note which sections and chapters you need to explore more deeply.
Purpose and Previewing Go Hand in Hand to Get the Most from Your Reading Time
Yesterday, we talked about having a purpose for every book that you read. This allows you to zero in on the information you want from the book when previewing it. Say for instance, that while previewing a book, you notice exactly what you need in the table of contents. You’ll know exactly which sections of the book you need to read.
Do you see how getting the most from the books you read in the time you have is possible when you have a purpose for reading as well as previewing the book first. If you have a time constraint, preview and dip into the sections that align with your purpose.
To recap, when you have a limited amount of time to allot for reading books with the intent to learn:
- Write your one sentence purpose for reading the book.
- Preview the book before you start reading.
- Take my two-month reading challenge, Learning How to Learn Again Program
Note: If you click on a link and purchase an item on Amazon, the organization will pay me a small commission.
