When people ask, “how do you find the time to read so many books?”
A question that I get asked all the time, is “How do you find the time to read so many books?” Because I view reading as one of life’s simple pleasures, I indulge myself all the time. And I would think it would be the same thing for those who enjoy doing other things. I do not while the time away reading books all day, I do have to work on projects because the bills have to be paid. Besides reading because it gives me pleasure, I also read for information and to further my knowledge about “something.” With the pace of technological change, continuous learning is a must, and one of the easiest ways to learn all the time is by reading the right books. Before I talk about finding the time to read, based on my experience, there is another issue that I’d like to raise first.
I try to pay attention to the kinds of books that successful people read, and one of the things that I have noticed is that many of them read the classics. The classics tend to give your mind an intellectual workout when you read them, making you think deeply. In the Great Ideas lecture, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The Essential Value of a Classic Education,” Jeffrey Benzel talks about the importance of reading the right old books. For a few years, I reported on the blog that I was reading the classics. The problem is, although I enjoy reading, I do not enjoy reading the classics that much, and therefore, I never read as many of them as I intended, but I do read as many books as I committed to reading. So the issue for me is not finding the time to read, but reading what I say I am going to read.
Noticing my pattern, I realized that if I am going to read the classics, when I create my reading list, I also have to include other books that I enjoy, such as mysteries, drama, love stories, literary fictions, and every now and again, a few science fiction. But for those who do not carve out the time to read because their days are over-scheduled, to make the time, you have to have a compelling purpose for reading. We are living in an age where we have to be proactive about our careers, therefore we have to keep our skills sharp. When I read broadly, I notice that I am able to generate many great ideas, and you will find that as well.
Compelling reasons to read more books include: Not becoming obsolete, learning a new skill to get a promotion, learning how to solve a problem in your workplace, creating a new product or service. The world is not going to stand still for us, so we have to change. Do not read professional related books only, include some books to read for entertainment. Better still, read books on your hobbies because they could become a side business for you. Now that you have a compelling reason for reading, will you ever find the time to read? Even though I enjoy reading, I make sure that I schedule time for reading because I know that what gets scheduled gets done. I schedule time to read before I go to sleep at night. I often have a book in my purse, and I have the Kindle app on my computer as well as on my smartphone, and the devices are synced. So when I am riding the subway, or waiting for a ride, or at the doctor’s office, I either read a print book, or an e-book. I find that we spend a lot of time waiting and that’s time we can use more productively.
For those who have a long commute on the bus or train, or drive long distances to work, audio books are the way to go. Zig Ziglar would refer to this period of learning while driving as attending mobile university. The problem with listening to audio books, or reading e-books, is that you often do not remember as much as when you are reading print books. If you want to read a book a week, I recommend that you commit to reading 50 pages each day. The average business book is about 50 pages.
I decided to host The Invisible Mentor 2015 Reading Challenge where participants read a book a week for 52 weeks with the hope that reading will become a habit for them. I created the Challenge because I was distressed by what I heard at a speaking event – more job losses to robotics and big data. This is something that I as one person can do. The purpose of the Reading Challenge is to read for solutions. But now that the first month of the Reading Challenge is almost up, reading for solutions is not enough, we should also be reading to connect ideas from the books we read. That’s where the true value of reading lies. Imagine the possibilities when you read some books, connect the ideas among them, and you suddenly find a breakthrough idea to forever change your life. All it takes is implementing one great idea. Dee Hock, the founder of Visa, read 1000 books before he found the one book that had a profound impact on his life. In case you are curious, his one book is Rubáiyát by Omar Khayyam. I have read the Rubáiyát, which is an excellent book, but it isn’t my one book. I have not found the “one” yet.
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Book Review: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, Translated by Edward Fitzgerald
I must admit that I do not find it easy to read business books, because many of them are as dry as the classics. So the Reading Challenge is somewhat of a struggle because there are several books that I have to read to develop new skills and learn new ways of doing things, but I do it because of a powerful purpose to read. The beauty of the 2015 Reading Challenge is that it holds me accountable, and I also have books to read that are the kinds of books that I truly enjoy. It’s not too late to join the Challenge because I will be hosting challenges within a Challenge. What that means is that, at some point, I will be doing seven books in seven days, and a book a day for a 30 days, so I would love it if you joined me.
This is my way of answering, “How do you find the time to read so many books?” In my opinion, that isn’t the right question to ask me, the better question is, “Why do you read so many books?” If I expect to thrive and succeed in this world, I have to read many books, but I have to read the right books, which is a cautionary tale for me, since I love to take many detours from my reading list. That’s why I need you to hold me accountable.
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Why read, what to read, and Teddy Roosevelt
Get Started Here – I want to help you get started on your learning journey. 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 and Twitter! What was your biggest takeaway from today?
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