How much do you read?
For most of my adult life, I read maybe five books a year — if I was lucky. I’d read a couple on vacation, and I’d always have a few slow burners hanging around the bedside table for months.
And then last year I surprised myself by reading 50 books. I’ve never felt more creatively alive in all areas of my life. I feel more interesting, I feel like a better father and my writing output has dramatically increased. Amplifying my reading rate has been the domino that has tipped over a slew of others.
Here’s my advice for fitting more reading into your own life, based on the behaviors that I changed:
— CENTRALIZE READING IN YOUR HOME: Last year my wife and I moved our sole TV into our dark, unfinished basement and got a bookshelf installed on the wall beside our front door. Now we see, walk by and touch the bookshelf dozens of times a day. And the TV sits dormant unless we make a point of going to watch it.
— MAKE A PUBLIC COMMITMENT: Commitment is one of the most important weapons of social influence. Commit to reading by opening an account at Goodreads or Reco, friending a few co-workers or friends, and then updating your profile every time you read a book. Or put together an email list to send out short reviews of the books you read.
— FIND A FEW TRUSTED, CURATED LISTS:
This can be as simple as the email lists I mentioned, but with a bit of digging you can most likely find the one that totally aligns with your tastes.
— CHANGE YOUR MINDSET ABOUT QUITTING: Just say, “Phew! Now I’ve finally ditched this brick to make room for that gem I’m about to read next.”
— TRIPLE YOUR CHURN RATE: I realized that for years I’d thought of my bookshelf as a fixed and somewhat artistic object. Now I think of it as a dynamic organism. In a given week I probably add about five books to the shelf and get rid of three or four.
— READ PHYSICAL BOOKS: In an era when our movie, film and photography collections are all going digital, there is something grounding about having an organically growing collection of books in the home. And since many of us look at screens all day, it can be a welcome change of pace to hold an actual book in your hands.
— FIT IT INTO THE SMALLEST TIME WINDOWS: When did I read those five books a year for most of my life? On holidays or during long flights. When do I read now? All the time. A few pages here. A few pages there. I have a book in my bag at all times. Slipping pages into all the corners of the day adds up.
Happy reading.
