Something that I get asked a lot is how I read so many books. People often want to know how to read more often.
Last year I read 60 books and am on pace for about the same this year. I’m not going to win any contests but it’s a pretty good pace for me. I’m a subscriber to the voracious input, focused output theory of productivity.
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 times I’ve found for reading are just after waking up and 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. Interestingly, it’s not culturally acceptable to pull out a book in the middle of the office and read in the afternoon while refreshing your inbox repeatedly from 2-4pm is smiled upon.
I also get a lot of reading done while traveling since there’s downtime built in with layovers and checking in and out. I’m almost dreading when wifi becomes free and ubiquitous on flights.
2. Replace Blog Reading and Podcasts with Books
I love reading blogs and listening to podcasts, but I consume less of both than I ever have before. When I read short form content, I’m largely just looking for and reading things that confirm existing biases and paradigms. I’ve very rarely finished a blog article and had a paradigm shift.
When I finish books on the other hand, I feel that way all the time. Books tend to whisper, not talk.
3. Get an Audible subscription
I like to do my big biographies and histories on Audible since the narrative on audio is really enjoyable and a credit on Audible is good for any book. I get the 50 hour biographies for $15!
Audible has made me look forward to otherwise mundane tasks. I notice myself get excited by laundry, cooking, and commuting (by long walks whenever possible). I couldn’t wait to cook all my food for the week last weekend because it meant I got to spend two hours with Abraham Lincoln.
Audible is also ideal for travelling and long walks. I had a realization passing through Tokyo last year that I only like to do 3 things when visiting a new city: eat their food, meet people working on interesting projects, and take long walks while listening to audiobooks. I got through half of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich between Saigon and Memphis.
4. Quit More Books
In my experience, if it’s not good by 50 pages in, then it’s never going to rebound. 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.
5. Hang out with People that Read More and Feel the Social Pressure
Another method for how to read more often is to surround yourself with others that also read a lot.
It’s hard to hang out in person with people and read (since you’d both be reading…), so I tend to hang out with them on the internet.
Shane Parrish, Dan Andrews, and Venkatesh Rao are some of my biggest reading inspirations.
6. 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.
7. 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. Gary Vaynerchuck hates reading and that seems to be working out ok for him. I tried to force myself to run for 3 years and never could. I hate running. I started lifting weights and I love it. It’s never hard for me to go to the gym anymore.
Largely the reason I read so much is because books have made a tremendous impact on my life and I love the experience of reading. So much so that I like to spend my Sunday mornings putting together a list of my favorite books and essays.
Last Updated on July 30, 2019 by Taylor Pearson
Hi Taylor,
re: schedule it: how long do you read per day on average ?
Probably 60-90 minutes of reading text (an hour during the day, 30 minutes at night) and another 60 of audio.
Damn, you’ve got me beat!
Me too, I think on average. I do a minimum of 30 minutes daily, and often (but not always) a bit at night. Sometimes can end up reading for 3 more hours at night, so I might meet Taylor’s quota here.
Plus podcasts in the earbuds a lot. I’m thinking of getting on audiobooks soon as well.
#6 – this was a big one for me. I have a simple file in my Evernote where I list all the books I’ve read. I started keeping it at the beginning of 2012, and looking at it now I can see I read 63 books in 2012, 53 in 2013 and 25 so far this year. I don’t know how many books I read in 2011 but I’m sure it was FAR less than 63 and that I wouldn’t have read nearly as much in the last 2.5 years if it weren’t for the incredibly simple act of tracking what I read.
I just use a Kindle Collection for that. I’ll throw all the books I’ve read in that one, and it just counts up.
Yeah, tracking it makes it fun.
Another cool thing is selecting 5-10 books, downloading/buying them all, and then pushing yourself to get through them by a certain date.
Gamifies it.
Thank for your sharing.
Can i ask what kind of book do you often read??
I didn’t enjoy reading that much before and most of the book i read is stories for children or novels, but i’ve been starting reading some books like Being happy of andrew matthew and some life style books like that and i’m enjoying them ,normally theyre all in vietnamese so i will find some more book translated from english to read.
Have a lovely day! 🙂
I tend to read a bit of everything – philosophy, history, business, personal development, tech/science, politics. Whatever strikes me in the moment. I think there’s a lot to be said for reading what you’re in the mood for –> http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/02/roosevelt-rules-for-reading/
Good list of tips! I totally agree on your point about reading in the office. It’s somehow weird to pull out a book during “working hours” and you always feel like you have to justify the action. But on the other hand it’s probably like start running. In the beginning there’s a weird feeling and in the end it becomes encouraging to others.
I’m in to start the movement too! It seems like if it feels uncomfortable, that seems to mean I’m doing it right.
My goal for the last few years has been 100 books in one year. In 2012 I made it to 86 books & last year I made it to 91. I also keep a list of the books I’ve read, (in a notebook & on Goodreads), & I have a notebook where I keep a list of books I want to read. I love #4! That’s something I’ve become better at doing. LoL! I am a complete book nut & have happily passed-on that trait to my sweet granddaughter. READ ON!! 🙂
Nice post – you make me want to write more, man.
Reading is awesome, if it’s your thing. If you’re not a reader, then just do something else – reading might not be for you.
For me, it’s not so much about what will I get out of the next 2 books I read. But it’s about what I’ll get out of the next 500 books.
The way I see it, the first 500 books are just preparation. The first 500 are catching up. Catching up on a broad range of interesting topics so you can talk with anyone you find interesting, and can actually join them in a high-level conversation.
It’s building your intellectual foundation.
If you feel the need to quit books at this point in your life, then you’re not selective enough about the books you start reading.
There are thousands of amazing books you can read right now.
So – race you to 500!
I recently had the same revelation about 500 vs 2. It’s clear to me looking back now all the overlaps, frameworks and connections I’ve made over the past few years of reading that doesn’t just come from one book. It’s made me even more deliberate about setting aside time to read.
Totally disagree about the quitting books at this point in my life. Even with “good” books, timing is important. If it’s not the right time in my life, I’ll quit and come back to a good book
Yeah, the synergies are insane. The same concepts and principles keep on popping up everywhere, in diverse fields.
On quitting – maybe I’m just too stubborn, and can’t let go of the sunk cost of reading those first few pages.
But I had a few books which were bad to mediocre up until 60%, only to deliver like gangbusters in the final two chapters.
So the first 50 pages can be an unrepresentative sample on which you base your decision to read a book.
Since you probably still have thousands of books you want to read (not kidding about the number), you shouldn’t get into a position where books disappoint you that much in the first place, I think.
If you’re more careful about selecting the books you’ll read, you’ll hardly ever run into that problem.
Basically, my heuristic is this:
If people keep on recommending certain books over and over again, there’s gotta be something in it. Especially if I’ve read other recommendations by those people which were amazing, and if I hold their opinion on this in high regard. So if several of those people recommend it, it’s probably worth it. And I better dig in and read it.
Plus, before committing to reading a book, I do some research. Scan through it, read Amazon, and read small sections to see if I’d like it. If not, I don’t read it.
But hey – that’s my opinion. I could be wrong on that one.
Are you on Goodreads or Literally? Both are great for tracking your reading progress. Especially when you have a set goal, like 60 books a year, to meet.
I’m not, thanks for the tip!
Number 4 is the key for me – i now read a ton more books because I read what I love. If you feel you have to finish the book because you paid for it, like I did, get books from the library or stock up at book sales when a book is a buck! I also think reading multiple books at a time really helps. I have one for the elliptical (make me excited to get moving in the morning), an audio book, a novel and some non-fiction informational.
I do the same thing with multiple books. There’s always at least one I’m in the mood for. Stole it from Teddy Roosevelt – http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/02/roosevelt-rules-for-reading/
i was reluctant at first to do it as I thought I would get the books confused but that just doesn’t happen.
Enjoyed the article. I’ve been keeping a reading journal for years. Last year, my total was 83 for the year. I’m trying for 100 this year. I do all except #3 – although I do occasionally have my Kindle read to me.
Spamalot!
Do you make notes and/or bookmarks while you read? Or do you just read as it goes and return to the most interesting passages to mark them afterwards?
One famous russian publisher gave a lecture at our Uni a couple of weeks ago. He told us that he reads at least 100 books a year and once made a bet with a friend to read 200. Though he didn’t make it to 200, only to 160 or so, he learned to read fast and came up with some kind of a bookmarking system: a vertical bookmark for generally nice passages and interesting ideas and a horizontal bookmark for a page that contains an idea that is worth trying in practice and might lead to a financial (what interests him most) success. Then he keeps books with their spines turned to the wall, so he can always visualize the amount of opportunities and possibilities each book offers. Quite an interesting system, but has a huge flaw as it applies to paper books only.
I myself cannot decide on whether I should just read and enjoy the text or make notes in process. The latter is quite effective in retrospective as I can always go through them later and make sure I didn’t miss anything important, but it slows the proccess tremendously.
I do make notes and highlight while I read, but very rarely refer to them. It’s usually making a connection from the book I’m reading to another book or concept a la Venkat –> http://www.quora.com/Do-book-lovers-look-down-on-non-readers/answer/Venkatesh-Rao?srid=mMd&share=1
Do you have a system to recorder on notes or journal all the important things you learned by reading so many books ?
I think after Reading 60 books itis easy to forget a Lot.
Two angles to come at that.
1. Yes, I read primarily on Kindle and use http://clippings.io/ to sync all my Kindle notes to my Evernote where it is easily searchable.
2. I don’t think remembering everything is necessarily the point. I know that’s the way most people learn to read read because you read in school to remember what’s on the test, but I read more for the experience and the change. After I finish a particularly impactful book, it changes the way I see the world even if I don’t consciously remember all the facts in it.