My cousin Natalie asked how it is that I read so much each year (43 books in 2019, which is down from average), and I thought I’d share in case other people are interested. I don’t think I’m a particularly fast reader. The average adult reading speed is about 250 words per minute, or 2 minutes per page. I usually read about 35 pages in an hour, so I’m a little faster, but not much. I think mostly I just spend a lot more time reading than most people. I would guess that the average reader spends 15-20 minutes a day. My best estimate is that I read about 45 minutes a day, more on the weekends. I’m also consistent about it. I probably skip a total of 2-3 days a year (and it makes me uncomfortable every time).
I recognize that we all have different priorities and values, and I don’t necessarily think everyone should read as much as I do, so keep that in mind if my advice starts to sound preachy. Sometimes, I think maybe I should spend less time reading too. There are downsides, like becoming a horrible know-it-all and forgetting how to communicate out loud. But on the whole, I love to read and I think it’s served me well over the years. When to read In the morning while eating breakfast—I think this is the primary reason I’m able to read so much. I’ve learned that if I don’t read in the morning, I don’t feel the urge to read for the rest of the day. But if I’ve started reading in the morning, it feels like an interruption to do anything else, and all I want to do is get back to reading. I developed the habit early: my parents didn’t allow us to watch TV before school, so I was either reading a book or the back of the cereal box, and the back of the cereal box gets boring in a hurry. Before bed—not every night, but when I do I always wake up more refreshed. I usually read from a book of wisdom from one of the major religions. Waiting time—In waiting rooms and on public transportation, when everyone else is staring at their phones, I’m reading a book. When I drive somewhere and get there early, I read a book. When my car breaks down and I have to wait for a tow-truck, I read a book. I carry a book with me almost all the time. Down time—Reading is my default activity. A lot of people clean their houses or play video games or text a friend or search the internet. I pick up a book. I’m not saying it’s a better choice—I have a messy house and I don’t talk to my friends often enough—but it’s my habit, and it definitely allows me to get a lot of reading done. Motivating yourself to spend more time reading -It seems obvious, but read stuff you’re actually interested in. -Start a tsundoku. Have several books lying around that you crave to read next. There’s a natural tension that develops when you see those books. It makes you want to finish the books you’re already reading so you can get to the next one. -Read many different books at once. Sometimes I think I’m going to be really interested in a book, but a different one captures my attention. Then I’ll come back to the first one and it’ll interest me more than it did the first time. There’s a natural ebb and flow to curiosity and interest, and I try not to force a book too much. I often dip in and out of a book several times, while finishing other books, and then suddenly something will click and I’ll finish it in a couple days. There’s also something magical about the connections you can make between two very different books. -The last half of a book is almost always easier to read than the first half, like I’ve climbed over a peak and now I’m cruising downhill. When I’ve got several books going at once, I’m usually close to finishing one, which will motivate me to come back to it more often. Some other stuff that I think helps, even if I don’t know why -I did once teach myself to speed read. I hated it. But it trained me to focus better and did make my regular reading a little faster. -Read books above your level from time to time. You get better at comprehending complex sentences and increase your vocabulary, so you’re less likely to zone out, lose focus, or need to go back and reread a passage. -Look up words you don’t know. Also look up the words you think you know. What’s the difference between the word the author used and the synonym that seemed like a more obvious choice? Get curious about etymology. It’ll slow you down in the short run, but over a period of years your knowledge starts to compound and reading becomes more interesting. -Read from a wide variety of subjects. You make more connections and you also understand more of what you read. Charlie Munger (Warren Buffet’s investing partner and one of the smartest dudes on the planet) says that we should learn the “freshman course” in all the major disciplines, because those provide the mental models that help us understand the world. I agree. -Read at least as often as you eat. On the rare occasion when I skip a day of reading, I find it much harder to get back into it and to stay focused. -Write or journal. You’ll get a better feel for language and start to pull more understanding out of your reading. I have a theory that it helps you predict what words are coming up, too, so you’ll read and comprehend a little faster. It’s also good therapy and helps stop negative rumination. -Avoid the recent bestseller lists like the plague unless you have a strong urge to read a particular book. Natural selection will weed out the crap over time, and you won’t waste your time on a sucky book. It’ll weed out some good stuff, too, but there’s already too much good stuff out there for one lifetime. So there’s my advice. I hope some of it resonates with somebody. Let me know if you ever want a book recommendation.
2 Comments
1/11/2020 08:31:29 am
I'm an author and I love that people still read books.
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Nat
1/12/2020 08:49:10 am
Thaaaaaanks cousin! X
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Nick is a teacher, writer, and amateur adventurer. Archives
June 2020
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