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How to read 200 books in a year
In Tony Robin’s audio sem
inar Unleash the Power Within, he talks about when he was a young man he read 700 books in 7 years. He was actually trying to read a book a day at the time and didn’t succeed, but obviously still came out ahead. At first blush sounds like a LOT of books, but recently I stumbled across this article about how it is possible to read up to 200 books a year by giving up social media and television. Chu in this article claims that with an estimated 400 wpm reading speed that it would take 417 hours in a year to read 200 books. He goes on to argue:
” Here’s how much time a single American spends on social media and TV in a year:
- 608 hours on social media
- 1642 hours on TV”
So his argument is that in light of how much time we spend on time wasting things like social media and TV we have enough time to read 200 books. An interesting argument and one I have to say is reasonable and uncomfortable to internalize but also calculated on a fairly high wpm reading speed of 400. The average person actually is more like 150-250wpm. But even a 100 books a year would be amazing. But let’s be honest this is still a time commitment of 1 hour and 10mins every day. Which might be a lot to if you are just starting out on a reading habit, but if you already have honed a consistent daily habit of reading, this might be the challenge to step up to! Try to figure out where your time goes reading social media or watching TV and replace it with reading and see how much more you read this year. But for those of us who might just be started on this path to reading more…keep reading…
Commit to 7 mins a day
What if you made it easier and more likely to succeed? Even committing to 7 minutes a day would get you to 10-20books per year depending on your reading speed. Learning is the cornerstone to changing one’s life. The more one reads the more perspective can be gained and the more that can be shared with others with a deeper understanding. If you are struggling in different areas of life, learning can help change how to think about things and help get you un-stuck.
Make it impossible NOT to succeed
If you are like me, I am guessing that you have some social media app on your phone. Maybe when you need a break at work or during lunch you take a scroll through instagram or facebook or whatever social media distraction of your choice. I stumbled across this little trick in one of The Minimalist’s Podcasts, try hiding or even deleting the offending app on your phone and replace it with a reading app like Kindle. Then when you have that social media itch, take a break, read a bit on kindle/nook/fillintheblankreadingapp, and read a few pages and return to work when done. And this doesn’t need to be an expensive habit either. I’ve discovered that the library does a LOT of ebooks as well as audiobooks. I’ve re-discovered the library in the past 6 months and has really encouraged my reading as well as audiobook listening.
Stop listening to Music
Another huge time waster: the commute. It’s a time waster for a number of reasons, but for many people we miss out on the opportunity to learn something during that time in the car. A few months ago my boyfriend pointed out that I had an old iPhone 4 that was sitting around like the brick that it is and that I should put some podcasts/music and just leave it in the car. This little change has totally changed my commute. Now I either listen to audiobooks or podcasts when I am in the car. This also helps me up the number of books that I consume.
Out of curiosity, I will be keeping track of what I read and what podcasts or audiobooks I listen to the car over here under “Library” My goal is to reach 20 books this year. Here is my January round-up and totals:
Audio seminar: 1
Book: 1
Podcasts: many, probably 20-30
January
Books/Audio on Tape
Tony Robbins: Unleash the Power Within
Review: I enjoyed this audio series and sometimes wished I wasn’t driving when I was listening so I could take notes. But the takeaway: change won’t happen unless the pain of NOT changing is greater than the (perceived) pain of change.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
Review: This is a fantastic book especially if you manage people in any capacity. Understanding how to motivate people and even your kids so that they continue to stay motivated towards work and even school is very insightful!
Podcasts:
Smart Passive Income: Podcast Episodes 1-20
Review: SPI is new to me, but I am enjoying Pat’s down to earth personality and he is very personable in his podcast making his advice and direction seem very do-able.
Mad Fientist: Coach Carson Interview
Review: I binge listened to Mad Fientist’s podcasts last year, so I enjoyed this one as I have the others.
