35 Ideas For How To Read More

A big-picture view of why we’re rebuilding the API at Buffer, who it’s for, and where we’re headed next. Where the real work (and the real retention begins) is with analytical reading and syntopical reading. Impression – Be impressed with the text. Stop and picture a scene in your mind, even adding elements like greatness, shock, or a cameo from yourself to make the impression stronger. If Dale Carnegie is explaining his distaste for criticism, picture yourself receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace and then spiking the Nobel Prize onto the dais. Is there still room for innovation in reading?

Reading must become as natural as eating and breathing to you. It’s not something you do because you feel like it, but because it’s a reflex, a default. When you read a lot of books people inevitably assume you speed read. In fact, that’s probably the most common email I get. They want to know my trick read more for reading so fast. They see all the books I recommend every month in my reading newsletter and assume I must have some secret.

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James Clear writes about habits, decision making, and continuous improvement. He is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits. The book has sold over 25 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 60 languages.

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When I looked at my own reading habits, I realized that my reading habits were mostly reactive, not proactive. If an interesting link flashed across my screen on Facebook or Twitter, then I would read it as a reaction. I wasn’t proactively making time to read books each day.

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Based on the first few pages, she was spot-on. All in all, that’s a total of 43 hours per week, and at least some of that could be spent reading books. I read books I can hold in my hand, read some books on Kindle and listen to audiobooks from Libby or Libro.fm. I listen to audiobooks with Libro.fm instead of Audible for a few reasons. « The goal should always be to enjoy your reading life more, » O’ Meara said. « To read more books that you either love or teach you something or you connect with in some way. »

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Those spare minutes might not add up to nine books a year, but it’ll still be time well spent. As mentioned above in the speed reading section, there is a lot of wasted movement when reading side-to-side and top-to-bottom. Is reading faster always the right solution to the goal of reading more? Comprehension still matters, and some reports say that speed reading or skimming leads to forgotten details and poor retention. Still, if you can bump up your words per minute marginally while still maintaining your reading comprehension, it can certainly pay dividends in your quest to read more.

« You could not catch me reading a book, » Zang tells TODAY.com. Repetition – The more you repeat, the more you remember. This can occur by literally re-reading a certain passage or in highlighting it or writing it down then returning to it again later. Along with Spritz is the new app Blinkist.

Sometimes, when I’m reading a lot, I forget the plot line of a particular book but this book is unforgettable. That’s essentially what this reading strategy is asking you to do. Before you move on to the normal bustle of the day, invest in yourself. Before your life turns into a whirlwind of activity, read a book that will make you better. As with most habits that can greatly impact your life, this will never feel urgent, but it is important.20 pages per day.

It’s that it is part of the human experience. It helps you find meaning, understand yourself, and make your life better. The walls of my house are covered in books from floor to ceiling. The last time I moved, I had to rent a U-Haul exclusively for books. At first that frustrated me, and then I remembered that books paid the rent on both those houses.

So, I had to figure out a strategy that would allow me to read more books without letting typical distractions get in the way. « There’s a lot of things we won’t achieve in life, » Grant said. « Make reading something you know you can get done. » A Economist/YouGov poll found that 46% of Americans finished zero books last year and 5% read just one last year.

As you advance through these levels, you will find yourself incorporating the brain techniques of impression, association, and repetition along the way. The final level of reading is syntopical, which requires that you read books on the same subject and challenge yourself to compare and contrast as you go. He advises everyone to read more, and that’s certainly a goal we can all get behind. Our personal improvements at Buffer regularly come back to the books we read—how we aim to read more and make reading a habit. I imagine you’re in the same boat as well.

If you’d rather get lost in a book alone, O’Meara says you might enjoy finding new spots to read in your city. It might feel intimidating going into a coffee shop or bar alone, but it can be a fun way to explore your neighborhood while doing something you love. Check your local area for book clubs and reading-related events. Or find someone to talk to about books – and you don’t even have to ask about what they are currently reading. You can ask them about their favorite book, or the book that impacted their life the most. Expand your reading horizons by thinking about what types of books you’re reading.

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Workweek and a handful of other bestsellers, is one of the leading voices in lifehacks, experiments, and getting things done. So it’s no wonder that he has a speed-reading method to boost your reading speed threefold. I read a hardcover version of this but I’ve heard that the audiobook is wonderful.

A combination of the two is going to be the best way to supercharge your reading routine, but each is valuable on its own. In fact, for many people, it’s not about the time trial of going beginning-to-end with a book or a story but rather more about the story itself. Speed reading doesn’t really help when you’re reading for pleasure. Similarly, author Jamie Ford only allows himself to go on social media for certain hours, devoting the rest of his free time to reading and writing.