4 Strategies I’m Using to Read More Books

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One of the habits I’ve been working on incorporating into my daily life is reading more books. This has been a work in progress, but I’m starting to see some momentum. I read 4 books in 2017, and then again in 2018. In 2019 this increased to 10. Now, about six and a half weeks into 2020, I’ve already completed 5 books!

So what’s changed? In this post I’ll share a few of the strategies I’ve been using for reading more books.

Cut down on the non-essentials

One of the books I recently completed was called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown. In the book, McKeown discusses the importance of cutting back on the areas that aren’t bringing value to our lives, and focusing solely on the true essentials:

“The way of the Essentialist is the relentless pursuit of less but better. It doesn’t mean occasionally giving a nod to the principle. It means pursuing it in a disciplined way.”

I’m working on adopting this in my own life. This means less mindless web browsing and reading of online articles. It means focusing less on the quantity of podcasts that I listen to, and more on the quality. It means opting for audiobooks more often in the car instead of music. This has led to more time and mental bandwidth for books.

Kindle + Audiobooks

It has become a practice for me to now read two books at a time, one on my Kindle and one as an audiobook. For the Kindle version, I’ll read on my phone when I have a few spare minutes, or right before going to sleep each night. For the audiobook, I’ll listen while in the car, walking the dog, and at night before bed (alternating with the Kindle). You can also listen on 1.25x or 1.5x speed (or faster) to speed up how fast the narrator reads. It can take some getting used to, but I’ve adjusted to it well.

I’ve found that reading two books at once has helped me be more engaged, and maximize my time. It’s all about carving out consistent time each day so that I’m making some progress.

Utilizing the library

The most important strategy in all this has been utilizing the library. Did you know that you can borrow audiobooks and Kindle books from the library? My local library has a selection of audiobooks and e-books on two mobile apps: Libby and Hoopla. I now use both consistently, and it has been a huge boost in my reading. Your local library may use these two apps as well, but there are also plenty of others out there too. Check out the website for your local library and they should have information to direct you to the right place. Note, that you need a library card number to sign up for accounts, but they are both completely free.

Here’s a screenshot of what Libby looks like:

You can search for specific books, view what’s new, and view what’s popular. The benefit of Libby is that they have a huge selection. The downside is that there are often fairly long wait times for the most popular books. What I do is load up my “Holds” list with 8 books that I want to read, for varying wait times. This way as I’m waiting, I always have something else to read. By the time I finish one book, the next is usually available! It’s also important to note that other people will be waiting for certain books. Sometimes you’ll be able to renew books, but often times you won’t be able to.

Here’s a screenshot of what Hoopla looks like:

The benefit of Hoopla is that there are no wait times, if you see a book you’re interested in you can borrow it immediately. It’s important to note that you get 5 “borrows” per month. Once you hit your limit, you can’t borrow anymore books for that month. You are able to renew books as many times as you want, but it counts as an additional “borrow” towards your limit of 5. The downside to Hoopla is that the selection is much more limited.

You can also put holds on physical books at your local library, but I’ve found that I can read much faster by doing e-books and audiobooks.

Lowering decision fatigue

Have you ever turned on the TV to watch some Netflix, then realizing you just spent the last 30 minutes scrolling through the options without even watching something? This is an example of analysis paralysis, the phenomenon of being overwhelmed by the options so you don’t make a decision. That happens to me fairly often, and books are no exception. I have a huge list of books that I want to read, which makes it hard to decide on which one to dive into. I’ve gotten around this by loading up my “Holds” list on Libby and my “Favorites” section on Hoopla. Based on what book becomes available on Libby, is the book I start reading. When one of my “Holds” hasn’t come through yet, I fill in the gaps with an audiobook on Hoopla. This means there’s more action and less decision fatigue for me.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m excited at the progress I’ve made at incorporating the habit of reading books into my daily life. It has been a work in progress, but now I’m seeing clear momentum. Hopefully you find some of these strategies helpful. Start small, with 10-15 minutes a day, and you’ll begin building the habit into your own life.

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