The question I get asked most is, “how do you find the time to read so much?”. The short answer is, I make time for what is important. The long answer is, I make sure to set aside uninterrupted for reading on a daily basis. I am always the first to say that my lifestyle allows for me to read a lot. I do not have a job that requires me to work overtime a lot, nor do I have kids, so majority of my free time goes into social activities and reading. I recognize that there are a lot of persons who lead very busy lives and can only do 30mins of reading a day or a week. This post is for you, here is how you can maximize your reading time.
Decide on a time
A lot persons pick a up a book when they “get” time. In order to maximize on a reading time it is important that you knowingly set aside a time for reading. When you are mindful about when you are going to read it means you might get the most out that time. If you only have 30mins to read a day, you need to decide when works best. If you are the kind of person who falls asleep while you read, reading before bed may not be a good idea. If you are a morning person and you get up before dawn, using 30mins to read before work may work better for you. It is important to decide what time works best for you to read and then go from there.
Where to read
My friend was visiting me once and he decided he is going to lay on my couch and read a book. Within 5mins of starting the book he fell asleep, woke up, read for 2mins, went back to sleep and the cycle continued. Sometimes being too comfortable when you are reading might be a problem. If you find that you fall asleep a lot where you read you may need to change location. While my favorite places to read are my bed, couch and car, that may not work for you. Being too comfortable means you will may fall asleep and not use the time you set aside to read, but to sleep. Find your reading nook, the place where you can be comfortable and read uninterrupted for periods at a time.
How to Read
If you are like me, I get daunted by big books. As soon as I see a book that is over 450 pages I start to panic, my first thought is, “I am never going to finish this!”, usually I do but… that initial thought can be crippling. What I do before I start reading is that in addition to saying I am going to read for X time, I also use my book mark and make a mental note to read X amount of pages before the time is up. While it is good to have a time limit in mind when you read, adding a page limit helps to ensure that you do maximize your reading time.
What Kind Of Time
I know a lot of persons who say “I read for an hour daily” but what they actually do is open their book, fall asleep for 30mins, read for 30mins. Or they open the book but spend half the time on their phones. When you do decide to set aside time it is important to make it uninterrupted time. Setting aside time to read means also setting aside your phone. I know, I know, our phones are glued to our hands but, if you want to maximize your reading time, it is essential that you leave your phone in the other room. It is hard to concentrate in a world where you are constantly being stimulated, when you do decide to spend the only time you have reading it is important that you do just that- read.
This may sound like common sense and pretty basic but this is exactly how I get the most out of my reading time. I am not entirely strict about this approach there are times when I will have my phone close by, there are times when I do fall asleep in the middle of a book. However, for the most part, I do ensure I stick to my uninterrupted reading times daily. Let me know if these four things work for you or if you do something else that might work for me, fill me in.
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