How I read more than 50 books a year
I read a lot. And I mean really a lot. I read more than 50 books per year. A lot more. And that is complete books, no summaries. How? I’ll tell you.
Why do I do this?
I read novels, political books and history books. But most of the time I read business books. Books about marketing, public speaking and self-improvement. A lot of them are psychology driven. Meaning that they help me understand the human mind a little bit better.
Reading these books help me become better. A better marketer, a better trainer, a better communicator and most of all a better person. By knowing yourself better, you know what your flaws and strengths are. That makes it more easy to be the ‘best me’ I can be. But it’s more than that. It also helps me to help others. Give them insights they might not have had before.
But most important: it gives me pleasure. I love to read. I’m eager for more knowledge and it inspires and relaxes me.
I want to read a lot. That’s why I do it. But more than 50? I often get asked how I do this. Where do I find the time and willpower? I’ll tell you. There are a few important things I do that might help you read more as well. You don’t have to use them all, but if there is one that helps you, I’m happy.
Here we go!
Building a routine
Let’s start with the obvious one: routine. If you’ve ever read the book ‘The power of habit’, written by Charles Duhigg, you will know that habits are one of the most powerful strengths and weaknesses in the human mind. Bad habits are difficult to get rid off, but good habits are very useful.
Having a routine will make your brain think about reading as a habit. And when it’s a habit, it’s easier and more fun. It will make you crave for more! One way to make sure that you read a lot is to get a routine of reading set up.
Having a routine of reading makes that you allocate time for it. In my case, it’s daily but you can choose what works best for you. A routine helps you read more because you know that that part of the day or week is when you read.
I read in the mornings
But how to get that routine set up? An important part of creating the habit of reading is to think about when you read. A lot of people read before bedtime. I do this as well. But before bedtime, I don’t read that much. I can’t, because, after a few pages, I fall asleep.
This is why before bedtime, I only read novels. Little bits of a story. I won’t have enough attention for business books anyway.
Besides, at that time, my brain needs to relax. A novel does that. Business books don’t. Business books bring new ideas, so they ‘wake me up’. And that’s not what I want late at night!
My business reading, most of it, I do in the morning. Before work. That is my ‘sharp’ time. This is when I am most focused. Read the book “The Willpower Instinct”, written by Kelly McGonigal, and you will learn that it’s a good idea to find what times your focus is highest. For me, this is in the mornings.
If you want to read, you need focus. Find out when you have the most focus and choose that time to create your routine of reading.
Little blocks of time
“I don’t have time for reading that much”, is something that I hear a lot. At the same time, you can hear people ask “do you have ten minutes for me?” And you won’t think twice. It’s only ten minutes after all. You can free up that time.
Why not take ten minutes to read?
Here’s the trick: if you set a time for how long you will read, you will read more.
Don’t say: “I’m going to read an x-amount of pages” or “x chapters”.
Say: “I’m going to read for an x-amount of minutes.”
It’s a lot easier to allocate ten or twenty minutes. If you don’t know how long it will take, you might not even start. You don’t have an hour. But you do have ten minutes. And all the ten minutes combined in the end will add up to more hours. Plus, it’s a lot easier to create that routine!
That odd moment off
One thing which is great about the current era we live in is that we now have tools that help us. Audiobooks, ebooks, they make life a lot easier. Because you can read anywhere and anytime you want. Waiting for a bus stop? Grab your Kindle or even the Kindle app on your phone. Even if you’ll read a few pages, you’ve been reading!
Combine Audiobooks with other tasks
Speaking of the odd moments. Do you know when I ‘read’ most books? When doing chores!
OK, there is a bit of a cheat here. Because in this case, I’m talking about audiobooks. But they are books as well! In fact, the use of audiobooks is growing fast.
Audiobooks help me combine tasks. When I’m folding laundry, I’m reading books. When I’m cleaning the house, I’m reading books. Or when I’m waiting to pick up my kids from sports, I can be reading a book. And I’ve even read books while doing groceries. And of course when I travel. It’s easy to listen to audiobooks in the subway!
There’s one important thing here. Combining only works when the other things don’t ask for too much attention. As in: you can do those on autopilot.
I don’t need to think about folding the laundry. So my attention can be on the audiobook. Would I be listening to an audiobook while for example writing this article, that would not work? I would miss out on half of the book because my attention would be elsewhere. It’s important to combine the right things to have the right focus.
Focus: turn everything off and music on
Speaking of focus… Have you ever read a paragraph in a book three or four times? Chances are you have. I know I have. This happens because when you are reading, you miss focus. You get distracted.
Focus is important. But sometimes it’s hard to focus. Because you get distracted quite easily. Most of us have that problem. Distraction is one of the main reasons we get less done these days. And why we don’t read as much as we would like. Because when we start reading, the phone rings. Or we get a WhatsApp or Facebook message. Even the ones in group chats that aren’t important at all get checked.
That’s because of the notifications. This is why you need to create focus.
I’ve turned off all notifications on my phone, except for the call function, years ago. And it is amazing. The amount of focus I got back is crazy. But take this a bit further. As you can read in a great book, “Deep Work”, written by Cal Newport, focus is everything. And you can create the focus by looking at what is around you. You can create a bubble.
When I read hardcopy (or kindle), I create an environment in which I can focus. This means no phone distractions (here’s a pro tip: put it on flight mode!). I also put on a specific Spotify playlist with focus music. Because I don’t get distracted, I read a lot more.
Don’t end at the end of a chapter!
Here’s a funny one. When you are reading you will have the urge to finish a chapter. But what happens when you’ve finished the chapter and you put the book away? It becomes harder to pick the book back up.
Don’t worry. This is not you. This is how our brains are hardwired. We’ve reached a sort of ending.
This is why the good novels and the great tv shows give your brain something to look forward to: the cliffhanger. You want to know what happens next.
The problem with a lot of business books is that they don’t have those cliffhangers. There are business books who are starting to this, but a lot don’t have them. Often, the chapters are about a topic, and then we move to the next.
If a book is built up this way: create your own cliffhangers.
This is quite easy to do: don’t stop at the end of a chapter. Once you’ve finished a chapter, read one or two more pages. Because then you will want more. It will be easier to pick up the book next time.
Bonus: fast listening
Ok, these are a lot of things, right? I have one more for you. And I have to say upfront: this is not for everyone. For me, it works, but when I tell people what I do, most think I’m crazy.
As said, I ‘read’ a lot of audiobooks. For this I use Audible. But there are other options as well. There is one feature within the Audible player that I use all the time: the speed button.
I listen to audiobooks on speed x2.4 on average. The speed I use depends on the narrator and the topic. But I can safely say I never listen on regular speed. At least not with books about business, history or politics.
Yes, I’m listening to the chipmunks reading me a book. But for me, this works.
Mind you: I didn’t start on speed x2.4. I started at one and slowly went faster. It works for me. But if this isn’t for you: don’t do it!
To conclude
This is how I read more than 50 books a year. And yes, I am a bit crazy in this. Because I love to read. Because I love getting information. Because it helps me see the world.
It helps me see things from different angles. And in every book, there is always one thing that will enrich my life.
If you want to read more, take one or more of these things above and see how it works for you! Tell me. Which one of these you think will or will not work for you?
