Reading 30 books in 30 days - Days 1-10

Started excited! Ended exhausted..

My gosh, it took me over 6hrs to read the book. I felt constantly distracted (perhaps due to the fact that I drank 10 cups of coffee?), and I couldn’t really enjoy it. It was like being forced to eat cookies.

I had planned to read from 9am to 12 noon and from 7pm to 10pm. I ended up scattering my reading times throughout the day, and I really couldn’t get into the rhythm. I’ll admit it, I was feeling a bit desperate when the clock hit midnight and I was still reading 😂

Day started well! Wrote that 1-page summary of yesterday’s book while enjoying my morning smoothie and coffee. Life was good. After the summary, I banged away over half of the book before noon!

Aaand then it all went to sh*t.

Stopped reading at 1pm, started doing other stuff and got carried away. Didn’t start reading again until 9pm. And yes, it meant another session of good ol’ midnight reading.

BUT, today I actually enjoyed reading. I took my time. I understood that reading is just horrendous if the sole aim is to finish the book.

Slow digestion, receptive mind and spark for learning – those are the things that seem to make reading enjoyable.

But who am I to say, I’ve read 600 pages and already acting like a guru.

Learned a neat trick today!

Ebooks with audio narration. Dope, I tell you.

With this feature, I can seamlessly switch between reading and listening, and Kindle always remembers where I left off. So, I could be listening to the audio narration while riding my bike, working out at the gym, doing chores at home, skydiving from a jet plane or base jumping from the north face of Mount Everest, and bounce back to reading when I get back home. Rad stuff.

It’s a real time saver! And I think I learn a lot faster by utilising both visual and auditory senses. I do know it’s a bit like cheating, but I’m only going to do it when I’m not able to sit down and read. The ultimate goal here is not to read for the sake of reading; the goal is to find the fastest way to gain more knowledge. Right?

I still can’t say I’d enjoy the reading that much. It’s a no-brainer – I mean, a book a day! I have to constantly aim to read fast and it’s hard to truly delve into the book. With this speed, it’s hard to find time for implementing any of the tricks or techniques I’ve read about.

On the other hand, I want to make this work. It struck me today: what if I could make this a sustainable habit? What I could consume a book a day for the rest of my life? And actually retain that information? How dope would that be?

EDIT: I use Sony WH-1000XM2 (they just couldn’t come up with a simpler name?) noise-cancelling headphones. They block all the noise. They are wireless. They are amazing. (No, they do not sponsor me.)

The symbiosis between writing summaries, reading ebooks and listening to audio narrations is just beautiful. I’m able to absorb vast amounts of information in no time.

1) Woke up and wrote the 1-page summary while enjoying my coffee (never forget the coffee!).

2) Put my headphones on and listened to the audio narration while cycling to the gym and while working out.

3) Came back home and started reading from the tablet. Quickly scanned through the pages I had already listened in audio format.

4) Proceeded to be a badass and to read normally.

In short, I’m constantly jumping between the ebook and the audio narration. It’s convenient, it’s fast and it enables me to use almost all my time absorbing knowledge. I wonder whether my brain can keep up?

Now it’s 10pm and I’m finished with the book. On schedule, for the first time. Hallelujah, gonna make this work!

The amount of reading is manageable on non-busy days.

But it becomes quite a burden when I have other activities or tasks to deal with. I was able to squeeze in a mere hour of reading in the morning today, and then I was bombarded with emails, to-dos and deadlines. So I couldn’t get back to reading before 8.30pm. Not so dope.

I took a late-night walk with my lovely tablet and the Kindle app. Me and my tablet, we really are the perfect couple. I walked and listened, stopped and read, walked and listened some more. It was like therapy!

And the book itself was amazing. The One Thing. I was highlighting like crazy, it felt like every sentence had an unlazy message to it. Not the most practical book perhaps, but definitely worth a read!

So the routine is building:

• I wake up and write the 1-page summary.
• I work out and listen to the audio narration.
• I come back home or go to the library, where I read until noon.
• From noon to 7pm I’m free to do other stuff.
• I start reading again at 7pm.
• Around 9pm I take a walk and switch between audio and reading.
• I come back from the walk and read until the book is finished.
• I finish by writing the daily log entries and creating flashcards of the book.

Simple. And it makes me feel like a sponge, ready to absorb all the accumulated human knowledge in one or two sittings.

I don’t think I could do this without the audio narrations, they save so much time. I wonder what happens after 18 days, when I transfer from ebooks to regular books?

EDIT: This never became a solid routine.. Every day was different.

I’m noticing some positive changes.

I can find the main ideas from the book a lot faster. I don’t need to read every line or sentence. I recognise the parts and patterns of the book that are not that useful for me, and I have to courage to skip them. Before, I slavishly read every single word to get the ’big picture’.

My concentration is improving. Spending hours on reading books forces you to stop and to train those ’concentration muscles’.

I’m enjoying reading more. It’s the only time of day when it’s just me and my book: no distractions, no rush.

I’m becoming an Einstein. Okay, not really. But I can almost feel how my brain is creating new connections and ideas. Real dope.

F*ck.

Failed, could not read a book today. This is taking a toll on me.

Fear not, I will read two books on some other day to catch up!

Note to self: keep your reading list flexible and ONLY read books that interest you.

Flexibility: modify your reading list on the go, based on how busy you are and how are you feeling that day (nay or yay?).

Enjoyability: Only choose books that you think you’d enjoy reading.

I compiled my reading list based on a Lifehack.com article. What a stupid idea. I should have only chosen books that intrigue me.

Well, now I’m just doing it on the fly. I modify the reading list as I go, eliminating all the boring books from it. Why would I keep reading boring stuff?

And why did this occur to me just now..?

For instance, today I should have read 101 Ways to Have a Business and Life. But it just didn’t click. I loathe books that are like a list of random principles and tips, so 101 ways?! No thanks. Instead, I chose a short book on minimalism, as I believe that I have to start simplifying my life to be more productive!

Tried Word Runner today. Didn’t like it.

• It’s harder to grasp the bigger picture when you only register one word at a time.
• It’s hard to separate normal text from headings and subheadings, which again hampers the reading experience.
• You can’t highlight stuff.
• You can’t really do anything but to dumbly stare at the middle of the screen and hope that something sticks.

Sure, it does speed up my reading. And I’d guess that as I keep using it, I’ll become suck those words in faster than lighting. But is it worth it?

I’m consuming the books a lot faster at this point, but I still haven’t been able to create solid routines around reading.

My plan has been to read from 8am to noon and then again from 7pm to 10pm. Not once have I been able to stick to that.

Perhaps it’s better that way. Flexibility has proven practical. I try to read something in the morning, I read (or listen) throughout the day whenever I have time and I finish the book after 6pm.