My Reading Method, and Why It Works for Me
I am not a fast reader.
Just the opposite actually. I remember learning that Bill Gates reads fifty books a year and thinking to myself, "One book per week? No way I can average that." Apparently reading savant Shane Parrish reads about eighty books a year. New York Times best-selling author Ryan Holiday says he reads hundreds of books every single year.
Hundreds of books a year? I don't even want to read that much.
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, I began experimenting with different reading methods and eventually created one that works for me. When I started toying around with this new format, I had never heard of someone reading like this but I'm sure it's not revolutionary.
Before we proceed, let me be clear: I don't read fast and I don't intend on sharing how you can read faster. I do intend on sharing how you can read better.
In the past, I would start a book and read it to completion before starting another. But what I found was that reading multiple books at a time is better. It takes longer this way, but as long as I have a good variety, I've found my engagement and focus is higher.
What follows below is the exact blueprint I use to read books. This, of course, would need to be tweaked according to your interests and preferences. But this is what works for me.
I read five books at a time. Each weekday has a book (or genre) assigned to it and I only read the assigned book on its assigned day. For example, whatever book I'm reading on Monday I will never read on Wednesday. Am I crazy? Maybe, but I've found that ruthless structure and rigidity allows a lot more freedom than you would think. On weekends I give myself the flexibility to read whatever I want. Maybe I didn't read on Tuesday that week so I'll catch up with that book on the weekend.
Monday - Book 1
Tuesday - Book 2
Wednesday - Book 3
Thursday - Book 4
Friday - Book 5
Weekends - Freestyle
Personally, I primarily read within the realm of three broad genres: sports, personal development and Christianity. A lot of what I read about falls under one of those categories. There's more, I know, but this helped me structure how I schedule my reading. Freedom within boundaries is a phrase I've come to really like.
Monday - I like to start the week off with something light. So Monday is my sports day. Whether it's an autobiography of an NFL legend, an inside look into the All Blacks, or the mental side of tennis, Mondays consist of sports-related books. This is a good kickoff to the week.
Tuesday - Tuesday is a miscellaneous day. I try to read outside the scope of the three aforementioned categories and find something different. Recent Tuesday books have included Art & Fear, The Color of Compromise, and Togetherness.
Wednesday - I spend Wednesdays reading about Christianity and it's probably my favorite day of the week. Reading the Bible is a daily exercise, but I like something supplementary to study like apologetics, condensed systematic theology, and holiness.
Thursday - Thursday is the other miscellaneous day. Recent Thursday books have included Macbeth, The Obstacle is the Way, and The Road Back To You.
Friday - I end the week with some hearty personal development material. How to build better habits, how to manage people wisely, and how to raise your leadership ability are what I've gotten into recently.
Weekends - Weekends are flexible. If I missed a day during the week, I'll usually catch up on the weekend.
This structure has allowed me to be fully engaged with whatever I am reading. If a book feels a little dull or dense, I know that tomorrow I will pick up something in a completely different category. If I can’t put a book down, I know that on the weekend I can go further with it before picking it up again next week.
Freedom within boundaries is a good concept for life, but an even better concept for reading.