Tag: leaders are readers

How Anyone Can Read Two Books in One Week Without Adjusting Their Schedule

On By pastorjonathanIn booksLeave a comment

There are lots of good books out there and it can be difficult to find time to read. It can be especially challenging if you are a student and your plate is already loaded with assigned reading. Great books get published every month and it is easy to fall behind.

2 books a week

I found a great way to increase my reading volume to about two books a week without making any major adjustments to my schedule. I opted to use the time I was already doing something else to read. At first I took a book to the gym, but it was incredibly difficult to read while I was bouncing up and down on the treadmill.

Finally I found that the kindle app on my i-phone could read out loud to me while I read along with the screen. This worked great and It wasn’t as distracting as trying to read a regular paper book. With the Kindle app you are also able to highlight text, post to FB, send tweets, etc. I usually knock out an extra book per week via the kindle app on my iphone, the great thing is that it syncs across all my devices and even into the cloud so I can go back and see what I’ve highlighted.

I’ve used this method to read source books for a few of the papers I wrote for my masters degree. The best thing is that the kindle app is FREE on most smartphones, tablets, etc. and books are generally cheaper than buying in print.

Amazon.com – Read eBooks using the FREE Kindle Reading App on Most Devices

I also found audible, a book service that has audio books for reasonable prices for audio books. I like audible because someone is reading to you and the flow of the text sounds more natural. Of course the trade off is that you are listening to a book rather than reading it, but it’s still a great way to get a book in.

I grew up listening to books on tape when our family would take long drives in the car and so it wasn’t a big adjustment to sync with my phone and listen to a book while driving to and from work. Audible is a great resource for reading fiction or books that you don’t need for academic purposes. Audible always seems to be running deals for new members so if you’ve never subscribed to the service before you can usually get one or two free books out of the deal.
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

Of course there are other ways that I have streamlined my schedule to include more time to read. You can catch some of those ideas and tips over at my blog article entitled: If you Want to Be a Leader You Need to Be a Reader

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

If You want to be a Leader, you need to be a reader: how I find time to read two books a week.

On By pastorjonathanIn booksLeave a comment

I set out to read 100 books by the end of the year.  You can check my progress here.  Some people have come to ask… Where I find the time to read.

The short answer is while everyone else is watching TV… I’m reading.  Actually most of the time that I’m watching TV, I’m also reading a book.  I picked up the habit while in college and I was assigned 30 pages of reading every night for a literature class.  No one ever told me that it was strange to read all the assigned reading and so I read and I also watched TV with my roommates.  Somewhere along the way, I actually became decent at being able to navigate two narratives at once.

I also take a 15 minute lunch break 2 or 3 days a week depending on my schedule and read a chapter in a book while I eat the soup that I have brought with me to work. I’ve found that this is a great way to add 45 minutes to my work day (Normally I’d take an hour out to meet someone) and get in 15 minutes of reading.  I also read while doing other activities that require a minimal amount of response like cooking and brushing my teeth.  When all is said and done I get in about 1 to 2 hours reading each day. Most of it at night after I have put the kids to bed.

Bottom line.  If I spent as many hours reading as the average person spends watching television each year I would be able to read well over 100 books. Sometimes it is all about perspective and time management.  On occasion I’ve been criticized for reading too much. Yet, not many people would think much of me spending 2-4 hours a night watching television or cruising the internet.  What matters more to you?  The complete season of CSI or NCIS or the half dozen books you could read while one of these shows is on this season? Since I’ve never found anything of lasting value from watching episodes of CSI* I choose to have the TV on in the background and read about 50 -100 pages of a good book.