How to read for 1 hour a day
Its been a while since I’ve written a blog post, so I wanted to come back and write something that describes one of the things that have helped me intellectually and spiritually.
I am not a big reader, I dont spend all of my time reading, nor do I want to. There are a lot of benefits to reading, and I am for all of them. The biggest factors that motivate me to read include self-growth, mental stimulation, and spiritual mediation
1.Take your book/e-reader wherever you go
I partake in a few social media applications, but I realize at the end of the day that these applications, while being fun to explore, are a waste of time. Im not saying we should abandon them completely, rather, we should limit our time with them.
Spend your time waiting for the bus, on the train, waiting in a long line, or traveling in a car on reading the book of our interest. You will be surprised at how much material you can go through by using those little chunks of time.
I am the most productive at reading when Im traveling. Plane rides are the best scenario. I either finish reading what I intend on reading, or fall asleep soundly, which is also a great time. Doing this alone can amount to over 1 hour of reading per day..
2. Read at the beginning and/or end of your day
Reading in the morning helps me wake up. And I certainly hate waking up in the morning, at least I did. I found, through some experimentation, that I am more at peace, and increase my productivity if I read in the morning before attempting to start my day.
I read somewhere that if you have some information to tell people, they are more likely to remember the beginning and end bits of information you tell them. This analogy also plays into effect for your day. The bits of information that you intake after waking up, and right before sleeping are the ones that you are likely to remember the most later.
3. Plan, Plan, Plan
You can do the the two points above, and completely disregard this one. You dont need it to roughly get to 1 hour of reading per day. However, if you are a part of the population that does not like to take books wherever you go, or read in the early morning or late at night, then this is the suggest route you take.
Plan your day to involve 2 segments of 30 minutes each, of reading. They can be back to back, if you wish as well. You must dedicate yourself to this because that 1 hour chunk of time all at once can be hard for some people to find.
If you are reading more technically-involved books, this is also a suggested route to take rather than option 1 or 2 above.
I lift weights, sleep, and function better because of these simple reading tactics. Reading lets me do more, its counter-intuitive. On top of that, I maintain mental peace and harmony, and stay out of the weeds with media/social drama, and insignificant things in life.
By the way, here is a list of the books I have finished this year since I started reading(April-ish). Some of these books, I have read over 7 times this year!
- Emotional Intelligence
- The Top 1 %
- How to win friends and influence people
- How to Stay Motivated
- Think and Grow Rich
- Four Hour Work Week
- Soft skills: the software developer’s life manual
- My strategy to retire early
- Angular 4: Theory to Practice
