How I Read 5x More This Year

And absorbing 100+ hours of online video lessons as well

TK SG

Follow

Published in

Live Your Life On Purpose

7 min readDec 6, 2019

--

We all know that reading is a major key to success, but that’s easier said than done. Given the hectic lives of the modern world, how does anyone expect to find time to sleep, let alone read?

But we all somehow manage to clock hours into Netflix, social media and the endless distractions entertainment has to offer. My poison is mobile games.

So somewhere late last year, I tracked how I spent my time, and looking at my gaming hours, I came to this profound realization:

Holy crap this is why I always complain about not having time!

That was when I decided to cut down (not abolish) my Netflix and gaming hours.

I used to read maybe 2-3 books a year, and only whenever I felt like it. This year, I consciously changed some habits and set a goal to read 1 book a month.

To my surprise, I managed to finish 15 books, with another month before the year ends!

Being an extremely visual learner, I didn’t stop at reading. I also walked through hundreds of hours of online videos from Udemy and MasterClass, some at 2x speed.

Although the only reason I signed up for MasterClass was for Hans Zimmer, I chose to get the 1-year-pass instead, to force myself to absorb as many as I could in 1 year. I've completed 9 MasterClasses, most impressed by Howard Schultz’s class on business leadership.

So how did I manage to finish so many books, and what did I get out of it?

How I Went About Doing It

1. Pick Your Book Well

Sound like a no-brainer? Sometimes, book titles (and its fancy cover) can be misleading. The crucial part is to identify when a book doesn’t interest you anymore and quit it. Don’t be a victim of the sunk cost fallacy!

I ensured that the content page describes what I want to learn so that I’ll always look forward to the next reading session. And when I realize it’s not delivering, I just stop and change a book.

There’s no point in getting through a book just because.

2. Make It Easy To Access

I got a Kindle early this year, which turned out to a great investment. Another way is to find free (legal) PDF books and load them up on your phone.

Also, I placed the PDF document icon right beside my Facebook and Instagram apps, reminding me to read instead of browsing social media. This worked tremendously well; I didn’t realize the number of times I mindlessly tapped into Instagram until I did this!

The non-digital way, of course, is to bring a book with you wherever you go and always, always have a book by your bedside.

3. Always Have A Book “In-Progress”

Upon finishing a book, I give myself a few minutes to reflect and digest it, and then look for another title before I end the reading session.

I’ll start 2 pages of it if I can.

This is so that I won’t bear the burden of having to “start” to another book. Sounds silly, but it’s worked well for me. It’s easier to procrastinate on an “untouched” book compared to one I’ve dipped my toes in!

4. Summarize The Books

I don’t always trust my memory. So, I started summarizing books in point form, so that I don’t have to re-read or skim through the whole book again. Now, it has the side effect of helping me retain the information better and being more critical in what I think I’ve understood.

Also, I have a digital stack of book summary notes with me that I can always go back to, and somehow it keeps me motivated to grow it.

5. I Got Lucky

I’m gonna be honest; I got lucky.

2 months after setting this reading goal, there was a massive book sale near my area. I paid $50 to get a carton box and was allowed to fill up the box full of books, as long as it could be fully sealed upon checkout.

I still had space after combing all the books of my interest, so I ended getting duplicates and novels for my friends, totaling about 35 books. That comes to $1.50 per book!

One of the books I got was “The Answer” by Allan and Barbara Pease. It talks about the Reticular Activating System (RAS) in your brain.

Whatever goal you set, your RAS automatically finds information around you related to it.

For example, once you decide to buy a certain car model, you’ll start to see it everywhere on the road from then on. If you want to go to Russia, all Russia-related news somehow start to pop out everywhere you go.

Seems like this is what happened to my reading goal!

So What Happens When I Read More?

1. Seeing Patterns

The first thing I noticed when reading more books about a dedicated topic is, well, some information repeats itself in different places. And those end up being the golden tips.

Not only that, the different ways the same thing is phrased sometimes trigger different ways of thinking, something I might have missed the first time I read about it.

For example, I’ve been reading on a lot about validating a business idea to develop, but always felt that all the authors were being very vague about it. “Create a landing page and advertise it to potential audiences, and judge the response”.

What?

I couldn’t really “get” the hows and whys behind it, so I moved on to sales funnels, copywriting, targeted advertising, etc.

One day, I read an interview about “creating a landing page” again. It was as vague as the first few authors. But this time, I had a major “a-ha!” moment, as my mind managed to piece all individual modules of information together like a puzzle!

Now, I’ve switched my mindset from the “build-it-well-and-they-will-come” mentality I used to have as a game designer/programmer, to a “find-out-what-audiences-want” approach.

This might sound insignificant to you, but it required a huge mentality shift for me, and I’m glad all the reading and researching paid off.

2. Clearer Thoughts

Being able to see patterns, I have more confidence in my own opinions, in the sense that I become more logical in my thinking process, and can see/debate things clearer. That means painting a better picture of said topic. It’s like I’m getting more in-tuned with my gut-feeling.

This also means that some books leave more questions because they glossed over some things that they don’t have time to talk about in the book. That means I have to find another book!

As you can see, these are not superpowers, or life-changing achievements after picking the reading habit; simply put, it helps me think clearer.

Book and Videos List

And finally, here is my book list (in no particular order) if you’re interested! It covers a number of topics that I’m interested in, such as business, self-improvement, and app design. I’ve also bolded the ones I highly recommend.

As for videos, I go to Udemy mostly for Marketing and App Design. Again, the reason I signed up for the MasterClass is because of Hans Zimmer, and I spent more time in the music section.

Udemy

MasterClass

Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing
Howard Schultz Teaches Business Leadership
Anna Wintour Teaches Creativity and Leadership
Paul Krugman Teaches Economics and Society
Hans Zimmer Teaches Film Scoring
Carlos Santana Teaches The Art and Soul of Guitar
Armin van Buuren Teaches Dance Music
Timbaland Teaches Producing and Beatmaking
Tom Morello Teaches Guitar