“In the time you spend on social media each year, you could read 200 books”
I didn’t quite make 500 pages a day, but, in these last two years, I’ve read over 400 books cover to cover. That decision to start reading was one of the most important decisions in my life.
The tips:
Do not quit before you start -- "Anyone can do it, but most people won’t."
Do the simple math -- "To read 200 books, simply spend 417 hours a year reading [at 400 wpm]."
Find the time -- the average person in the US spends 608 hours on social media and 1,642 hours on TV
Execute -- use environmental design to keep books nearby at all times. Form habits. Use any medium necessary: print books, ebooks, audiobooks, etc.
I used to read a lot, but I think a smartphone has reduced that considerably. I still read constantly, but it’s Internet more than books. That article is giving me inspiration to fix that problem.
I do agree with the fact that people who don’t have time to read, usually don’t because they spend that time on television, social media/social platforms or other things, but quickly calculating in my head, I feel like the 417 hours is based on 50.000 word books. Books are all written differently, but I once read that on average you can expect 250 words on a page. Larger pages can hold more words, with a4 size able around 500. Let’s go with the 250 words, that is 200 pages, which is average for novels. I have many books which are 300+ pages filled with information.
That given, I read about a 100 books a year, as I usually read in train trips and stuff like that. I don’t feel any need to boost that up to 200, but the article is a nice motivation to get people to start.
I did a wpm test online where my comprehension score was 0% (0/4 questions right) at a wpm of 208.
How would you go about enhancing your speed to lets say 400wpm with a decent comprehension if you were in my steps? I do read alot on the internet afterall.
yeah I kind of agree with @Ylva but instead of the phrase “concentrating more” (“concentration” is kind of vague [maybe] ) I think I would use the phrase “practicing more”. Progress and practice have to be slow before they can be fast. I’m not an “expert” (although I have done a lot of research about learning and self-improvement). Read at whatever speed you can and the more you do eventually the better/faster you will become. Sorry that’s not a very “here’s-a-secret-trick!” kind of response. I would say using a tracker (a finger or a pencil/pen) is a good idea for forcing your eyes on a target. Do NOT take the advice of a scam artist named Tai Lopez, he is full of BS. I saw him give a talk about how he “speed-reads” and it was utter garbage. (he basically advised people to read the titles and the table of contents and "voila! book finished! "which obviously is idiotic. Read about and research speed-reading. From what I’ve read it’s kind of a myth, but people can strengthen the muscles that control their eye-movement and we can incrementally increase our ability to sustain attention. I highly recommend the books “Tiny Habits” by B.J. Fogg and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.
When I was in high school, I got up at 5:30 AM so I could read a long time before going to my first class. Over the course of my life, my daily schedule starts with reading and ends with reading—and there are blocks of reading during the day.
There have been times in my life when I had to work demanding jobs, with late hours and constant deadlines. But I always found time to read for an hour or so before starting work in the morning. This frequently cut into my sleep or forced me to make other sacrifices.
I always begin the day with a book. I read at lunch. I read at dinner (until I got married). I read at night before going to sleep. Then I start the cycle again the next day.
I remember times when I was so exhausted by the demands put on me that I felt I had reached some limit of psychological and physical endurance. But I still set the alarm clock an hour or so earlier than necessary so I could have my reading time.
And here’s another person who says he reads a couple of hundred books per year.
I would say using a tracker (a finger or a pencil/pen) is a good idea for forcing your eyes on a target. Do NOT take the advice of a scam artist named Tai Lopez, he is full of BS. I saw him give a talk about how he “speed-reads” and it was utter garbage. (he basically advised people to read the titles and the table of contents and "voila! book finished! "which obviously is idiotic. Read about and research speed-reading. From what I’ve read it’s kind of a myth, but people can strengthen the muscles that control their eye-movement and we can incrementally increase our ability to sustain attention. I highly recommend the books “Tiny Habits” by B.J. Fogg and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.