11 Practical Tips To Read More Books
Since reading books is one of the easiest ways to absorb knowledge, here are eleven different ways to read more books. Many of these can be easily integrated into your daily routine, costing you hardly any extra time.
1. Use “Dead Time” for Reading
The term “dead time” describes moments when you have nothing specific to do, such as between appointments or while on the train. These moments may only last a few minutes, but together, they add up to a significant amount of often unused time. Therefore, you should always have a book or an e-reader with you to use these moments for reading. For example, you could always carry a book or an e-book reader with you.
If you read for five minutes four times a day in this way, you gain 20 additional minutes of reading time each day. At an average reading speed of 250 words per minute (wpm), you can read a book with approximately 50,000 words every ten days. Over time, this leads to the following results:
- Daily: 20 min * 250 wpm = 5,000 words
- Weekly: 7 * 20 min * 250 wpm = 35,000 words ~ 1/2 book
- Monthly: 30 * 20 min * 250 wpm = 150,000 words ~ 3 books
- Yearly: 365 * 20 min * 250 wpm = 1,825,000 words ~ 36 books
- Per decade: 10 * 365 * 20 min * 250 wpm = 18,250,000 words ~ 365 books
Thus, you can achieve significant results with just a small daily reading time if you maintain this simple habit consistently over a longer period.
2. Listen to Audiobooks (at Double Speed)
Audiobooks allow you to use even more unoccupied time to take in books, for instance, while driving or doing household tasks. To absorb more knowledge in this time, you can listen to audiobooks at double speed. You’ll quickly get used to the increased speed and still be able to understand everything.
3. Build a Fixed Reading Habit
The most effective way to read more books is to establish a fixed reading habit. To do this, read every day at a specific time and place. For example, you could read each morning or evening at your desk. At first, it’s just about reading every day, even if it’s only one page. Once you’ve established the habit, you can gradually increase the duration of your daily reading sessions.
4. Set Reading Goals
To stay motivated in the long run, you should set both short- and long-term reading goals. Short-term goals might be to read a book per week or 100 pages a day. Long-term goals could include reading 50 books per year, reading a total of 1,000 books, or filling a specific bookshelf with books you’ve read. To keep track of your progress towards these goals, follow the next tip as well.
5. Keep a List of Books You’ve Read
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”
Peter Drucker
Keep a numbered list of all the books you’ve ever read. For each book, note the title, author, and, if possible, the year you read it. You can sort the list chronologically or by topics. Maintaining this list encourages you to read more, as you’ll want to add another book to the list. It also provides a great overview and many valuable statistics.
6. Replace Bad Habits with Reading
Another way to make more time for reading is to break a bad habit and use that time for reading instead. For example, if you regularly play video games, watch YouTube videos, or spend time on social media, you can reduce this habit using Franklin’s virtue plan. Aim to avoid the old habit for at least 30 days and replace it with a good habit by using that time to read books. You can find even more tips on breaking bad habits and building good ones in the ultimate guide to building good habits.
7. Increase Your Reading Speed
The only way to read more books without additional time commitment is to increase your reading speed. The first step is to use a reading aid, such as a pen or chopstick, to guide your eyes along the line. This automatically makes you more focused and faster and helps you implement the following tips. The next step is to avoid going back to previously read text, even if you feel you haven’t fully understood something. In these cases, simply continue reading. You’ll usually understand from the context and save time by not backtracking. Additionally, avoid subvocalizing while reading, as this will slow you down. Another technique to increase reading speed is to fixate on multiple words or word groups at once. For example, you could double your reading speed by capturing two words with each eye movement instead of focusing on each word individually. You can also read faster by shortening the duration of each fixation.
To practice speed-reading techniques, the metronome training method is ideal. Take an easy-to-read text and a reading aid, and aim to understand the text while steadily increasing your reading speed. Follow these steps, focusing primarily on reading speed and less on comprehension for this exercise:
- Read for one minute at 100 words per minute (WPM) faster than your usual pace.
- Increase by an additional 100 WPM.
- Continue increasing by 100 WPM three more times.
- Read at this speed for one minute, focusing on comprehension.
Additional tips for faster reading can be found in the book review of Speed Reading by Tony Buzan.
8. Skim Books
To read books even faster, you can use skimming techniques. Skimming involves quickly glancing over a book to get a broad overview of its content. To do this, briefly look at the following:
- Front and back cover of the book
- Table of contents
- Index
- Author’s bio or background information
- Key chapters (e.g., summaries/conclusions at the end of these chapters)
- Flip through and read a few sections (e.g., the foreword and final conclusion)
This should give you a good impression of the book’s theme and structure. You’ll also know which sections are particularly important or interesting to you. Then, focus on reading only these sections using the previously described speed-reading techniques. In skimming, concentrate mainly on headings, key terms, as well as the first and last sentence of each paragraph. The first sentence of a paragraph typically states what the paragraph is about, while the last sentence summarizes its conclusion. This allows you to skip the details in the middle. Similarly, most chapters are structured this way, so you often only need to read the first and last paragraph of a chapter to understand its main points.
9. Keep a Stock of Interesting Books
To ensure you don’t run out of reading material, always keep a stock of interesting books. You can create a wish list of books you’d like to buy or read in the future. Additionally, while reading one book, have at least one other book on hand that you can start right after. This will motivate you to finish the book you’re reading quickly so you can move on to the next.
10. Take a Reading Vacation
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, takes an annual reading vacation during which he reads as many books as possible on various topics over two weeks. With such a reading vacation, you can read several books in a short time and absorb a lot of knowledge. This will also help you generate new ideas, as you’ll be able to combine information from different fields.
11. Use an E-Reader
Using an e-reader can help you read more books, as it allows you to always carry an unlimited number of books with you. Additionally, you can take the e-reader anywhere, making it easy to read on the go or in spare moments. Another advantage is that you can easily create highlights and notes on the go without needing a pen or highlighter.
