Read a book a week
The question I get asked a lot is: How do you read a book a week? I must confess that it is not magic. Anyone can do it. You can too. We all have the same 24 hours in each day. What it all comes down to is prioritization. Does it matter enough to you to make it happen?
I have found that reading brings faster knowledge than sitting in any course. Reading is just as profound as experience itself. It opens doors and connects dots that you never thought possible. Perhaps it is a kind of magic.
Here are my top 5 tips on how to read a book a week.
1) Prioritize reading every day.
Picking up a book. Reading a few pages. Every single day. That takes discipline. With any priority, you make sure that it gets done, no matter what. This is how I view the act of reading. It is an activity that I must do every day. To me, it is like going to the gym. Instead of exercising the body, it is building the muscles of the mind. It requires dedication and commitment. Even on those days that you don’t feel like lifting a finger. My goal each day is to read one chapter. Choose your speed and read at your own pace. Make it a priority and it will happen.
2) Dedicate a convenient time.
Reading a book a week also requires a bit of time management. The first rule of time management is prioritization. Set aside time every day to dedicate to reading. That can look differently to everyone. Is it two hours per day? One hour? Or half an hour during your commute? It is much easier to find time than one may think. How many hours do you spend scrolling on your phone or bingeing on Netflix? Could that be some time that you could use to read? I haven’t owned a television in 6 years, and I love the time that it frees up for me.
I usually choose to read before bedtime because it makes me sleepy. 😴 This allows ample time to read a chapter before nodding off to sleep. How about your commute to work? I use this time to read whether I am on the bus or train. Think about going to the doctor’s office. There could be some extra time to kill. I always carry a book with me for this purpose. If there is ever some downtime, or waiting, I can always pull the book out of my bag to fill this time. Travel is another circumstance where a book can come in handy!
3) Choose books that you enjoy.
I prefer physical books to digital ones. I feel like I am on the screen all day long for work and leisure, that when I am ready to wind down, I want to hold something concrete in my hands. There are many digital books available, including audio ones. Choose what you enjoy.
Which subjects do you like to read about? I prefer to read nonfiction books. When I am reading, I want to learn something new. To unlock new perspectives, I had never known existed. Whatever the genre of your choice, make sure it is a book that you want to pick up every day.
I have only come across a couple books that I picked up and just did not enjoy at all. Have compassion for the sake of time and let those go. Life is too short to be spent on badly written books. Reading should be insightful, fun and worthwhile.
4) Practice makes speed.
The more you do, the faster you learn. This also applies to reading. When I first started this challenge, I struggled to read a book in two weeks. I was just learning to get into my rhythm, and I had to readjust my lifestyle to fit the new path that I chose. One that focuses on self-improvement and good habits. After a month or so, I noticed that I began to read a little faster day by day. I tend to choose books of similar subject or genre. I have discovered because of this, the knowledge that I accumulate from each book literally builds on top of each other. When you have already mastered a concept, and you encounter it again in another book, you naturally tend to fly through it – thus enabling you to read faster.
Have you ever heard of bionic reading? Bionic reading is a speed-reading technique that highlights different parts of a word as your primary focus while reading. This way, your brain does not focus on reading the entire word as in regular text. Instead, it highlights the first letters in each word, so your eyes concentrate on those letters, and your brain does the comprehension. This is still new to me. I have recently been testing this out, and it truly is an exercise for the eyes and brain. Perhaps you could give this a try if you want to be a true speed reader!
5) Maintain a passion for lifelong learning.
What it all comes down to with anything is the why. Why do you do it? The reason I read every day is to maintain my passion for lifelong learning. Someone told me once that the day that you stop learning is the day that you stop living. I truly believe that reading keeps me young, in mind and at heart. The world is so vast and there is so much to discover. In the chance that you may not get to experience it all firsthand, at least you can read it through a book. Out of all the things on this planet, your knowledge is the one thing that no one can take away from you. Take advantage of it. And use it for good. What is your why?
In conclusion, it is totally okay to not read a book every week of the year. For instance, I try to take a couple weeks off to truly enjoy my holidays. Well-being matters. If you are not up to the hashtagbookaweekchallenge, take up the hashtagbookamonthchallenge. Whatever you choose, continue to read regularly, create those good habits, and keep learning. Happy reading!
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