Reading opens windows into other worlds. While most of us don’t
have the time to read a whole book in one sitting, we do have the
time to read 25 pages a day (here are some ways you can find time to
read). Reading the right books, even if it’s a few pages a day, is
one of the best ways to ensure that you go to bed a little smarter
than you woke up.
Twenty-five pages a
day adds up over time. Let’s say that two days out of each month,
you probably won’t have time to read. Plus Christmas. That gives
you 340 days a year of solid reading time. If you read 25 pages a day
for 340 days, that’s 8,500 pages. 8,500. What I have also found is
that when I commit to a minimum of 25 pages, I almost always read
more. So let’s call the 8,500 pages 10,000. (I only need to extend
the daily 25 pages into 30 to get there.)
With 10,000 pages a
year, at a general pace of 25/day, what can we get done? In about
one year, at a modest pace of 25 pages a day, you’d have knocked
out 13 masterful works and learned an enormous amount about the
history of the world. In one year!
But there are two
areas that have been misinterpreted over the past year, so let’s
clarify them and make sure everyone is set on the right course.
Farnam Street had a
post recently talking about how the way to get through big books is
25 pages a day. I don’t totally disagree with that, I’ve just
found that style is nice in theory but less effective in practice.
Really, it’s about whether you can go through large blocks of time
at this thing, concerted but sustained blocks of effort—almost like
a fartlek workout. Because broken up into too many pieces, you’ll
miss the whole point of the book, like the proverbial blind man
touching an elephant. Those who conquer long books know that it’s
not a matter of reading some pages before you fall asleep but rather,
canceling your plans for the night and staying in to read instead.
Create healthy
reading habits. The point of assigning yourself a certain amount of
reading every day is to create a deeply held habit. The
25-pages-a-day thing is a habit-former! For those of us who already
have a strong reading habit, it’s not altogether necessary. I love
reading, so I no longer need to force myself to read. But many people
dream of it rather than doing it, and they especially dream of a day
when they will read for hours at a time with great frequency, as Ryan
does and as we do.
Easy does not equate
to good. The problem is, when they start tasting the broccoli, they
realize how tough that commitment can be. They think, “If I can’t
read for hours on end, why bother starting?” So instead of doing
their daily 25 pages, they don’t read anything! The books sit on
the shelves, collecting dust. We know a lot of people like this.
Those folks need to
commit to a daily routine — to understand what a small commitment
compounds to over time. And, like us, most of these people will
naturally read far more than 25 pages. They will achieve the dream
and plow through a book they really love in a few sittings rather
than with a leisurely 25 pages per day. But creating the habit is
where it starts.
Eventually, you’ll
love it so much that you’ll force yourself to read less at times so
you can get other things done.
The other
misconception comes from the meaty books we referred to: long ones
like The Power Broker, War and Peace, and Gibbon’s Decline and
Fall. Some readers took that to mean that they should attempt these
huge tomes out of pure masochism and use the 25-page daily mark to
plow through boredom.
If you’ve gone
through our course on the Art of Reading, you’ll realize that there
are many better strategies than plowing ahead. You must pursue your
curiosities! This is by far the most important principle of good
reading.
The truth is that
when you’re super bored, your interest and understanding come to a
screeching halt. There are many, many topics that I find interesting
now which I found dull at some point in my life. Five years ago,
there was no possible way I would have made it through The Power
Broker, even if I tried to force myself. And it would have been a
mistake to try.
Here’s another
unspoken truth: Any central lesson you can take away from War and
Peace can also be learned in other ways if that book doesn’t really
interest you. The same goes for 99% of the wisdom out there — it’s
available in many places. Unfortunately, too many English lit
professors have promoted the idea that “the classics” contain
some sort of unique unobtanium of wisdom. Sorry, but that’s
bullshit.
The better idea is
to read what seems awesome and interesting to you now and to let your
curiosities grow organically. A lifelong interest in truth, reality,
and knowledge will lead you down so many paths, you should never need
to force yourself to read anything unless there is a very, very
specific reason.
Not only is this
approach way more fun, but it works really, really well. It keeps you
reading. It keeps you interested. And in the words of Nassim Taleb,
“Curiosity is antifragile, like an addiction; magnified by attempts
to satisfy it.”
Thus, paradoxically,
as you read more books, your pile of unread books will get larger,
not smaller. That’s because your curiosity will grow with every
great read.