How I Read 100 Books in a Year

you need to read more books.

When I tell people this, most of them say, “oh yeah, I sure do.” but then two seconds later they say “wish i had time”.

You are reading: How to read 100 books a year

well, you know what? I’m calling pranks with that excuse. because the truth is that we have time. A report from the University of California shows that we are consuming more information now than ever before: more than 100,000 words per day. think about how many text messages, alerts, notifications, work emails, personal emails, news headlines, instant tickers, blog feeds, twitter messages, and instagram comments you read each day.

with all that reading crap, who has more time for books?

In a previous hbr article called “8 Ways to Read (A Lot) More Books This Year,” we shared that for most of my adult life I read five books a year, tops. I had some slow burners on my nightstand and read a couple of books on vacation if I was lucky. but then, three years ago, I read fifty. fifty books! in one year. I couldn’t believe it all of a sudden I could feel the books turning into this lead domino to be a better husband, a better father, and a better writer.

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Since then, I’ve been trying to duplicate the read. I am now reading over 100 books a year. sure, sometimes i find slow patches and bare patches, and slip into the black holes of social media. but here are eight more things I do to get back on track:

1. live inside a world of books. most people have a bookshelf “over there”, where the books live. but one day last year, my wife just dumped a stack of about ten picture books in the middle of our coffee table. what happened? our kids started flipping through them all the time. so now we just rotate them and leave them there. It’s a path of least resistance principle, much like how Google leaves healthy snacks on the counter for employees while chocolates are hidden in cookie jars. we put the television in the basement, installed a bookshelf near the front door, and stuffed books into bags on the car seats and in various corners of the house. Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges said: “I can’t sleep if I’m not surrounded by books”. this is how we now choose to live. (Even if you’re trying to sort or don’t have much room to store books, you can always visit your local library for books and return them when you’re done.)

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2. wear “red” in bed. my wife usually falls asleep before me, and that’s when I put my red reading light on my forehead. why red? Michael Breus, author of The Power of When says that the theory is that red light helps melatonin production. And bright lights have the opposite effect, according to the Sleep Health Foundation of Australia. too bright lights or a bright screen can make you feel more alert. reading before bed should help you relax, not turn you on.

3. make your phone less addictive. Cell phones are a distraction machine. our cell phones are designed to be smooth, sexy and irresistible. you do not believe me? Stern Business School Associate Professor Adam Alter’s irresistible book will quickly increase your awareness of the addictive designs found on smartphones. they are like pocket slot machines. So how do you resist the temptation to reach for it? make it less attractive. move all apps off the home screen so it’s blank when you open it. leave your broken screen broken. move your charger to the basement to make it an extra step in your low-resistance evening and morning moments. If you must have your phone in your room while you sleep, enable Do Not Disturb mode to automatically block calls and texts after 7 p.m. Slowly, slowly, slowly, you can keep your phone from becoming so alluring.

4. use the dewey decimal system. how do you organize your books? by color? when did you buy them? by big random piles everywhere? there’s a reason all libraries use the dewey decimal system. it makes sense. the books fall neatly into ever-narrower categories around psychology and religion and science and art and…everything. What is the benefit? you make connections. you see where your big gaps are. i spent a saturday organizing my books according to the dewey decimal system and, in addition to scratching an incredibly deep organizational itch, i now find books faster, feel more purposeful in my reading, and am more engaged in what i read, because i can feel how it fits into my brain. what tools do you need to do this? Just two: I checked classify.oclc.org to look up dewey decimal numbers for any book that doesn’t have a ddc code on the inside cover, and I use the decimator app to look up what that number means. oh, and I use a pencil to write the dewey decimal code and category on the inside cover of each book before I put it on the shelf.

5. use podcasts and booktube to solve the “next book” dilemma. As your reading speed increases, the biggest problem soon becomes “well, what should I read next?” Going beyond the stacks at airport bookstores and what’s hot on bestseller lists means digging into the back lists and side shelves of bookstores to intentionally seek out the books that will truly change your life. . In an age of endless options, the value of healing skyrockets. podcasts and booktubers (a subset of book-focused youtubers) are now a reader’s healing dream machine. where to start? on podcasts, “what should I read next?” for the modern lady. Darcy tackles the problem head-on, and Amanda Nelson at Bookriot offers personalized book recommendations. i also have my own “3 books” show, during which we ask guests like ted’s chris anderson, judy blume, or chip wilson to share the three books that most shaped their lives. and: booktube? yes, booktube. there’s a great overview here, and some initial channels to get you hooked are ariel bissett and polandbananasbooks.

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6. stop following all the news. Sure, sure, I preached earlier on how I canceled my five magazine and two newspaper subscriptions to focus solely on books. but do you know where the news followed me? online. That’s where you need to get tough: unfollow all news sites on social media and remove all bookmarks from news sites (remove all passwords too). Remember what political scientist Herbert Simon said: “what consumes information is quite obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. therefore, a large amount of information creates a poverty of attention and the need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that could consume it.” (Want to dig deeper here? I recommend reading “why you should stop reading the news” on farnam street and “five things you notice when you leave the news” on raptitude).

7. keep reading something that does nothing else. As author Seth Godin told me in an interview, “People rarely read a book on iBooks because you’re one click away from checking your email.” if we can be interrupted, alerted or notified, we will do so. that’s not good for diving deep into new worlds. so what do i suggest? real books real pages. on actual paper. yes, i’m okay with killing trees if it means gaining the ability to disappear into your own mind. after all, only real books let you be the full director of the show. no voice replaces your mental voice, no format or screen affects the artistic intentions of the writer. sure, i get it if you need bigger fonts, or if you drive all day and prefer audiobooks, but i’m just saying if you want to be a true book snob for the rest of your life like me, real books are where you are and, if you must use a device, just make sure the e-reader cannot receive text messages.

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8. talk to your local booksellers. my all time favorite bookseller is sarah ramsey from another story books in toronto. I walk in, I start to babble, I start to confess, I share what I’m struggling with, and she hmmm and hmmm and assesses me as we wander around the store talking for half an hour. she finds: a good book after my divorce, a good book before my trip to australia, a good book while I struggle with my children. and then I come out with a bunch of books that completely fit my emotional state, where I want or need to grow, and those that resonate with me on a deeper level. if you believe that humans are the best algorithm (as I do), then walking into your local independent bookstore, evaluating the wall of staff picks to see who has interests aligned with yours, and then asking them for personal picks is a great way to find books. you will love faster (Here’s a list of independent bookstores in the US if you want a place to start.)

Are you ready to read? really want to go? Or are you one of those people who first needs to hear some rock-solid science to help change their behavior? If you need another couple of reasons: In 2011, the annual psychology review said that reading activates our mirror neurons and opens up the parts of our brains responsible for developing empathy, compassion, and understanding. reading makes you a better leader, teacher, father and brother. Another study published in the journal Science found that reading literary fiction helps us improve our empathy and social functioning. And finally, an incredible 2013 study at Emory University found that MRI taken the morning after test subjects were asked to read sections of a novel showed an increase in connectivity in the temporal cortex. left, the brain area associated with language receptivity. just imagine the long-term benefits of opening a book every day.

Most of us want to read more books. and we absolutely can. you are what you eat and you are what you read.

keep turning the page.

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