I am a big fan of Jay Shetty. I consider him a mentor. He has read 365 books in a year. A book a day!
Here are his tips on how he did it!
- Know the “WHY” for reading a book
Define your why for yourself before starting. This is a very personal thing. The more intellectual your goal is the better. Your why for reading a book could be for getting new ideas, seeing new perspectives and improving your life. It could also be to escape the reality and be entertained. There is nothing wrong in that just know that if you are reading books just to show off a number to people, it would be a very shallow goal and your efforts will be worthless.
- Books don’t need to be read from Cover to Cover
That is the first mistake we make. We think we need to read every book cover to cover to understand it. Not all books are written that way. Jay Shetty gives a really good example of how reading every book cover to cover is like searching every isle for the thing you need during grocery shopping instead of having a list and picking out only the things you need.
In non fiction books it is much easier to pick out the things that are going to benefit you the most and only target those areas instead of reading every word.
- Use Love power over Willpower
If you are struggling to get through a book and every page seems longer that the next and words keep getting smaller and smaller the more you read, chances are that you are using your willpower to get through the book to get over with it or just for the namesake. Whereas if you are really excited to learn and love the topic of the book, it will make the whole reading process much easier and enjoyable.
- Look at Interviews, Videos & Podcast episodes of the Author
Unless you are reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, chances are that you will find ample video content of the author online. It could be a podcast episode or a Ted talk. Go through them to understand what the author stands for and what is he trying to share to the world. This way you will grasp majority of the concept and idea of the book before even reading it. Doing this will give you an understanding of whether you find the subject of the book compelling and whether you are still attracted to the field it belongs.
Chances are you might not even need to read the book. Biggest example of this is the 5 second rule by Mel Robbins, all she does in the book is explain the same principle again and again through examples of people who have changed their life by using it. Watching a few of her interviews and Ted talk is enough to grasp the whole principle.
- Go through the list of contents and highlight the areas you find interesting
Once you are convinced that you want to go ahead with reading the book after watching a few videos, go through the list of contents and highlight the areas that you find interesting or you are keen to learn. It is similar to looking at a menu while ordering things that you want.
- Always read the 1st chapter
The author has put so much energy in writing that first chapter and that is why you should read it. In several books the first chapter is usually a guide by the author in how you should read the book and that’s why, do not miss it. After chapter one feel free to dive into the areas that you have highlighted.
- Read / Listen at 1.5x – 2x Speed
All audiobook apps provide the feature of speeding up the whole process of reading a book. For classic old school readers, there is a very simple way to speed up the process of reading by using the finger as a guide. The faster you move your finger the faster you can read. It may sound too simple but it actually works!
- Focus on the important words within sentences
The brain is more powerful than you can imagine . It can extrapolate 90% meaning from a sentence by looking at just 30% of the words. Use that to your advantage by focusing on the important words within the sentences that you are reading.
We usually read by using a Start-Stop method. While reading a sentence completely, it is only when you stop that the brain starts to making meaning of it. This slows down the reading process. Focus on the important words instead and you will flow through the sentences instead of starting and stopping.
- Read the first 3 and last 3 lines of a paragraph
Authors place importance in the first three lines and last three lines of a paragraph by loading it with key information. Read them and then decide whether you want to read the full paragraph.
- Highlight sub headings
Read the subheadings within a chapter and feel free to highlight the ones that you find interesting and then dive into them. There is no need to read even the chapter from start to end just because you have highlighted it and find it interesting.
We all have this compulsion and fixation on reading a book cover to cover. We almost romanticize the entire act and many have legitimate ocd issues related to this.
It is important that we change our perception from number of books read to amount of knowledge gained.
Imagine spending two months reading a book cover to cover and not having gained a single bit of knowledge from it. This in turn demotivates us.
Through the tips mentioned above you will be able to get through a book in a day and then decide whether you actually want to read it cover to cover.
Always remember that learning from a book is far more important than just finishing it.
Now repeat after me – “I WILL NOT finish books that I DON’T LIKE.