So how exactly do you read a book a week

[LifeFirst]

How do you read a book period??


I haven't read one in three years.

[Trustme]

I'd recommend starting slowly - maybe a 30 day trial to read 15 minutes straight every day. The key is probably to understand that small periods of time add up.

I usually read around 30 to 60 minutes a day and finish around 40 to 50 books a year.

[supertom]

i wanna know how i can remember the stuff, whats the best memory technique for that, how can i remember self-imprpvement ideas

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Mags

Absolute pure pleasure

That may be so, and I doubt you not. Nevertheless, I am an addict-reader and readinga book a week isnt really worthwhile in my opinion.

It sounds more like churning.

Try reading Les Miserables or Clarissa in a week and see if you could derive any pleasure from it.

On the PD front, try reading the 7 Habits one week, Brian Tracy's Selling Strategy the next, Napolean Hill T&GR the next. You will internalize nothing but words. You have to treat PD books like phiolosophy books. You cant speed read them. You have to re-read and apply the message. Otherwise its only a reading exercise.

[Freelancer]

For the guys who have trouble implementing stuff try this:
Its something I've only started doing recently but its a great exercize for sure, be carefull though you might get a bit lost in your own mind (don't read more then one book this way).

Here goes *drums*

Read the book and while reading it view your own life through the writers perspective or mentality.

This is going to require some practice and it'll screw with your mind a bit.

The trick is to become fully associated with the writers viewpoint and basically living your life as though you have the mentality of that particular writer.

For instance reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
I envisioned myself with the mindsets and beliefs of the main characters.

What I would need to do to live my life congruently.

How I would look upon the world.

What would make me happy to do.

What actions would I take right now.


Taking this perspective is like looking in the mirror and critically looking at each part of yourself that might not measure up to that particular mindset.
After a while you'll start to notice that there is this slight push towards taking action thats more congruent with your newly found mindset.

This is when the tricky part comes in.
To prevent that you keep changing direction all the time you need to implement a delay period. Don't change anything untill you finished the entire book.

Then switch back to your 'old' mindset.
It has most likely changed radically, for the better.

This way of reading involves juggling two perspectives or lenses as our honourable Steve calls it at the same time. Evaluating them while your reading.

Incidentally it also allows me to reach much faster, I'm looking for mindsets not a particular technique.

Most PD books aren't so much about new tricks or technique's, they are about realigning your mind towards success.

Doing this everytime you read a book, once a week, will ensure you keep that mindset of achieving everything you dreamed of doing and more importantly becoming everything you dreamed of being.



Good luck.

[sidefx]

Take the bus.

It may not be possible depending on the quality of public transportation in your area, but I find it to be a huge time saver.

If you normally take 30 minutes to drive to work or school, you can usually take the bus in 40. It may seem this is 10 minutes more a day traveling, but you don't have to focus on the road, so instead of spending 30 minutes doing nothing but drive, you can spend it reading.

Imagine if in the morning you could read a book for 40 minutes and then be instantaneously at work. Not to mention a lot of time it's cheaper, and less stressful.

[SonoranBob]

Originally Posted by Scipio

Instead of sitting on the computer and searching for information, I can usually get a much more concentrated source on one topic from a book. Ask yourself how much time you invest in non-productive tasks on your computer, and compare that to your output--the educational value you receive. For me, reading a book is often a lot better, especially if I want an in depth look at something.

I often research a topic I'm interested in on the Internet -- including what books might be worth reading on that topic. It's often helpful to get an overview of what the blah-blah-blah is on a particular topic so you can zero in on the one or two best books to read. And I don't necessarily mean the one or two best selling or most popular -- I mean the ones that YOU find the most useful for YOU. There is so much in print these days on any one topic it's easy to end up reading an okay book when you could be enjoying a great one.

In my experience there is usually a nugget or two worth remembering about any given book, the rest is fluff designed to get enough paper between the covers to make the publisher happy. So many (not all) books can be kind of low-bandwidth and I find myself speed reading or even skimming in places. Especially if the writing or editing is less skilled.

When I run across something particularly profound I put a quote or my own thoughts about it in my note-taking application (I use the free version of EverNote (A Single Place For All Your Notes! | EverNote Corporation) -- Microsoft OneNote is popular also).

With non-fiction, don't feel obligated to read the whole book word for word unless it's really that much of a page turner and that worth it for you personally. The objective is to cut to the chase and mine the gold. Many writers have something to say, but aren't very good at getting to the point.

--Bob

[Mags]

Originally Posted by Stephen

It sounds more like churning.

Try reading Les Miserables or Clarissa in a week and see if you could derive any pleasure from it.

On the PD front, try reading the 7 Habits one week, Brian Tracy's Selling Strategy the next, Napolean Hill T&GR the next. You will internalize nothing but words. You have to treat PD books like phiolosophy books. You cant speed read them. You have to re-read and apply the message. Otherwise its only a reading exercise.

Maybe there are different reading styles...?! When I read, even though I'm reading fast and it's a pleasurable activity in itself, I am reading in a very "active" manner.

By this, I mean that I'm constantly synthesising what I'm reading with other books/articles that I've read in the past, adding my own thoughts and experiences and integrating the information into a framework that makes sense to me. Does anyone else do this, or do y'all just read and then only think about the information after you've finished the book?

I also very often re-read books (I've just finished re-reading Tolle's Power of Now and have just started re-reading A New Earth), and I often have 2 or 3 books on the go at the same time.

[busy91]

In the past two years I have kept track of the books I read for the year. Both years I hit 57 books, that comes to more than 1 book a week, however, I don't take 7 days to read every book. Sometimes I read 2 books in one week, other times it may take me 10 days.

I don't think my rate of speed changes between non-fiction and fiction, but it does change if I am interested or not in what I am reading. Most of my reading gets done on the subway. It is about a 30 to 40 minute commute each way. Sometimes, when I have time, I read at home too.

[Keith]

I found "Ask and it is Given" hard slog too.

I think it's just not written very well. You might find it more accessible approaching it as a study text (take notes etc.) given that that's basically what it is.

[readlorey]

As a book addict (I swear it's in my genes) I read all the time. And I read two to three books at the same time. I'm reading two fictions and one spiritual at the moment.

I read when I'm waiting for anything, like the doctor's office, on the toilet (things seem to come out so much better that way for some reason), and before I go to sleep. I have an active schedule so I take a book with me in case I have to wait or I get bored where ever I am.

[Joely]

Originally Posted by readlorey

As a book addict (I swear it's in my genes) I read all the time. And I read two to three books at the same time. I'm reading two fictions and one spiritual at the moment.

I read when I'm waiting for anything, like the doctor's office, on the toilet (things seem to come out so much better that way for some reason), and before I go to sleep. I have an active schedule so I take a book with me in case I have to wait or I get bored where ever I am.

I'm just the same, everywhere I go I think I might have to spend any time waiting, I take a book with me. And I take time out from writing to read. Go off to a coffee shop, curl up on a sofa and enjoy.

[jaamkie]

I love to read, prob read more than a book a week on average, but I've never forced myself to read and I go long periods without reading, then there are other times when I'm reading every spare moment, staying up all night. I think the thing is to keep finding books that inspire you to read them just out of curiousity/interest, so maybe make it a goal to get to the library/bookstore/amazon regularly to keep up a stock of things that you really WANT to read, and then make sure you keep them piled somewhere so you see and grab them whenever you have a moment. As far as reading uninteresting books, I just don't think it's worth it unless you have a particular goal- if you're reading PD books I think it's best to start reading the section that drew you to the book or decide to read a particular amount to give it a chance or just start skimming and when it gets interesting/relevant you'll automatically slow down and read/reread it; if it never gets interesting/relevant well then don't feel bad about tossing it aside and trying something new- there's really no point in deathmarching yourself through every word on every page in a particular book if it isn't useful to you- if you think for some reason it SHOULD be useful then put it aside and give it another chance later.