Reading is directly correlated with success. All the greats such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet are avid readers. Unfortunately for most of us, it’s easy to get bogged down with pressing life stuff. I’ve written before about where you can find educational resources online and I’ve written about books that you should read but this article will present some apps and strategies to get you reading more.
Blinkist
This is a great service to determine if you want to invest the time in reading a book or listening to its full Audio counterpart. This is like Audio cliff notes. They also have a non-audio version that breaks things down in text and summarizes the various chapters. I enjoy the service, but if you find a book that appears to have some good information you’ll be best served to go ahead and snag the hard copy or audio version after checking it out on Blinkist.
Audible
I love Audible. You can buy audio books 1 at a time or subscribe to get 1 audio book per month. Either way, they have a huge number of books available and their app is handy. Unlike Blinkist, the narration quality is top notch and you get the whole book so all that extra fluff is included. For me, I prefer hearing the full audio book because all the extra fluff that Blinkist cuts out makes it more engaging and memorable.
Download Books to Your Phone
If you’re like me, I bet you find yourself scrolling through your facebook feed when you’re standing in line or waiting for some meeting to start. You can download and purchase books directly to your phone from the google play store. I personally don’t like reading digital books as much as physical ones, but reading an ebook is definitely a more productive use of time than staring at memes.
Schedule Your Reading
It’s easy to put off reading. We’re all incredibly busy and reading doesn’t seem like an activity that brings with it a huge ROI. If you add dedicated reading time either in the morning or before bed it can be a nice way to either prepare yourself for or recover from the rigors of the day. Adding reading into your calendar provides an extra step of accountability.
Speed Read
Speed reading is not some ‘magic bullet’ and is often not the best way to read and retain information. However, speed reading can be a good way to digest non-technical information. In instances where you’re not trying to digest complicated technical information, speed reading can be a great way to quickly go over the content. There are a variety of techniques broken down here. Each technique has its own pros and cons depending on the material.