How much do you read and how do you plan your reading?

alsa

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Do you have a reading project with each book being as a next action? I have composed a couple of reading lists that I keep in my project list. Those two lists are essentially fiction and non-fiction. I have about 30 books in each list. Now, I do not usually plan how long it is going for me to read each book on the list. I usually just take my time and enjoy the act of reading. (I no longer try to speed-read; I find the "mind like water" feeling present when I read something to just enjoy the act).

How do you manage your reading? Do you have a list? (I adjust mine when something comes up that I want to read and rearrange the list; many books on my list are in order of priority I must admit. The ones at the end are more someday/maybe whereas the first 5-10 are a must).
 
I have a project call ReaD for pleasure. The books are next actions, that ususally are in anywere. When I finish a book I simply change my next action...
 
Thanks for sharing.

I forgot to mention that I also use SmartList2Go on my Palm, and every time I finish a book I make an entry in my Books I Read List and make some comments and grade the book. That way I have a record. I know some people simply register at Amazon.com and post their reviews of books (and CDs and videos for that matter) on that site. You can also review your history that way. I use Amazon to store my WANTED list -- any CD/DVD/book I see on Amazon and think I would be interested in having I just enter into my Wanted list.
 
Anything that I want to read sometime, but not right now, goes on my Someday/Maybe list. I have a list there just for books.

Once I identify that I'm ready to start reading it I set a Next Action to get the book (through whatever means is appropriate). Then I have a next action for the next thing to push me into the project. For most books I will have a NA like "Read Chapter 4 in XXXXXXXXX". For some of the books that I am a little more resistant on, yet I need to read for business reasons, the I will add a next action of "Read page 112 in XXXXXXXXX". I do OK once I get started. Once I put the book down I set a new place holder on my mext actions list.
 
I think that reading has to be a big thumping solid project – like going to the gym. Reading has the peculiar status of being very easy to do – therefore not very macho or “sleeves-rolled-up-and-getting-stuck-in” …and therefore somehow lacks status as a worthy task; yet on the other hand books are regarded as doors to wisdom and other peoples’ thoughts.

I plan my day around things I have to do, yet still entertain the illusion that I will “squeeze some reading in” during the day. Needless to say, this never happens, and I actually don’t think I have read a book so far this year.

If I try to set aside quality time for reading, the scales always tip in favour of some physical task. I don’t know if it's guilt, or the accumulated opinions of all the Philistines (oops, sorry) I have met over the years, but whatever the case, the books ain’t getting read.

I do feel that “self management” and “productivity” produce a bias towards activity: they produce a culture where action is favoured over sitting still (and reading). I think reading has therefore become marginalised, albeit accidentally.

Personally, I wish I could approach reading like a student. The best reading of classical literature I have done was while doing an Arts Degree course several years ago: it was close, intensive, underlining/note-taking reading, but I will never forget those books.

Brian Tracy says somewhere that, even as knowledge workers, we should mind our bodies with the care that athletes mind theirs: I’m sure there must be an “athletic” way of reading too - not with speed as its objective, but with the aim of absorbing solid chucks at a steady powerful pace in set periods of quality time.

Set it up so that you are not interrupted – if those around you don’t respect your reading time, then go to a park or coffee shop. You can’t let reading be something you do “until something else shows up” – because if you do, then any idle chatterer will ruin your session … and feel that it’s ok to do so.

I’m writing this post as much for my own benefit as yours – trying to workout some way of getting moving again on the reading front.

Dave.
 
I have a next action that recurs weekly, "read a book". Pleasure is implied. :)

Reading magazines, catalogs, etc isn't a project and doesn't have a next action. I do keep a "to read" pile in a zipper folder (one of Levenger's travelling inbox), and they get grabbed when there's a free minute.

I do have a next action to finish working my way through Your Best Year Yet, but that's because the issue is really working my way through the exercises, not just reading the book.

I would rather read than do most other things, so while this works for me, I wouldn't make it a universal recommendation. :-)
 
Reading styles can be very different:)

For me reading has never been a problem in the sense that I would read a too little amount. On the contrary, I enjoy reading so much that I even might forget whatever I am doing if I find something more interesting to read.

I don't know whether to recommend this "style" but if you want to get into it the "instruction" would be as follows:

  • Read what interests you really, not what you think is "good" for you
    Read every day with fascination
    Read and forget the clock
    Read...

So I really don't know whether this style is recommendable at all...but it's fun 8)
 
I only assign NAs for work-related reading. I don't list them as separate projects because, for me, they tend to fall within other projects. I do have "Books to Read" and "Books I've Read" lists in Memo (I use a Palm) for recreational reading, but I really don't adhere to them that much. If there's something else in front of me that looks interesting the list goes out the window.
 
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