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I go back and forth on if its helpful to set a goal on the number of books. Sometimes its a good motivation for me. Other times its a distraction to the goals o
by waderyan 9y ago
I go back and forth on if its helpful to set a goal on the number of books. Sometimes its a good motivation for me. Other times its a distraction to the goals of why I read: to learn and to enjoy.
The year my son was born I spent hours everyday pushing him in a stroller to help him stop crying and give his mom a break. I read / listened to 105 books that year, which ended up being too much. I couldn't remember most of what I read / listened to. The next year I had to re-read many of the books.
The sweet spot for me is between 40 and 50, although I've adjusted my goal from number of books to subject mastery. Focusing on a subject I care about and studying books, articles, etc. on the subject has ended up being more rewarding. In addition, I have a handful of books I read simply for the joy of reading.
- dharmon 9y agoOne downside of tracking the books I read is that I have a subtle resistance to starting super long books, because I know for that month I'll only end up reading 2 books instead of 5. It's really stupid but a side effect of tracking / counting. It means I unnecessarily postponed reading excellent books such as "Titan" by Chernow.
- GabrielF00 9y agoI've gotten around this (at least a little) by tracking pages read instead of books read.
- dharmon 9y agoThat's actually a really good idea. Might also make me prioritize articles more if they contribute to a "page count".