Reading Smart

Our world is FULL of resources for the mind.  There are tens of millions of books, magazines, periodicals, and journals filling bookshelves, nightstands, and boxes.

I wonder how much time and money is wasted on the activity of reading.  How much time, for instance, are you spending reading the wrong book when you could be reading a better book?  How much of that time can be spent serving the needs of others or reading books that will cause you to truly grow in your journey?

Scott H. Young posted on this topic the other day.  He offers a way to filter out the wrong books so you can make the most of the resources that are out there for your tailored professional and personal development.  He lists 3 steps you can take to ensure the wrong book doesn't clog your reading flow:

Libraries.  You might not feel the pressure to finish if you haven’t spent any money.  Libraries can take some of the uncertainty away from buying a book.

Have the next book lined up.  Buy/borrow more than one book at a time, this way you’ll always have the next book to move on to, if the first book loses appeal.

Skim the book before reading.  If you aren’t reading a mystery novel, try looking through parts of the book quickly before committing to reading the book.  The introductory chapter often isn’t a great sample for the ideas in the rest of the book.

Read the entire post by Scott H. Young.

Make the most of your time reading books and you'll be Serving Strong!

pic from www.walmsleysoc.org/Leo.html

Comments

[Paul Dazet]

Scott,
Great post on a great topic. I think I have wasted months of my life on the wrong books - no kidding.

I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to finish books or to read a certain amount of books in a year, etc. Today, I don't put any pressure on myself to read. I usually find myself reading in seasons - a lot of books quickly followed by a season of very few books. But I can honestly say, I feel good about it.

Thanks for the post!

Paul