People are doing all kinds of things to improve themselves during the pandemic and ‘Great Lockdown’. They are learning new skills, taking up interesting hobbies, and trying to improve their fitness. One effort I am making is to read more books.
I recently saw a news report that if you read just a half hour a day, you will be 1,600 books smarter throughout your life. While I had an initial goal of reading 10 books a year in early retirement, I’ve fallen well short. The best I can recall, I’ve read only 7 titles over the last 4 years. While I read a lot – online and newspapers – I’ve found that I am too ADHD to get engaged in full books.
Related: What Will You Do In Early Retirement?
My son & wife are big readers and suggested that we follow the recommendation and set aside 30 minutes everyday during the summer. The last few days, we’ve sat out on our screened porch and each dug into our latest books. When ‘time is up’ we’ve spent 5-10 minutes talking about what we are reading and what we think about it.
It’s been fun so far … I’ll let you know at the end of the summer if we’ve kept it up!
How much reading do you incorporate into you lifestyle?
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MrFireStation 
I usually read 12 books a year (fiction; history; biography; science). I’m on track for this year. But what has amped things up this year is Audible. On daily exercise walks averaging 45 minutes, I now listen to books on audio. This has doubled my “reading.” Initially, I was doubtful that I would absorb spoken word as well as written word. But when well performed by the speaker, spoken word is a game-changer for me now.
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I listen to podcasts when I walk each day. I have a few favorites. We just started an audio book on Audible and are listening on our Alexa device. My wife likes Outlander, so we thought we’d give it a go.
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Actually I didn’t read for a couple of months. I’ve been spending about 15-30 mins a day reading my new book.
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30 minutes has been a good length of time so far. We’re on day 7. Additionally, it’s sparked more of an interest in reading at other times of the day.
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That’s great!
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I’m usually good for about six full books per year. I set a goal for 12 books in my first year of retirement, hit it, but realized it felt too forced, and I didn’t enjoy it. So, I modified my next goal to one hour of reading per day in my second year. Now in my third year, I’m reading about to 2 to 2.5hrs per day. Mostly financial articles, blogs, and case studies, and the occasional book. I’ve found it much more satisfying, and I’m sure I read thousands of pages per month. I really need to try audio books during my workouts.
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I read online between 10p-midnight most nights. Still, online reading (news, blogs, social media) doesn’t feel high quality. We just started an audio book too – haven’t done that before, but my wife likes Outlander.
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