I have learned that I have a multi-modal learning style and prefer to learn through either of 3 of the 4 primary ways people learn: reading, visual and kinesthetic (this does make me not the best audio learner). Personally, I love reading but more and more I come across many people who don’t appreciate reading like I do. Culturally, use of technology may have began to change how many learn as a society. The purpose of this writing is not to take a stance on if this is bad or good it does mean more and more, regular reading can become a lost art.

I was in conversation with a leader who is just a couple years younger than me who stated his initial challenge in “focusing” on a book in front of him. The fast pace of stimuli that technology allows leads to an increase in this challenge. I don’t think it’s even an age-related dynamic as much as it is increased reliance on technology for all ages. I know leaders much older than me who also experience this same challenge.

Regardless of why, if you are someone who doesn’t especially like to read or if you know someone who doesn’t here is a way to get better.

One of the most helpful discoveries I have made is how much can be read in disciplined blocks to time each day. You can start with just 20 minutes a day. Suppose you read slowly, say about 250 words a minute. This means in twenty minutes you can read about five thousand words an average book has about 400 words per page. So you could read about 12.5 pages in 20 minutes. Suppose you discipline yourself to read a certain author or topic twenty minutes a day for six days a week, for a year. That would be 312 times 12.5 pages for a total of 3900 pages. Assume an average book is 250 pages long. This means you could read fifteen books like this in one year. Or you could mix it up and read some longer books and still hit close to 10 books read in a year.

For those who love to read, what habits and practices have you put into place to read more?