How to Read More With Less Stress
The day I discovered Good Reads, I decided to compile a complete list of every book I’ve ever read. (It was quarantine, okay? I was bored) Unfortunately, I discovered that my self-concept did not align with the reality. I always thought of myself as a well-read book worm. But the cold hard data proved otherwise. Even counting the books I’d read in elementary school, the total count was embarrassingly low. A colleague of mine in the publishing world read over 200 books last year easily. That number was closer to the total number of books I’d read in my entire life. To make matters worse, I watched BOOKSTORES: How to Read More Books in the Golden Age of Content by Max Joseph.
After watching that, I’m sure you can understand why I was suddenly on a mission to read as much as I can before it’s too late. I came up with some rules:
Rule #1: Don’t Waste Time on Bad Books
This is a 3-in-1 rule. Pick up more books. Quit the bad ones. Read the good ones twice. Don’t ever waste your time slogging through a bad book, or feeling guilty for quitting. You’re freeing up your time to find better stuff. I have to credit James Clear for that sage advice.
Rule #2: Quit Shaming Yourself
Format doesn’t matter. Genre doesn’t matter. Quit shaming yourself by insisting that “audio books don’t count”, or “fun fiction books don’t count”. All content is information in different forms. All genres will add variety to your repertoire. Picture books, blog posts, videos, podcasts, audiobooks, ebooks, or good old fashioned hardcovers. It doesn’t matter. As long as you’re exposing yourself to new ideas, you are expanding your horizons. If you want to count that nature documentary as a book on your reading list, by all means, have at it! Personally, I keep a “content list” of all the movies, podcasts, tv shows, books, YouTube channels & courses I’ve consumed over the years. If you watch what you eat for your physical health, why not monitor the content you consume for your mental health?
Rule #3: Lower Your Expectations
When I set the goal to read a book a week for an entire year, I was sorely disappointed to learn that was not a sustainable goal for me. So instead, I looked at the most books I’ve ever read in a single year, cut that number in half and made that my goal. And to help break it down into more doable chunks, I assigned each book to a month. One book a month makes it much less of an intimidating chore.
So without further ado, I present my 2026 Reading List (yes, broken down into quarterly themes of course).
First Quarter Theme: Focus
January: Essentialism (Decision making, minimalism)
February: Thinking Fast & Slow (Logic & Decision Making, Human Behavior)
March: Atomic Habits (habits, life style change)
Second Quarter Theme: Productivity
April: The Power of Habit (Habits & Human Behavior)
May: The Productivity Project (Productivity)
June: The Bullet Journal Method (Productivity & Organization)
Third Quarter Theme: Balance
July: The 4-Hour Workweek (Money & Career, Time Mgmt)
August: Notes on a Nervous Planet (Anxiety & Mental Health)
September: 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do (Mental Health)
Fourth Quarter Theme: Manifest
October: The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (Spirituality & Manifestation)
November: The Power of Now (Philosophy & Spirituality)
December: The Artists Way (Creativity)
So there you have it! It will be really interesting to review this blog post at the start of 2022 to see how I keep up!
