Even if it’s just for 15 minutes, reading every day is a low-barrier way to improve your mind and spark new ideas.
If you want to witness your view of the world change, I can’t think of a more pleasant path than this one.
In case it’s any help, here’s what I do.
I’ve talked before about my love for the Japanese concept of tsundoku. (Acquiring more books than you can read and letting them pile up.) And it works to support a daily reading habit.
I like to have a business book, a non-fiction personal interest book, and a fiction book on the go at all times. That way, I’m more likely to have something that suits my mood.
(And I’m not against starting up a fourth book if compelled.)
(Or a fifth.)
I read with a pencil in hand, underlining and adding marginalia as I please. If something’s really good, I’ll fold down/up the corner nearest to it.
When I’ve finished the book, I go through all the folded-down corners, transferring ideas into Obsidian. (This can count as my daily reading for that day if need be.)
Some I record as atomic notes for future reference (atomic notes = one idea per note). Others become topics for One Creative Moment.
But even without all that – even if you don’t capture the ideas that change your mind – your mind still changes.
Your capacity for empathy expands.
And hopefully you end up liking the world a little more.
Page-Turner,
James
P.S. The subject line from this piece came from … reading! (Not a book, but about halfway through this LinkedIn post. The author has a one-book-at-a-time rule that I could also see working.)
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All my books! (Except the 2023 ones and the biz books.) |
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