I thought it only relevant to remind us of this post from the beggining of the year. how far with our goals?not too late to make determined effort for the second half of the year, yes?
Happy new month. How was January? This post has to with the new year 2018, I know this isn’t January anymore but I think February works just fine.
Now, I want you to note this excerpt, I’ll explain it at the end, so read through:
The average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds, but according to a new study from Microsoft Corp., people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.
When this blog post idea came to me, I discarded it. I know books lovers; dedicated bibliophiles who are better suited to write posts like this. Sometimes, I don’t even read.
In a moment of eureka though, I decided to go ahead with writing this because some of my blog readers do not know these bibliophiles that I know but they do know me and what I have to write is valid.
This purpose of this post isn’t to tell you how many books you should aim to read this year, I didn’t even keep tabs on my 2017 books. I sometimes wish I did. This brings me to the first thing I think you should note:
- Keep tabs on the books you read. You should probably write them down in a certain notebook. I know someone who makes a thread out of it on her Twitter account and pins it. Doing this will help you with a mental review when you want to recall all you’ve learnt through books at the close of the year.
- Aim at new genres. Its good you read the kind of books you read. Its true you’re faster when you’re reading them. However, reading other genres has the effect of broadening your world view and will even help you form a solid opinion on why you still dislike that genre or why you now favour it.
- This is not a competition. Don’t stress yourself. The aim of reading is to be a better person. Knowledge is power. Some aim at a chapter a day, some twenty minutes a day. If you choose to publish the number of books you’ve read, good for you. If you choose not to, good for you. Just don’t fuss about the number. Savour each book. Reading hurriedly just to get a medal among your friends takes too much energy. It even shows the books you’re reading are yet to make you rational in that regard.
- Review/ Hold a book discussion. This is to be done after each book. You can have a literary journal for this purpose. After each book, write down what you think, what idea you disagree with, if you will love to read other books by that author. The alternative thing is to discuss the book with someone who has read it too. It helps you have coherent thoughts about the book, to maximize it.
- Buy and read. What you invest in, you treasure. The reason you’re still having oil drip on other people’s books is that you’ve not spent well enough on your own books. Also, Read. don’t boast of the number of books you have if you won’t open them. That’s not to say you can’t buy books in advance. By all means, please do. Just make sure you’re making progress.
- Last of all, for this purpose, the internet is going to have to be your enemy. Seriously. Social media auto-check gives way for a page or two of a book. It’ll help if you always have a small book in your bag to read while waiting at any point. Cheat on your phone; read a book.
I really do hope that at the end of this year, rather than having more whatsapp chat partners, you would’ve learnt new words from books at the very least. ?
Yes, the attention span issue. This is the widely held belief like I stated above:
The average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds, but according to a new study from Microsoft Corp., people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.
That’s why you have to be intentional about the fact that you want to read a book and complete it (Completing it. Very essential. ?). There is a divergent view to this attention span theory on BBC.com. read up here if you’re interested in truly working on this issue. Happy New month to you!
Books, knowledge, power,
Debby.
What’s your philosophy on reading? Do you write down the number of books you read? Ever held a book discussion? What are your 2018 book goals?