How to find time to read?

I. Have you experimented with any of the following hints?
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1. Read first thing in the morning.
2. Read before falling asleep at night.
3. Carry a book with you (paper or e-book) to read while waiting in line or at the dentist’s office, etc.
4. Listen to audiobooks while commuting to work, exercising, or doing routine household tasks.
5. Drop a book if it doesn’t interest you.  (Finish the book if it’s required reading for your job or your schoolwork.)
6. Identify a special place to read.  It might be your favorite chair at home, a bench at the park, or a table at the public library.
7. Identify a reading goal.  How many pages, chapters, and/or books will you read in a given period of time?
8. Schedule time to read.  Put it on your calendar.​

Good suggestions, but if it hasn't come together for you or you'd like to up your game, then check out one or more of the following five books for ideas.​

Atlas, the Titan god of Ancient Greek mythology, holding up a clock on his shoulders rather than the heavens.

​II.  Five books to help you find time to read.

​Make Time:  How to Focus on What Matters Every Day. 
Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky, 2018.  
Audiobook, e-book, hardback, and paperback.

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​Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky identified, tried, and tested eighty-seven tactics to make time in their daily lives for what is most important.  

  The best tactics are the ones that fit into your day.  They’re not something you force yourself to do; they’re just something you do.  And in most cases, they’ll be things you want to do." 
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-Make Time, Knapp and Zeratsky, p.25

The authors aren’t pushy.  They suggest.  Their writing style is clear, fun, and interspersed with playful black and white drawings.  
 
Each tactic is placed into one of four categories:  

1. highlight
2. laser
3. energize
4. reflect.  

You can hopscotch through this how-to guide or read it from start to finish or back to front.  
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Many of the tactics are classics:  write it down, block your calendar, just say no, exercise, eat well, etc.  Their special talent is how to manage the “infinity pools” of the internet age.  As self-identified fans of technology—as well as former product designers at organizations like Google and YouTube—they are well-aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the tool.  

​“Look, we love technology.  But….Combine the four-plus hours the average [American] person spends on their smart phone with the four-plus hours the average person spends watching television, and distraction is a full-time job.”  
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-Make Time, Knapp and Zeratsky, p.87

​Their recommendations for creating barriers to distraction are worth your time.  Experiment with the tactics and see what works best for you. 
 
If you’re interested in a guide for converting the Make Time tactics into long-term habits, check out The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

​The Power of Habit 
Charles Duhigg, 2012.   
Audiobook, e-book, hard cover, and paperback.

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Award winning business reporter Charles Duhigg dissects how habits form, persist, and change.  His helpful and entertaining discussion begins with scientific discoveries about the bare bones of every habit:  cue  – routine – reward. 
 
Yes, even negative habits that you know hurt you have a “reward.”  
 
Hence, the first step in changing a habit is identifying it, then discerning what is the cue, what is the routine, and what is the reward.

You’ve probably noticed that cues are made even “stickier” by the craving that follows the cue.  
 
Think of habits in your life that you changed (or haven’t changed yet).  What are two essential ingredients to adding or deleting one of your habits?
 
You’re exactly right if you answered: 

• deciding to make the change, and 
• believing you can make the change.  

 
Duhigg’s presentation of the difficulty of changing habits, whether on the individual, family, or organizational level, is inspiring to read for its positive message and practical suggestions for change.  In short, yes, you can eliminate negative habits and add positive ones.  

​The Checklist Manifesto.
Atul Gawande, 2009.
Audiobook, audio cd, e-book, hardcover, microfilm, and paperback. 

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Do you use checklists?  
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If not, Atul Gawande’s investigation into and use of checklists might change your mind.
How can something as simple as a checklist make the difference between getting something right or wrong?  Getting something done so that you can make time for the things you want to do?
 
Dr. Gawande—a distinguished surgeon, writer, and public health leader—takes time to show us.  His examples from professions as varied as aviation, construction, and medicine demonstrate that checklists have made life-saving differences.
 
Human memory is fallible.  Distractions are rampant.   Deadlines, emergencies, and human fatigue are part of life.  
 
In short, for the first time in human history, ineptitude is a bigger problem than ignorance.
​  
Checklists remind us of the minimum necessary steps and maintain discipline whether you’re working with simple, complex, or complicated situations in your life.

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First Things First
Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill, 1990.  
Audiobook, e-book, hardcover, paperback, and MP3 CD.

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​Putting first things first is the third of seven habits Covey discussed in his 1989 classic on personal improvement, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  
​Stephen Covey, 1989.
Audiobook, e-book, hardcover, and paperback.

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Covey noticed that many people wanted a more in-depth guide on the third habit:  how to make time for the most important things.  
 
Consequently, he collaborated with A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill to create a separate book published the following year, 1990, to expand on the topic.
 
The authors challenge you to discern what is most important to you.  
 
That challenge requires you to identify:

• your mission,
  
• your roles,
  
• what you want to be, and
  
• what in the world really is first for you.  

Indeed, you must know what is first for you before you can put “first things first.”
 
Honesty like that takes time.  But Covey, et al, cheer you on as you work through the material.  

Their recommendation to change from doing more things in less time to doing the most important things is, for many people, a paradigm shift.  
 
They encourage you to:

• Guide your life with a compass, not a clock. 
• Understand “true north” principles of life on planet Earth.
• Live, love, learn, and leave a legacy.   

It’s a heady challenge. 

III.  Are your duties and distractions preventing you from reading?
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​“The core challenge of living in the ‘fast new world’ is how to manage excess stimulation.”
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-American Mania:  When More is Not Enough, Peter C. Whybrow, M.D., 2005.

​Keep in mind that you can pick and choose the suggestions that will help you make time for reading.  You don’t have to do them all and certainly not all at once.  

​Start small and see what works for you.  

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Note:  Visit the historic Atlas Life Building, 415 South Boston Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma, to see the image of Atlas holding a clock on his shoulders.  I snapped Atlas's photo during a September 2019 trip to Tulsa.