Don't Worry about Reading More Books. Focus on Reading Better.

لو نظرنا إلى منجزات عصر السرعة ، لوجدنا أنها خرجت من تلك العقول التي كانت تقرأ قراءة واعية عميقة ، هذا الفيديو يعزز ذلك المبدأ الذي علمنا إياه الرسول محمد عندما قال ( قليل دائم أفضل من كثير منقطع )

I'm really glad I watched your video, very relatable and though I'm new to reading properly for the first time in my life I have had that mentality or more more more and its completely the wrong attitude ! Thanks I needed this 😊👌🏻

Simple yet timeless piece of advice, thank you for sharing!

What enjoyable commentary thank you! Your insights are generous and useful, and I appreciate the opportunity found here. Watched ‘5 books’ and will start with just one 🎉🎉am subscribing

From u.k.
What about playing a musical instrument?
Or painting?
Not enough hours in the day for me!
Oh and eating and sleeping!
And domestic stuff!

last 2021 i created bookstagram account to write book reviews to force myself to read mindfully. then i got caught up with booksta environment it became reading more and more than quality reading.. now i got a reading slump.. giving it a time, tried to love reading again.. and i stopped checking booksta.. i'm slowly reading again without pressure.. just taking time to read as better as i could...

Needed to hear thank you 🙏

"you want to actually turn these books into old friends that you revisit, that you miss when yo haven't read in a while" oh absolutely

Excellent! video very informative.

This video brought awareness to my toxic desire to read a lot of books without even getting to understand much about them deeply. I am going to take it one at a time. Besides, there are a million books out there you may never get to read your entire life. Thanks 😊

Thank you. I've had this video on my to watch list since the start of your channel, and I'm glad I finally watched it. I cried when you said books turn into old friends, because that used to be what reading was to me years ago. I'm a different person and reading hasn't felt the same in a long time. Thank you for reminding me about what I'm depriving myself of. Now I can hopefully work toward getting there again.

I am gonna give an unpopular opinion. I am fast reader, consistently read 150+ books a year and I read what some would consider trash or "unworthy" books since I mainly read fantasy and romance. I read a lot but I don't force myself to. If don't like a book I leave it (yes even the Classics or Great Works, my life is too short to spend it doing something I do not enjoy), if I'm in a reading stump I simply don't read and spend my time doing other things; in other words I read only when it brings me happiness and contentment (yes, fantasy does that to me).

I see so many people in the comments saying to only read classics or that only books that challenge you intellectually are worth your time. I'm here to tell you you've totally missed the point. Every book is worth reading, and yes that includes the trashy romance books you have shamed someone for reading. They are worth reading because they leave the reader better off. Maybe it gave them a reprise from their day to day life, they made you empathize with another person's reality, they let you explore the possibility of alternate universes or a reality where dogs rule the world and all of those are valid reasons to read. You read for the enjoyment and unless you are no smarter than a rock, you also learn something alone the way.

In conclusion, read what you want and as much as you want and don't let anybody shame you for it or tell you it's the wrong way to do it.

Well, careful now. I think there are books and books. Be careful not to turn reading into only a high culture thing. For instance, I don't see a problem in reading a lot of books a year if you read them just as a source entertainment and don't look for a deeper meaning in the stories. It's not cool to undervalue a book just because it's not as complex as others. All books are meaningful, even if they aren't for you.

Thanks for this video. I'm changing my reading manner. If a book is like food for our brains, I prefer enjoy the hole experience, and understanding what I'm doing: acquiring knowledge; rather than just consuming tons of information. It is worth spending time reading.

The Classical Mind, subbed ✅

Hey Jared, I really appreciate the grounding message you share of; don't focus on the numbers, but the quality of the experience you have + bringing awareness to the issue of toxic productivity - it crystalised some concepts in my mind. Thanks!

You made me think of hopscotch by Julio cortazar. I’ve read it three times cover to cover in Spanish and English. I’ve read it alone and with my wife. It’s a good friend of mine with new surprises. It makes me laugh, think, cry and even get angry. Thanks for the video.

I have kept a book journal since I was 11. It is like yours but I list day begun and finished and number of pages. I am retired now, so read 100 + books. I keep a commonplace book too. I annotate a lot of my books or make notes in a notebook. I am more interested in deep,slow reading than quantity.Writing helps me remember as I'm 76. I love your channel. I read Plato's Dialogues last year, slowly. This year I'm reading Nicomachean Ethics, even slower, I stop and think about each section. What is the hurry, I want to make some of it part of me. I think speed reading is the work of the devil. I sometimes read a lighter book late at night. Wodehouse or a mystery, but that is when I'm too tired for the books from the Canon.😮

This is real truth, no more

Thank you so much! I will share this video❤

How do you read and retain information?

I wrote a program that calculates statistics for me. I log every book I read, and then gets the output of: How many books I've read, how many books I will have read at the end of the year if I read at the same pace, the average page count per book, how many pages I will have read at the end of the year and how many pages I've read per day on average. That way I can see if I read more/less, longer/shorter or harder/easier books and other trends in my reading habits. It doesn't stress me out the least, but I think that's because I have absolutely no interest in comparing my reading to anyone else's or even sharing my statistics with anyone else. I know what works for me.

I like you, guy.

quality over quantity but some people are really fast readers and they can also absorb it all the information they are the gifted ones.

I average around 12 books per year. That's not a target that I set for myself and neither is it an aspiration. It just happens to average out at 12 per year. That's important. To read for the enjoyment of reading and to learn something about the world the author and life. Sometimes to learn something about myself. To do that, we cannot attach a goal to our reading.

the productivity life style of intense capitalism has sadly invaded reading. Similar to people bragging of their 80 hours week in dystopian corporate world, people now brag about reading for achievement rather than for knowledge or appreciation of art.

I read about 35 books a year and I thought that was a lot but some people are reading a lot more. As you say its quality, not quantity. A lot of the books I read are quite long, and I want to enjoy them. Not to rush.

Thank you so much!

If I read more books will I be doing it worse? The answer for me, is yes. This year a friend challenged me to race her to see who can read 100 books this year, first. Normally I span between 50-60 books a year; never have I done 100.

Now that I'm working towards doing 100 I find that some books I don't not give the appropriate attention to that I would have if I wasn't concerned about 'reading more'. I go through books with a highlighter and sticky flags. Only things that prompt ideas or move me get highlighted and flagged (sometimes nothing does), when I finish I go back through and review these highlights, move what's relevant to my notes and I engage with those notes to see what thoughts or ideas they prompt which I build upon.

What I find now that I'm trying to hit this 100 book mark... is that I pick up books that I suspect isn't going to offer any value or will be finished and given back to the library without ever being considered by me again.

I notice this now, 2 months done with the year at 31 books... I now want to focus on trying to hit this milestone because I want to see if I can but I also want to make sure I'm reading the quality content I enjoy and the content that I will engage with. I do know that next year, 100 books is off the shelf and I'll go back to just focusing on the quality of books I read and caring less about how many books I manage to read.

The hardest thing for me is the amount of time. I work hard at my job and sometimes my brain is just done and it is better for me tor recoup via TV , video games, or light reading than get to this kind of reading. Don't get me wrong. I really want too, but the demands of life can really get into the way.

Quality reading over quantity 👏200 books in a year ain’t impressing anyone more than ones’ own ego. Makes less difference if nothing is absorbed/learned.

I prefer to spend time with a book. Currently I am savoring the Lathe of Heaven. It’s meaningful to revisit this book. My previous reading of it was in the 1970s. At my age, I’m understanding much more of it.

I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants reader. I choose whatever I feel like. But I am obsessive. If I like a book I'll reread it dozens of times a year. But I only count it once on my reading journal.

When I was 19, I was a cocky fast-reader and estimated I could read the World as Will and Representation by Schopenhauer in a week. Then ended up reading the first two books the entire following summer, and the third and fourth book the following year. Only understood about a tenth of it’s contents but it was worth reading 1000s of mediocre books, as it really influenced the way I think and approach philosophy. Quality over quantity.

Thank you for this video, finally a channel out of the productivity mindset of our modern society!

You’re now part of my commonplace book with the quote: “treat books as friends”. ❤

Imma listen to Percy Jackson audiobooks on 1.75x speed while I’m working

I also keep a written list of books that I’ve read. My question for you is, when you reread a book, do you mark it down a second time?

It's not a race. Maybe a good idea to note books to read as opposed to ones read. Try reading schopenhauer or Kant or perhaps john lockes essay pn human understanding....good luck with that!!

Good point. But sometimes (or for some people) reading is more about entertainment than improving intellect. In that case binging and reading fast is ok. I do both, but I find I read “difficult books” more rarely, because my mind is exhausted by work and I just can’t comprehendz/focus on them. I want to do more of such reading though

I'm mostly reading manga, which you obviously read faster than novels. So the number of how many manga someone read in a year or a month or a week or a day can get really high. Sometimes it's a bit demotivating to see the numbers of others on social media and then i need to force myself to stop. take a volume from my shelf. and remind myself how many days and weeks and months and sometimes years of work i'm holding in my hands right now. Just because i can grasp the content of a page in a few seconds doesn't mean i need to. They are worth to be read slowly. I also love to revisit and skip through them again a few days later! Reading fiction for me isn't about the information, but about the experience and how i connect with the work.

Honestly I spend an obscene amount of time figuring out what I want to read.

Really thoughtful advice. Helped me shape my perspective as I put together my reading list for next year. Thank you 🙏🏾

Dude this is just perfect as I am developing my New Years Resolutions!!! I have to slow down!!!

This is one of the best you tube channel I have encountered. Thank you so much and keep up the great work.

Thanks for this video. Sage advice. I've been meaning to re-read The Book of the New Sun. But I've been scared to pick it up off the shelf knowing how much work it will be.

I have a spreadsheet of the books I've read over the past couple of years. It's very easy to turn your goal into a numbers chasing game. Or spend all your time making your spreadsheet and not reading ;)

How can you read a classic in a week though?

When I was in the 9th grade, my Science teacher talk about this. This is call studying. 😆