Productivity 101: The Benefits Of A Daily Reading List.

Do you have enough time to read all the interesting articles, newsletters and books you want to read? You are not alone.

Accumulating reading material is easy; the difficulty is finding the time to read it all. Technology is making it easier than ever to collect this stuff, and there are apps that will happily collect it together for you so you have a single place to go to read your articles and newsletters; yet, the real issue is not being addressed, finding the time to read it all.

The British government has a system that has been around for hundreds of years. At the end of the day, each government minister is given a red box containing all the documents and articles their officials feel they need to read.

Depending on the minister’s department, this could be a single box or several each day.

Even King Charles gets his daily box.

While this means a government minister always takes work home with them, at least they have a system for staying on top of their reading materials. Given how the British media works, it would be a foolish minister who did not spend time reading these documents.

In his book Total Competition, Ross Brawn, the former Ferrari, and Mercedes Benz F1 team’s Technical Director, writes about having his assistant put together a daily reading list for him to read on his journey home. This reading list could be technical directives from the FIA (the Formula 1 governing body) or a briefing document on a following day’s meeting.

And there lies the solution: having time each day to read these articles and documents. Collecting this stuff is easy; finding the time to read it is the area that needs a solution.

If you have strict boundaries about when and where you do your work, you will need to find time during your work day. If you are more flexible, you could do your reading early in the morning if you are a morning person or later in the evening, for you more nocturnal animals. Either way, the challenge is to find sufficient time to stay on top of it or else there is no point in collecting it in the first place.

Where technology can help you.

Apps like Instapaper, Pocket and Readwise allow you to collect articles, newsletters, and emails in a single location. These apps are available on your computer, phone, and tablet. They take care of managing your reading material. Once set up, a single click will send an article to your reading list.

With the collecting taken care of, the next part of the process is to allocate time each day to read through these materials.

A few years ago, when I commuted, I would use my time on the train to read through my articles. I set up Instapaper to show me the oldest first so older articles did not sink to the bottom and get lost. It worked brilliantly.

Now, I mainly work from home, so I have adjusted my reading time to my meal breaks.

Quick tip.

Apps like Instapaper give you a dedicated email address you can use when you sign up for newsletters. This means the newsletter does not go into your email inbox; it goes straight to your reading list. It’s well worth setting up if you want to keep the volume of emails you receive down.

(You can try this by signing up for my weekly newsletter, where I send you a practical time management or productivity tip each Friday. Just click here to sign up →)

Book reading.

If you enjoy reading books, I’ve found the best time to read is just before I go to bed. Around thirty minutes before I retire for the evening, I will pick up my book and read until I find my eyes closing. This means every day, I am reading a book.

If you set a specific time in the day to read, it will become a chore. You will be inconsistent, and it will not be relaxing. It’s better to start or end the day with a book. That way, it becomes a part of your daily routine and won’t be burdensome. I would also recommend you leave the book out on a coffee or side table if you read physical books or leave your tablet in a place you usually read if you read digitally.

The key to book reading is not to make it a chore. Instead, build it into your day either as part of your morning routine or your closing down routine and enjoy it.

You could also use Audible or other audiobook tools and listen to your books when driving or commuting.

The only way you will stay on top of everything you need or want to read is to have a process. Setting aside time each day where you dedicate yourself to reading will not only keep you on top of it, you will also find it relaxing and enjoyable. It becomes a break from daily life’s hustle and bustle and helps you wind down.

Thank you for reading my stories! 😊

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