Start a reading project

Read something challenging, a little bit at a time

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to start a reading project. If you
read just a little bit of something every single day,

(00:26):
you can make it through something big in a year.
All you have to do is just keep going. Long
time Before Breakfast listeners know that in recent years I
have pursued a few long term reading projects to help
me make it through some classic works of literature. Many

(00:48):
of us don't read the great books after we leave school,
but great books are considered great books for a reason.
They are often really great. So in twenty twenty one,
I read through War and Peace at a pace of
one chapter per day. War and Pieces three hundred sixty

(01:10):
one chapters are all very short. By reading a ten
minute chapter each day, I could savor the book. I
felt very little resistance to reading, and I didn't feel
pressure to read fast to make it through. There were
a few slow moments, but in general I loved this

(01:31):
tale of Pierre and Natasha and Prince Andre, set against
the backdrop of Napoleon's invasion of a Russia that was
slowly lurching towards modernity. Having enjoyed that reading experience, in
twenty twenty two, I read through all the works of Shakespeare.

(01:51):
William Shakespeare was an incredibly prolific playwright and poet. Even so,
his lifetime sum of plays and poems all fit in
a one thousand, twenty four page anthology. Doing the math,
I figured that was about three pages a day, spread

(02:12):
over three d sixty five days. So at that pace
I read through Twelve Night and Macbeth, and Romeo and
Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream and all the other famous
plays and the not so famous ones too. Reading all
the works of Shakespeare only took me about fifteen minutes

(02:34):
a day, and honestly, that is a fascinating number to
think about. All that kept me from reading all of
Shakespeare's work in the past was fifteen minutes a day.
It turned out to be a very doable project, and
now I have done it, and I'm really glad I did.

(02:55):
This year, I planned to read through all the works
of Jane Austin, the six well known novels, to be sure,
but also her Juvenilea and the half completed works from
the end of her life. By reading her work in
its entirety at a very slow, doable pace. I hope
to get to know this author whose works have stood

(03:18):
the test of time. If any of this sounds appealing
to you, then now is a great time to start
your own reading project. Think about what might be worth
reading at a slow pace over a long period of time.
My criteria is that it be doable in a few

(03:39):
minutes a day, spread over a year, and be worth doing.
That is, the person's work needs to be the sort
of thing that classes are taught about. Worth doing. Is subjective,
to be sure, but I think the few minutes a
day is a wise move. If you bite off too
ambitious a project, to say, reading War and Peace in

(04:02):
two weeks, you will probably fall behind, you will have
a busy day, or you'll get stopped by a slow
part of the story. Let's just say that the whole
Freemason plot parts sidelines a lot of folks, and you
won't pick it back up. A few minutes a day,
on the other hand, won't inspire much resistance. Even if

(04:25):
it is a boring part of the story or an
annoying part. It is only a few minutes. Even if
it is a busy day, it is only a few minutes,
you can do it, and since you can do it,
you stand a better chance of actually doing it. So

(04:46):
consider whether there is a book or an author you
have always wanted to read. Could you make a reading
project out of it? What would happen if you spread
the reading out over a year. How much would you
need to read each day? Does that sound feasible? When

(05:06):
would you generally make the time? How would you make
it work on a day with travel or lots of
other things going on. If you can answer these questions,
you will be well on your way to finishing something big.
A year will pass one way or another. You can
get to the other side of the year having read

(05:27):
all the works of Shakespeare or the Bible, or War
in Peace or Jane Austen or anything else. Or you
can get to the other side of the year not
having done any of those things. But all that differentiates
one outcome from the other might be a few minutes
a day. Small things done repeatedly really do add up.

(05:53):
If you decide to start a long term reading project,
I would love to hear about it. You can reach
me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com. In the meantime,
this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making
the most of our times. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

(06:20):
hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,
then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

(06:40):
dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I
heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to

(07:02):
your favorite ships. Yeah