Everyday Reader
Read 30 minutes a day for 30 days. Reading must be in a book.
I love my nighttime reading habit. I read most evenings before bed. But nighttime reading requires a certain type of book. Mostly, it has to be somewhat easy reading.
I want to read a bit more deliberately. I have a stack of books I have wanted to read but have never gotten around to because they aren't fit for reading just before bed.
Progress: 725 / 900
This experiment/challenge didn't go well at all.
It's surprising how difficult just 30 minutes of reading can be. I usually love reading but for some reason I faced a lot of resistance here.
I think there are a couple of lessons:
- This was never my main focus of the day.
It was always something I did late in the day when other tasks had been completed. That meant this was low priority. And low priority tasks are easy to skip. If I had done this first thing in the morning my record would be much better.
- When I fell behind I quickly lost motivation.
I was somewhat motivated early on when I was still on track. But when I fell too far behind it was much easier to just not read - I wouldn't make the goal anyway.
- A lot of other stuff happens in 30 days.
I was sick. I went away for weekends. I had busy days with barely 30 minutes to spare.
Doing something every single day is hard. Even doing something 5 days a week is difficult - but much more manageable. Doing something just 30 minutes sounds easy. But doing it consistently every day is much harder than it sounds.
...
I'm glad I did this challenge despite it going so poorly. I did read a bit and I learned something. Now on to the next experiment!
Christmas.
Christmas.
Christmas.
Christmas.
Christmas.
Hangover.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Work drained all my energy and time.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Resistance Money.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Resistance Money.
Failed again.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
20 minutes of Meditations. 10 minutes of Resistance Money.
I'm a lot behind on this challenge. I've been feeling pretty bad for about a week not which did not help. But it's just another excuse - it was never so bad I could not read for 30 minutes.
It's interesting how difficult it can be to do such a simple thing: read half an hour.
Resistance Money.
Resistance Money.
Resistance Money.
Sick.
Resistance Money.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
20 minutes of Resistance Money. Then 10 minutes of Meditations. Meditations is absolutely amazing but I feel like it should be consumed slowly. Even slower than what I am doing would be good.
I'm a bit sick at the moment but glad I read today.
Spent too much time working. But still. Should have read a bit...
Resistance Money.
Away the entire day.
No good excuses.
Right now it seems like skipping one day results in a cascade of skipped days. Once I let go it is much easier to let go the next day as well. Better get back on track (although not tomorrow as I'll be away the entire day.)
No good excuses.
I did sit down to read but I wasn't focused so I stopped after only 10 minutes.
No good excuses.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
It is still a bit of a battle to sit down and start reading. But I really like it when I do.
Babylon BTC Staking Litepaper (not a book but a PDF paper so I think it counts).
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Resistance Money.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Was away the entire day. If I had planned well I could have read early in the morning. But I didn't. And that's okay.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Things That Matter by Joshua Becker.
Evening reading. Very calming and good.
If I did not have this challenge I would probably have zoned out in front of my computer.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Still had to push a bit to get started. But reading went better today. I have the same feeling afterwards as I have had the last two days: I just feel better.
If I did not read in a book I would likely be reading random stuff online or browsing mindlessly. And I would not feel better afterwards.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Really had to fight to stay with it for 30 minutes. It is clear that I still do not prioritize this task. Instead I do it when I'm low on energy which makes it a challenge.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
Fighting afternoon sleepiness while reading. Felt calm, inspired, good afterwards.