Matt B. Perkins

Practice 002: Read 4 books in 30 days

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I’ve long had a love for books, particular traditional hardcover or paperback books (and even more in particular, paperback), with some exceptions to ebooks and audiobooks. The main problem for me over the past 10-15 years is that I’ve hauled in books more quickly than I can read them.

But it’s also my belief that I could spend much more time than I do on reading — time that is spent mindlessly, either on my damn phone or on some other wasteful task. I should clarify that I don’t consider all down time as wasted time. And I’m not saying that every down moment needs to be spent with a book. But again, I do believe there could be more time spent reading.

So, I’m testing to see just how much time is feasible. With that, I’m attempting here to read four books in the span of 30 days. This will average out to be about a book a week, but I’m not rigidly holding myself to that schedule, nor to a daily page quota. I’ll certainly check in each week and if I feel I’m significantly lacking in pace, then I’ll likely put some kind of gas into that fire to kick it up a notch.

For this practice I’m focusing on reading the following types of books and specific reads (I may tweak this moving forward to try four novels in 30 days, or four books of poetry in 30 days, etc.):

UPDATE (3.31.20) — Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, my efforts to sustain this practice have been, well, thwarted, for the most part. After moving through some significant anxiety during the initial part of this situation, I am reattempting this practice as of April 1, 2020, with the intent of maintaining this through the month of April.

THE GUIDELINES

  • Four books: one novel, one short story collection, one poetry collection, one nonfiction book
  • The books must be hardcover or paperback (not ebooks or audiobooks)
  • The time frame: 30 days to read all four books
  • Take notes on anything that rises, be it stumbling blocks, revelations, etc., and share here.

NOTES

  • This was insanely tough to make a more regular habit than I expected. Not so much due to the book I’d chosen, but because I tried to refocus my attention during the initial breakout of the coronavirus pandemic, which means I was glued to the news, my phone, social media — all things I’ve tried to actively limit in recent months, but found it very difficult during this time.
  • I’ve noticed when I am indulging in the news or anything on my phone or computer, it is very hard to pay attention to what’s happening around me. I enter a zombie-like state, sucked into the screen in front of me. When I’m reading a book, however, my attention seems more fluid, and I’m able to respond to, hear, and see more of the present moment around me, even while being able to read.
  • To make this work will require drastic habit measures. Need to look back at Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism practices.
  • Boundaries already seem to be more and more important in my life, structuring my day, etc. This is hard for me, being an INFP, but my gut is saying this is necessary to be able to read more, at least until it’s so embedded I don’t think about it.
  • I want the time I spend passively looking at my phone or a screen to be spent reading. This sounds like a simple shift, but is not for the aforementioned reasons.
  • Made some headway on Wooten’s The Music Lesson, but failed to really read it regularly or even finish it.
  • Where I failed here: specifying which books to read, and even making the suggestion to myself to read a certain number of books felt intuitively more daunting than I thought it might. Need a different approach to regular reading habits — the goal should be to read more daily, I feel, rather than, “get to this finish line.” Also, failed to keep regular notes on this, which I feel really is and should be the lifeblood of my Practice Notes efforts.

About Matt B. Perkins

Writer, blogger, editor, seeker.