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“To know and not do is not to know.” - Lao Tzu
I’m a huge advocate of regular reading. I’ve written on some of the benefits: it can make you a better writer, it can expand your understanding of the world, and it can foster self-discipline.
But, too much reading can prevent you from achieving your goals and enjoying your life.
The quote above from Lao Tzu came to my attention via a comment Melani Ward left on a Copyblogger post awhile back. Melani expanded on it by saying:
“This is so true for entrepreneurs that get caught in information overload but then do nothing with what they learn. Knowledge is not power, it’s the implementation of the knowledge that can create power.”
I think many of us know people like this (perhaps it’s us?): people with their heads in the clouds, always reading but never learning, always researching but never applying, afraid to actually work and perhaps fail. Or succeed.
Is This You?
For example, people who want to get into shape and be healthier. They constantly read about nutrition and fitness, but never eat healthy or work out…
For example, people who want to improve their lives. They constantly read about how to set and achieve their goals, but never take the time to clearly define and write down their goals or spend any real time working towards them…
For example, people who want to know God better. They constantly read theology but never go to church or fellowship with other believers…
For example, people who want to write better. They constantly read “how to write better” books and blogs, but spend very little time actually writing themselves…
For example, people who want to get out of debt and improve their financial situation. They constantly read personal finance blogs and magazines, but won’t make the hard choices to restrain their daily spending and pay extra on their loans…
For example, people who want to create a successful freelance career. They constantly read freelancing books and blogs, learning all the tips and tricks, but spend far less time actually putting that advice to work…
All of the above types of people are afraid to do the hard work required to attain what they (think) they want. Thus, they read and read and read, day after day, and rarely put in the time and effort to accomplish what they (think) they want. True success is hard work. Reading is vital in the beginning so you know what you have to do, but if you never do it, you’re wasting your time with all that reading.
Meanwhile, time marches on and you grow more dissatisfied with your situation. All of this reading without acting has indeed begun to destroy your life.
The irony here is that both the people who never or rarely read but just “do” and those who are always reading but never “doing” are both lazy and irresponsible.
You’ve got to read to learn how to improve whatever it is you’re trying to do, but you’ve also got to realize that once you’ve gotten the necessary information, it’s time to quit reading and start hustling and accomplishing your mission.
True Writers Read, Yes, But they Also Write
In my last post, I referred to J.K. Rowling’s advice to would-be writers that regular reading is crucial to developing good writing skills. Very true. But, there’s a flip side.
John Irving, an Academy Award-winning screen writer and novelist, as quoted in George Beahm’s Muggles and Magic: An Unofficial Guide to J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter Phenomenon, says:
“I certainly support reading. If you’re lucky enough to be a writer, as you get older, you find that you’d rather write than read” (page 289).
Beahm, in his notes to Irving’s quote, says:
“For pro writers, the pressing urge to write, to tell the stories, becomes increasingly important as the years go by. By the time a writer has built a career, and is in his fifties or sixties, time is of the essence: Barring a major medical malady…time is better spent writing than reading” (page 294). [Emphasis mine]
I’ll add that even if you’re in your twenties or thirties, time is better spent writing than reading–if you want to make a career of it. You only get paid for what you write (produce) not what you read (consume).
Albert Einstein Says Reading Can Make You Lazy
There’s another way too much reading can screw you up. Take in this quote from Albert Einstein, one of the world’s greatest scientists (I found it in The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss):
“Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking” (page 82). [Emphasis mine]
If you’re constantly reading others, forever trying to get some more information…you’re neglecting the benefits derived from learning from your own efforts, from thinking about things yourself, from trying things out and seeing what works and what doesn’t.
Also, if you read too much, you’re depriving yourself of your own creativity. You may start to sound like the people you read and reflect their ideas too frequently. You’ve lost your individuality and have become too dependent on others to do your thinking for you.
That’s not a good place to be.
Harry from Men With Pens said something similar earlier this year in an interview with Dave Navarro at Rock Your Day:
“These days, though, I find myself not reading blogs as often as I used to. Call it an experiment. I felt that everyone wrote about the same topics. The blogs that really stood out were ones where the writers posted on ideas no one else had thought of.
While I still read, I don’t read as much. I don’t want to be influenced by other people’s posts. It forces me to think, and I mean, really think. It’s a personal challenge to see if I can produce the one topic everyone talks about – and blogs about.”
The Right Way to Read
I’ve written strongly in favor of regular reading, extolling its benefits, and fighting against the narcissism that says, “I rarely read because no one can really teach me anything worthwhile. I can figure out everything on my own. I know all I need to know.”
But, now I’m writing against the irresponsibility of too much reading–reading so much that one, you don’t have enough time left to accomplish important things, or two, constantly reading how to do certain things even though you never put what you read into practice.
Both the narcissism of never reading and the irresponsibility of too much reading should be avoided.
I think the best way to do this is to establish a daily reading plan. Commit yourself to reading for 30 minutes to an hour a day and no more.
Read and be done with it. Get your information and then get out there and make things happen. Reading is vital to gaining knowledge, but it’s worthless if you never put that knowledge to work.
In my next post, I’ll share a powerful method you can implement immediately that will enable you to discern how beneficial and enjoyable the information you consume truly is. It will help you to cut out the unnecessary and focus more on the high quality information.
You have to be brave to actually try it, though. It requires a lot of self-discipline, but trust me, this exercise can dramatically change your life for the better.
Want a simple way to significantly improve your writing skills? I’ll tell you what it is–but you’ve got to really start doing it. It’s very simple and probably way too overlooked.
Looking back, I’ve realized that what has most benefited my writing ability has nothing to do with any actual writing exercises or rules. In fact, right this very moment, you’re developing your writing skills by already putting this advice into practice–before I share it.
Read.
Read widely, and read often. If you take the next month off from writing–don’t write anything–and just spend it reading as much as you can, I assure you, when you resume writing, your prose will improve. You may not pick up any specific writing tips during your hiatus, but through regular reading, you will naturally begin to really get a feel for what smooth and effective writing is, provided of course, that you read quality material.
I’m not even suggesting you read “how to write better” books. If you do, though, I recommend The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, to start with. But, honestly, any type of books will do; read the newspaper, read popular blogs, read the backs of cereal boxes. The point is to start reading on a regular basis.
I’ve always been a huge reader…when I was around eight years old, I was addicted to the Hardy Boys series, and as I moved into my teens, I read tons of baseball magazines and books. I read Sports Illustrated magazine and the local sports page constantly. Now, I read my favorite magazines, Men’s Health and Men’s Journal each month, as well as Modern Reformation every other month.
I’ve always got a book going. Right now it’s Ward No. 6 and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov. I frequently pick up a magazine and scan it for interesting articles whenever I’m in 7-Eleven or Walgreens; I’m there to get a snack or some medicine, but if I pass the magazine rack, I usually stop and read for a few minutes.
When it comes time to write, because I’ve read so much, the words come so much easier to me. I think regularly reading good authors spurs your brain to begin naturally recognizing familiar ways of wording things and arranging ideas.
It’s the old idea that if you want to be successful, study those who are successful. It’s not so much the particular strategies that you learn–it’s the natural broadening of your vocabulary and enhanced ability to detect good writing from bad.
Two Widely Published Authors Say Reading is Crucial
“Whenever someone younger asks me for advice in writing, I always say ‘Read!’, because that will teach you what good writing is like, and you will recognize bad writing too.”
Beahm expands on that advice:
“Read, read, and then read some more. Reading will be an integral part of your life. If you read carefully and read enough, you may learn to recognize the good from the bad writing.”
Beahm quotes Rowling again on this:
“I always advise children who ask me for tips on being a writer to read as much as they possibly can.”
And Beahm adds:
“Writers are readers who read anything and everything they can get their hands on. They cannot not read. (A writer will read the text on a cereal box if nothing else is on hand.) If you don’t enjoy reading, and reading a lot, you’ll never be a writer.” [Emphasis mine]
Of course, at some point, you actually have to write, in which case, you’ll have to stop reading. And while reading is a must if you want to write well, and while it’s the easiest and best way to develop your writing skills, too much reading can get in the way of not just making time to write, but all sorts of other important things in life–I’ll look at that issue in my next post.
Regular, disciplined, meditative, thoughtful reading can enhance your mind and enrich your soul.
As Joshua Sowin writes on the Desiring God blog,
“Reading is one of the best ways to develop our minds. It can help us to know God and ourselves, gain vicarious experience, increase our perception and imagination, train our minds to think critically and logically, and teach us self-discipline.” [Emphasis mine]
No question about it.
A question that does come up when developing a reading plan is what reader Bamboo Forest asked in reply to my last post:
“Is it important, do you think, to stick with a single book at a time, and not alternate between a few?”
Fellow reader and commenter Zoe Westhof responded:
“Although I think reading one book at a time is useful for concentration, I sometimes need the variety. For example, I’m now reading a book on the Khmer Rouge, which does not make for a good bedtime story. So, I keep a second book on my night table for reading right before bed.”
I’ll give my view later in this post, but I think whether you read one book at a time or several, the key is to read something regularly, a commitment that many people find hard to keep.
Sowin adds:
“We make time to watch television and surf the Internet for the latest triviality, but we can’t seem to make the time to sit down and read for an hour.”
It takes effort. As pastor and author John Piper writes:
“The ability to read does not come intuitively. It must be taught. And learning to read with understanding is a life-long labor.”
Read books, blogs, newspapers, magazines. Read the back of your cereal box. Read the product brochures in your doctor’s waiting room. Read whatever you can get your hands on.
Some Advice for Sticking to a Reading Plan
Al Mohler, a theologian and radio show host, offers the following advice on developing and sticking to a reading plan, based on his experience:
“Maintain regular reading projects. I strategize my reading in six main categories: Theology, Biblical Studies, Church Life, History, Cultural Studies, and Literature. I have some project from each of these categories going at all times. I collect and gather books for each project, and read them over a determined period of time. This helps to discipline my reading, and also keeps me working across several disciplines….
Read all the titles written by some authors. Choose carefully here, but identify some authors whose books demand your attention. Read all they have written and watch their minds at work and their thought in development. No author can complete his thoughts in one book, no matter how large….
Allow yourself some fun reading, and learn how to enjoy reading by reading enjoyable books.”
Mohler has some helpful thoughts. His approach certainly works for him, but I disagree with his advocacy of reading several books at a time. He can do it and I’m sure many others can too, but I find that picking one book, committing myself to reading it until it’s done, and concentrating on that one book alone encourages me to be more self-disciplined by focusing all my mental energy toward one central argument or story.
However, regardless of whether you choose to read one book at a time or several, here’s the key (and where I do agree with Mohler) to sticking to your plan so that you can reap the benefits that disciplined reading offers: read stuff you truly enjoy.
Don’t get on your reading plan and start reading something you find really boring and try to plod on just for the exercise. It may backfire. Read authors or subjects that really excite you and your natural enthusiasm for what you’re reading will enhance the experience so that you’ll continue regularly reading and also better retain what you’ve read.
“[I]n reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see.”–C.S. Lewis
Read often. Read regularly. Read daily.
I try to.
That admonition might seem to go against what I’ve been posting lately, but it really doesn’t. I have indeed been warning against the tendency of many of us to read voluminous amounts of material, especially online. And, no question, too much reading can prevent us from accomplishing our major goals.
I’ve recently shared how reading too many blogs on a daily basis invited stress into my life and robbed me of the initial pleasure I got from reading blogs, by letting a beneficial hobby turn into a part-time job. After significantly cutting back on the number of blogs I subscribe to, I once again enjoy reading blogs.
But, blogs are only one medium of reading, and not the best one. Magazines are better and books are best, in my opinion. If you only read blogs, I think you’re really limiting yourself.
When Books Beat Blogs
For one thing (and this is what’s great about blogs), anyone can write a blog; there’s no entry-requirements or standards to meet. Just sign up for a free blog and begin posting–everyone can have a voice and an audience now. That’s good, but it has its drawbacks as well.
By contrast, most magazines and books are written by people who have some level of legitimate authority–it’s much tougher to get your book published or your magazine article printed than it is to hit publish on your blog software.
Thus, we’re missing out on some truly great insight and information if we rarely read books.
Another advantage books have over blogs: it’s relaxing and enjoyable for me to lie down with a good book and read it from beginning to end (or at least a few chapters) without distraction. When you’re online, you can jump from link to link, blog to blog, site to site, and not have to deal with one compelling, in-depth argument or story. Nor is it as easy or comfortable to lie down and stretch out when reading off of a computer as it is with a book or magazine.
As opposed to what we often do when reading online (skimming and scanning, reading very quickly for “just the facts”), when we settle down with a book, our attention is necessarily bound to it alone, allowing us to read more slowly and deeply–this can help us to develop more focus and discipline, attributes that also help us to write better, the subject of an upcoming post.
You Have the Time and the Need so Read
People who say they never read because they don’t have the time or need for it are wrong. They have time (30 minutes a day is easy to find if you really want it) and they need to read–it’s narcissistic to say you pretty much already know everything you need to know and nobody can tell you anything new or that you’ll just figure it out as you go (try taking a trip across the country without ever reading a map and planning your route–and still getting to your destination on time). You have the time and you have the need–even if you don’t realize it.
Besides gaining how-to knowledge, there are other, perhaps deeper reasons for reading regularly.
C.S. Lewis poetically explains,
“Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realise the enormous extension of our being which we owe to authors. We realise it best when we talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense but he inhabits a tiny world. In it, we should be suffocated. The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented….
[I]n reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.” [Emphasis mine]
Reading enhances our minds and enriches our souls by taking us out of ourselves and our limited knowledge and experiences and giving us the knowledge and experiences that so many people before us have gained.
John Piper reminds us that it isn’t the quantity of books that we read, but rather the quality:
“Nor, in conclusion, do I want to leave the impression that reading many books is important. Reading great books and reading them well is what is important. Meditative reading, reading which stops and ponders, reading which sees deep into reality - that is the kind of reading which profits. That kind of reading should never end for you. Growth and stimulation and transformation will never end for you. You will be in the company of the greatest minds and hearts for the rest of your life, and you will become their peers if you read for understanding and for life.” [Emphasis mine]
Reading is vital. We need to read so we can find out what to do–how to set up a new computer system or map the route for our road trip. We need to read to improve our writing skills by familiarizing ourselves with other styles and expanding our vocabulary. We need to read so that we can step back from our limited understanding of life and gain a richer, deeper knowledge handed down to us from greater minds who have lived centuries before us.
Just don’t read so much that that’s all you do. Read enough to gain the benefits that reading offers, but live your own life. Create your own experiences.
My Reading Plan
I suggest a disciplined, regular reading plan of 30 minutes to an hour a day, devoted to one book that you’re currently interested in. That’s what I try to do and I derive the knowledge and discipline that comes from sticking to a regular commitment without letting it take up too much time and interfere with accomplishing my goals.
I’ll share some intriguing thoughts on reading plans and offer some ideas on how to set up, and stick to, such a plan in my next post.
Currently, I’m reading Ward No. 6 and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov, a selection of 23 short stories by the late 19th century Russian author. Reading fiction is a nice break from the almost entirely fact-based (do this, do that) nature of the blogosphere, and reading fiction by someone from a different country in a different era takes me out of my own context and allows me, as Lewis described, to see things through the eyes of another.
Think about it: I’m an American in 2008, reading stories written by a Russian in the 1880’s and 1890’s, enjoying thought-provoking explorations of the universal human psyche as I lie back relaxing on my couch.
You can’t get that from a blog.
Previously addicted to my Google Reader, and suffering in several ways because of it (physical stress and huge losses of time to name the biggest), I decided to eliminate most of my blog subscriptions.
**Note: this is the third post in my ongoing series on reading.**
By choosing to only keep up with blogs that consistently and currently give me original, lasting value, I regained a lot of my time and almost entirely eradicated any blog-reading stress. I set a definite number of blogs to subscribe to and stuck to it.
There was just one thing left to do: eliminate my RSS reader.
Even if I only subscribed to a short number of blogs in Google Reader, I feared that I would soon be lured back into spending too much time reading blogs. That “discover” button would tempt me too much and, next thing I know, I’d be checking out new, related blogs and adding them to my feeds because it’s so easy to do.
So, I switched all of my remaining subscriptions to email and haven’t regretted it one bit.
Here’s why subscribing to blogs through email saves me time and stress:
- There’s no “discover new blogs” button or link. You read the blog post and you’re done.
- I usually only get one email per day, per blog. That email might have the last three posts the blog author ran, but it only comes once a day, whereas the feed reader updates immediately whenever one of the subscriptions has a new post. I would be constantly tempted to continue checking back in to the RSS reader for updates. With email, it’s not nearly as tempting because I know it’s one and done–one email per blog per day.
- It reduces my daily applications and tasks–instead of logging into email and my feed reader, I just check email and see everything in one place.
I know there are good reasons for using feed readers, especially if your job requires that you keep up with a lot of blogs or websites. Fortunately, mine doesn’t.
Thus, I’ve found it to be much simpler, relaxed, enjoyable, and time-freeing to read my favorite blogs through email.
What about you?
Do you prefer email or RSS?
And why?
My latest guest post has recently gone up on Think Simple Now.
It’s a major compilation of what I believe to be eight keys to clear writing; the post also looks at common obstacles to clear writing and offers some ideas to develop the clear mental state necessary for precise writing.
Check it out, leave a comment, Digg it, Stumble it–I think you’ll enjoy it.
As explained in the first post in this series on why it’s important to read a lot and why it’s important to NOT read a lot, I had been suffering from blog feed overload. I wasn’t enjoying reading blogs much anymore and had let a fun, informative hobby turn into another job.
After experiencing negative physical symptoms from the tons of unread posts in my reader, I decided to change my blog reading habits. Here’s what I did.
I came back from my errands and went through a rigorous elimination process of my feed reader. I really did just two things.
- I set a fixed number of how many blogs I would keep up with and began paring down my feeds based on the rule below. I realized that I had several blogs that were incredibly redundant, basically producing the same material as each other. I didn’t need to read 10 blogs all devoted to freelancing tips. Neither do you–if you ever plan on actually freelancing. As Bob Bly says, “[I]f you are spending endless hours reading posts, comments, and messages online, those are hours you are not spending on the tasks for which you are paid a salary — or in the case of the self-employed, on billable work.”
- I applied the Last Five Posts Rule–I went through each feed and looked at its last five posts to see which blogs had given me the most real value in the past week or two, which blogs were consistently and currently producing original and valuable information.
I actually only kept a couple freelance/writing/business blogs. The others were spiritual, financial, and lifestyle-oriented.
I let go of some really good blogs. But, realizing that time is valuable, and that I don’t need to, and am unable to, keep up with every good blog out there, I let them go.
The key is to determine a fixed number of blogs to subscribe to and stick to it; it’ll make your task difficult when you’re having to choose between two essentially equally good blogs.
If you’re forever reading how to do (whatever it might be) but never actually doing it, why read the stuff in the first place?
If you’re constantly reading how to do (whatever it might be) you’re necessarily limiting the time you have to actually apply what you’ve ostensibly been learning.
I know many folks read hundreds of blogs. If you enjoy that, and it doesn’t (although I don’t how it wouldn’t) negatively impact your work or personal life, more power to you. But some people read that many blogs because they feel like they have to keep up with the blogosphere conversation.
But, here’s an important realization: most blogs, even the best, aren’t saying anything profound that you need to read every single day. They just aren’t.
