How To FINISH Every Book You Start - My Daily Reading Routine

Summary

In this video, the speaker shares their personal reading routine and the challenges they've faced with burnout and inconsistency. They emphasize that reading strategies should be individualized and discuss their approach of setting manageable, daily reading goals. They explain how reading difficult material in the morning and something lighter at night has helped them stay consistent. The video also touches on the importance of following curiosity, defining personal motivations for reading, and being patient with progress. The speaker highlights consistency and repetition as the key to developing a sustainable reading habit.

Takeaways

• 📚 The video presents a personal reading program, emphasizing that it's for entertainment and reference only, not a one-size-fits-all solution.
• ⚠️ The creator warns against following advice blindly and highlights the importance of finding a reading strategy that works for individual goals and interests.
• 🔥 The speaker shares past burnout from reading in short, intense bursts, which led to starting many books but not finishing them.
• ⏳ Consistency is key: Instead of reading in frenzies, the speaker suggests reading a small, manageable amount (like 15–20 pages daily) to maintain the habit.
• ☕ The morning routine involves 15 minutes of concentrated reading of difficult texts, like the Iliad, which helps maintain focus and achieve long-term reading goals.
• 🧠 Habit stacking: The speaker pairs reading with existing routines, such as reading a lighter book after tracking finances in the evening, to make habits easier to maintain.
• 🎧 Audiobooks are another tool for consuming information, especially during activities like working out or commuting, but the speaker feels they don't work well for dense or complex material.
• 💡 The importance of defining 'why' you want to read: The speaker encourages viewers to clarify their personal motivations and goals for reading.
• ⏱️ Focus on time rather than page counts: Set manageable goals and prioritize consistency over quantity to avoid burnout.
• 🧐 Follow curiosity: The speaker advises choosing reading materials that genuinely interest you, rather than what seems glamorous or popular.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The video discusses the creator's personal daily reading program, focusing on how to develop consistent reading habits and avoid burnout.

What reading issue did the creator face before developing a structured program?

The creator experienced burnout from reading books in intense, intellectual frenzies, leading to long breaks where they wouldn’t pick up another book for months.

What approach does the creator suggest for building a consistent reading habit?

The creator suggests breaking reading into small, manageable chunks (like 15 minutes a day), and focusing on consistency over time instead of trying to read a large number of pages in one go.

Why does the creator caution against following other people's reading advice blindly?

Because everyone has different reading goals and purposes. The creator emphasizes that there's no one-size-fits-all solution for reading strategies, and each person should find what works best for them.

What specific books or reading does the creator mention in their daily routine?

The creator mentions reading canonical texts like Homer’s *Iliad* in the morning and lighter books like Helen de Cruz’s *W Struck* at night for relaxation.

What is habit stacking, and how does the creator use it in their routine?

Habit stacking involves pairing a new habit with an existing one to make it easier to maintain. The creator stacks their nighttime reading habit on top of tracking their finances, helping to reinforce both activities.

Why does the creator prioritize setting a time goal over a page count goal?

The creator finds that focusing on time (e.g., reading for 15 minutes) rather than page counts makes the task more manageable and helps build consistency without feeling overwhelmed by the need to hit arbitrary page numbers.

How does the creator’s background in English literature influence their approach to reading?

The creator feels that their English degree was only the starting point of their reading journey. Despite completing the degree, they recognize the vast amount of literature they still want to explore, especially older texts.

What advice does the creator give for avoiding burnout while reading?

The creator advises purposefully underperforming by setting smaller, achievable reading goals. This ensures that the reading habit is sustainable in the long term rather than overwhelming oneself with high expectations.

How does the creator incorporate audiobooks into their reading routine?

The creator listens to audiobooks while at the gym, walking, or commuting. They note that audiobooks are only suitable for certain types of books, as dense information can be hard to retain in audio format.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to My Daily Reading Program

The speaker introduces their daily reading routine, highlighting the difference in reading preferences and goals among individuals. They caution against blindly following advice from others, noting that their video is for entertainment and reference purposes only. The speaker reflects on their previous approach to reading, which often led to burnout, and shares how they would read passionately for a short period but then take long breaks, causing frustration. The key takeaway is the importance of consistency in reading, even if it means reading small amounts daily.

05:01

🧠 Tackling Challenging Texts in the Morning

The speaker explains their morning reading routine, which involves tackling difficult and intellectually stimulating texts for 15 minutes. Currently, they are reading the Iliad and aim for 5-10 pages a day with full concentration. They emphasize the importance of consistency and repetition in forming a long-term reading habit. Even if the amount of reading seems small, the daily effort compounds over time, and the speaker notes that this has been working well despite occasional setbacks.

10:03

📖 Nighttime Routine and Habit Stacking

The speaker details their evening reading routine, which is part of a habit-stacking strategy. After tracking their finances, they read something lighter for 10-15 minutes, often extending to 30 minutes if they get absorbed. They stress the importance of enjoying reading to avoid associating it with drudgery. The speaker also mentions listening to audiobooks during workouts or train rides and hints at a future video discussing audiobook consumption and its limitations.

15:06

🔄 The Two-Part Reading System

The speaker summarizes their two-part reading routine: in the morning, they focus on mind-expanding literature, while in the evening, they read for relaxation. This system has helped them stay consistent for nearly a month, though they acknowledge occasional lapses. The speaker stresses the importance of repetition over the quantity of pages read and encourages viewers to follow their curiosity when choosing books, rather than trying to impress others or follow trends.

🧘 Why Underestimating Reading Goals Works

The speaker advises viewers to deliberately underestimate their daily reading goals to ensure consistency, arguing that repetition is more important than setting ambitious page counts. They suggest starting small and gradually increasing reading time, as developing a habit is the key to long-term success. The speaker emphasizes the need to define personal reading goals based on individual interests and explains that their reading program is just a reference, encouraging viewers to experiment with different routines.

👋 Closing Remarks and Future Video Plans

In their closing remarks, the speaker reflects on the unfiltered nature of the video and their tendency to go off-topic, promising improvements in future videos. They briefly mention an upcoming video on note-taking from books, explaining that note-taking is a personal process that should not follow rigid structures. The speaker reiterates the importance of consistency in reading and bids farewell until the next video.

Keywords

💡Reading burnout

Reading burnout refers to the exhaustion and loss of motivation due to an intense and unsustainable reading habit. The speaker describes how their previous approach to reading, marked by an 'intellectual frenzy,' led to long periods of not picking up another book, which is the essence of burnout. This concept is central to the video as it highlights the need for a more sustainable reading routine.

💡Consistency

Consistency in the context of the video refers to the practice of reading regularly, even if in small amounts. The speaker emphasizes that reading 15 to 20 pages daily can compound over time, leading to significant progress. Consistency is highlighted as the key to avoiding burnout and achieving long-term reading goals.

💡Intellectual frenzy

An intellectual frenzy is described as the intense burst of excitement and passion for reading, where the reader is deeply absorbed in a book. However, the speaker warns that this approach can be unsustainable, leading to burnout. The concept is used to critique the tendency to rely on fleeting motivation rather than consistent habits.

💡Reading goals

Reading goals are the targets or objectives one sets for their reading practice. The speaker advocates for manageable and realistic goals, like reading 15 minutes a day, instead of ambitious page counts that can lead to frustration and burnout. The video stresses that sticking to simple, consistent goals ensures long-term success.

💡Habit stacking

Habit stacking refers to the practice of adding a new habit to an existing one, making it easier to maintain. In the video, the speaker mentions stacking the habit of reading at night onto their routine of tracking finances. This concept is presented as an effective way to build and maintain a daily reading habit.

💡Dopamine-driven culture

Dopamine-driven culture refers to society’s tendency to seek immediate gratification and excitement, often leading to the abandonment of long-term, slower pursuits like reading. The speaker critiques this culture, explaining that chasing the initial thrill of starting new books can result in unfinished books and inconsistent reading habits.

💡Morning reading routine

The morning reading routine is a structured part of the speaker's day dedicated to tackling difficult, mind-expanding texts. The speaker explains how starting with 15 minutes of focused reading, often from challenging works like Homer’s 'Iliad,' is a productive way to incorporate learning into their daily life.

💡Mind-expanding texts

Mind-expanding texts are works of literature or philosophy that challenge the reader intellectually. In the speaker’s reading program, such texts are read during the morning routine. Examples include classical works like Homer’s 'Iliad,' which are chosen for their difficulty and ability to stimulate deep thinking.

💡Curiosity-driven reading

Curiosity-driven reading is the practice of following one's genuine interests when choosing books, rather than reading based on external expectations. The speaker encourages viewers to read what they find intriguing, as this fosters a natural motivation to read consistently. This is contrasted with reading what others deem important or trendy.

💡Note-taking

Note-taking is the process of recording thoughts and insights while reading, which the speaker sees as a personal and essential part of engaging with a text. They mention the importance of developing one's own method of note-taking, suggesting that there is no universal structure, as it should reflect the reader’s unique understanding of the material.

Highlights

The speaker emphasizes that this video is for entertainment and reference purposes and that reading strategies should be individualized based on personal goals.

The speaker discusses how reading in frenzied bursts led to burnout and a lack of consistency in their reading habits.

They suggest that consistent daily reading, even as little as 15–20 pages a day, adds up over time and can prevent burnout.

The speaker reflects on how media culture encourages us to chase the excitement of starting new things rather than focusing on long-term habits.

An English degree does not make one 'well-read'; it is just the beginning of a lifelong reading journey.

The speaker explains their current reading routine: reading for 15 minutes in the morning with full concentration, focusing on difficult texts like the Iliad.

They highlight the importance of consistency and repetition over the number of pages read.

The speaker mentions 'habit stacking,' where they combine their financial tracking habit with a nighttime reading routine.

They recommend reading something enjoyable before bed to avoid associating reading with drudgery.

The speaker notes that some days are harder than others, but repetition and sticking to the habit matter more than hitting page goals.

They listen to audiobooks or podcasts during walks, workouts, or long train rides to maximize learning time.

The speaker plans to discuss audiobooks and their limitations in retaining dense information in a future video.

The speaker advises viewers to define why they want to read and tailor their goals accordingly, rather than blindly following others' routines.

Purposefully reading less on a daily basis can help maintain long-term consistency and prevent burnout.

They emphasize the importance of following personal curiosity and avoiding the pressure to read what others are reading just because it is trendy.

Transcripts

hello and welcome back to another video

and today we're going to talk about as

promised my reading program my daily

reading program and just a word of

caution before I start here I noticed

that there's a lot of videos on the

internet giving you some unsolicited

advice and before we start here I just

want to say that this video is here

strictly for entertainment and reference

purposes I'm not giving you like a one-

size fit-all solution for how you should

approach your reading because we're all

very different people we all read for

different purposes and we have different

aims and ambitious uh and Ambitions with

regards to our readings and I don't want

to be that person who gives you like you

know this is it and um I'm not really in

the space to kind of argue with people

with regards to you know what's the best

reading strategy out there so whatever

works for you should work for you I'm

simply here to sort of chip in to tell

you guys what uh what has worked for me

so I want to start this video with a

kind of entry point which is um my

recent burn out with reading so the last

video was really a consequence of me

feeling so burnt out from how I used to

approach reading which is I see a book

that I really like I completely fall in

love with it I read that book in a kind

of kind of frenzy uh in a sort of like a

in an intellectual frenzy and I drop the

book and I get so burnt out that I would

never ever pick up another book for

another two months or three months so

that's how I used to approach reading

and um you know these periods of frenzy

or these sort of sudden inspiration you

know these pretty rare moments you know

maybe twice a year you you you hit upon

one of these moments and maybe you know

what's uh more likely going to happen is

going to be the case where you get a

book uh you think about the book you're

like oh this is a pretty good book and

then if you still use that logic of I'm

going to write out this wave or I'm

going to write out this kind of

intellectual frenzy you're going to find

out that you will actually start a lot

of books and then 20 pages later or 50

pages later you're going to find

yourself quitting a lot of books and

that's one of the things that I found to

be rather frustrating uh there's just

like a whole shelf of books even over

here on this desk there's like a whole

lot of books that I still haven't

finished um because I was under under

the impression that if I have enough

curiosity and energy I can finish this

book in a in a burst of passion and um

but if I really do the maths sometimes

if I just read 15 to 20 pages every

single day compounded over time maybe

over the course of a month two months if

I time you know 30 days times 15 pages

that is a lot of reading if I just can

just stay consistent and if I just stick

with my reading goals if I can just

stick with a program before I know it

all of these books will have a red

marker on them all of them and I think

what I'm trying to say here is that the

actra ity of reading is very mundane and

I feel like as a part of our media

culture we've learned to chase the

dopamin of starting new things we've

learned to chase that excitement of oh

my God I'm starting a new book oh my God

this thing really captured my attention

so over time we start to not we start to

neglect the daily habits that go into it

and I think recently I just found that I

that I started to see this kind of

impotance that I have in the amount of

stuff that I've read especially after my

degree you know a lot of people have

this illusion of like after you finish

an English degree you don't need to read

anything else you know that degree

you've read everything in your degree

but most graduates from English

literature can probably relate to this

um there's nothing like an English

degree that will make you feel like

you're the dumbest person on planet

Earth you're going to feel like you know

I have a pretty good grasp of a general

overview of what I should read and how

literature functions as text and how

relationship and the kind of

relationship between reader and text but

if you really want to develop a kind of

deep and in-depth understanding uh colle

a college degree in literature is only

the

beginning this is your entry point for

you to then truly start to build up your

own repertoire of reading and once that

point sort of made a lot of sense to me

um on one hand is very reassuring I have

the next 20 to 30 years to read

everything that I want to read because

now I have the tools to read anything I

want to read so difficulty is no longer

a problem but now we we actually need to

get down to the process of reading so to

counteract that you know two problems

one uh my reading habit is not very

consistent that's one of the problems

and the second problem is uh there's

just so much Under the Sun that I still

need to read despite uh despite having

an English degree that doesn't exempt me

from not reading anything anymore so

with these two problems in mine here's

how I structure my reading so every

morning when I wake up I would set a

timer for 15 minutes minutes and that's

and over my morning coffee I would focus

on a really difficult piece of reading

you know something that's really hard

that I wouldn't read on a train that I

wouldn't read um at a cafe that I

wouldn't really read in a public space

and currently I'm doing this crazy

program of digging through AOC canonical

texts so I'm starting from the very

beginning the ilad humor ilad some could

argue that I should go even you know

further back to some older texts but the

ilad is my Point of Departure so I'm

currently reading that uh maybe 5 to 10

pages a day in a span of 15 minutes but

that is just like pure concentration if

you can knock if I can knock out like 10

pages with that full degree of

concentration then that's my daily

reading goal done 15 minutes 5 to 10

pages and that's done and then a lot of

you guys are probably thinking you know

that's not a lot of reading you know

that is really not not a lot of not not

a lot of like engage engagement without

such a massive brick of a book you know

it's around 600 pages to yell out but

then over time I started to notice that

the repetition of getting on or or

making that coffee and uh setting up my

book and setting up the note-taking

stuff that I need to read the book you

know just a pure repetition of doing

that every single day it doesn't matter

how long you do it for and doesn't

matter how many pages you read but just

the pure repetition of doing the ACT

already improves the likely that you're

going to stick with this in a long term

so I think I'm about um I think I'm

about I I lose track of time I think

it's about a month since I've started

this habit and I fell off the wagon a

few times and and I started it's just a

process of adjusting my strategy you

know kind of adjusting the time when I

start the thing but I would say to you

if you want to adopt a similar strategy

that you probably want to underere

purposefully underere so you can ensure

that you get the rep instead of just

subscribing to some Fantastical notion

of reading 40 pages a day and completely

burn yourself out 2 weeks later or even

a week later or even a few days later so

that's what I do first day in the

morning over my morning coffee because I

love making coffee I have a coffee

machine in a kitchen so making coffee is

kind of like my morning meditation so as

a part of this morning meditation I

throw in 15 minutes um of reading

something really difficult something

deliberately mind expanding and if you

want some further inspiration I took a

lot of inspiration from Ted Joya and if

I'm butchering that last thing I'm

sincerely sorry I'm a big fan of Ted's

work check out this interview um on on

on the podcast how I write I forget who

runs the podcast but um don't come after

me if you find out the guy's name but

that podcast episode single-handedly

inspired me to really to really dive

into literature of the past because my

sort of focus throughout my honors year

and throughout my undergrad and my

graduate years

uh had always been modernist literature

so I was really into Joyce I was really

into Ezra pound and I was really into

Virginia wolf so that's sort of like my

narrow Focus concentration period but

that interview really inspired me to go

all the way back and to read all the

stuff that I should have read uh before

I started this entire journey of

educating myself so that's a major

source of source of inspiration so check

that interview out if you want uh want

an extra kick in your ass and the other

component of my reading program is that

every night uh after I do my evening

routine of sort of like I have this like

Financial spreadsheet how I track my

finances but that's a whole other of

talk show in itself and I would add

another habit this is called habit

stacking and if you haven't read Atomic

habits I recently listened to the book

at the gym um which I I'll talk about in

a minute after I described the nighttime

reading routine so I I tend to stack

this habit of tracking my finances I

tend to stack this reading habit on top

of it so this is called habit stacking

so it makes that second habit a little

bit easier so what I would do is that

after I track my finances I would hop

into bed and I would read something

lighter and by lighter I mean anything I

want to read so there's this book that

I'm currently reading by um the

wonderful Helen de Cruz Professor Helen

de Cruz she actually sent me this

Advanced copy if I can I can go fetch it

this Advanced copy of w struck it's no

longer Advanced because it's already out

you can get it I highly recommend it uh

I just finished Jonathan Heights to

Righteous Mind it's a bit of a slower

read but now I'm really excited to get

into this one as a part of my bedtime

reading routine so before I go to bed I

simply read something that I enjoy to

make sure that I don't associate

drudgery with reading so that typically

goes on for 10 to 15 and sometime

extends into 30 minutes because I tend

to get lost in books and every night

before I go to bed that's my one down

routine I read something inconsequential

it's something I like to read and that

forms the two-part uh reading routine uh

two-part you know one part in the

morning where I would read something a

deliberately mind expanding and one

thing before I go to bed something that

both entertains me and informs me so

that's been working out really well and

I think I've adopted this routin for the

past you know close to a month like I

said I I fall off the wagon plenty of

times so it's just about getting that

consistency back in some days are

absolutely horrible some days I end up

reading like what five to seven pages

combined but in my mind it doesn't

really matter as soon as I as long as I

get that repetition in that's all that

matters for me so like I mentioned

before I also tend to listen to a lot of

books um at the gym whenever I go out to

work out or whenever I'm on a walk

whenever I'm just like there's this

hourlong train ride that I have to take

to my university so uh during this train

ride I would put on a podcast or an Audi

book so that another source of how I

digest information so I'm going to leave

that for another video on my views on

audiobook um consumption because I think

audiobooks there's a very specific type

of book that you can really listen to

Via audiobook because uh as soon as a

certain as soon as an audio audiobook

crosses a certain level of threshold or

information density threshold you tend

to not retain anything from the audio

book it's just just like passing noise

to you right so I think um I'm going to

dedicate an entire video to audiobooks

uh in the future probably in the next

video but nevertheless that's my brief

reading program so it started off with a

concern I really want to be more well

read and I think that my literature

degree was only the beginning of me

starting this entire process of being

more well read so that inspired me to go

back to the beginning and I set up these

structures in my life to ensure that I

get these things in on time so I start

off with something very mind expanding

and I finish it off with something

relaxing at the end of the day so for

you if you want to take anything away

from this video if you want to build

your own process or build your own

system for getting books read if you

want to build your own reading program

on a daily basis first of all Define

why why is it the case how you want to

read this entire video the whole part

the first part of this video is merely

me explaining to you why I read the way

I do so hopefully that would inspire you

to start defining your own why do you

want to read more romance novels do you

want to read more consistently on a

subject matter that you're really

interested in are you a history buff are

you interested in I don't know uh

geometry are you interested in

mathematics is there a thei that you

want to get into but you know for

whatever for whatever reason you just

don't find a motivation to get get into

it and you don't find time to do it so

Define something that you think that you

don't have the time for and second of

all divide it up to ridiculous

ridiculously small

chunks and realize that it's the

repetition that really matters it's the

consistency that really matters it's not

about how many pages you can read on a

uh um on any given day in fact I would

even say purposefully underere

purposefully underperform on a daily

basis but stilling sure that that part

of your life you you've hit the goal

you've checked the box you can just even

read two pages because trust me over

time as you develop the habit of reading

on a daily basis those page counts will

increase those page counts will kind of

snowball into something substantial over

time so I wouldn't worry about reading

too little on a daily basis and last of

all the last pointer is that you need to

follow your

curiosity because there's a stupid

tendency for us to

pursue what looks glamorous to pursue

what what everyone else is reading and

to kind of read a book and think to

yourself I don't really like this and

you know just to kind of emulate my own

reading program like I said this is just

for your reference and For Your

Entertainment only my reading program so

don't just blindly follow whatever I do

and don't just adopt a random routine

because it makes sense for another

person a part of figuring out what works

for you is all about trying out

different routines and trying out

different systems to see which one

sticks for you and I'm going to make a

separate video about this in the future

as well which is on note-taking or

annotating from books uh I've recently

started to really think deeply on this

topic and I realized that not taking

shouldn't follow any sets of structures

because notetaking is a is this

rearticulation of what you think of the

book and those thoughts are so personal

that no process and no gimmick could

really capture that note-taking process

so dedicated no taking process coming up

for you but the point here is find out

your why figure out what works for you

and deliberately underere because a lot

of the times consistency matters a lot

more compared to reading 20 or setting

up an arbitrary page count so that's why

I favor keeping time instead of keeping

keeping page counts so anyway I think

that's all I have to cover in this video

uh again this is another format of this

unfiltered approach to um sharing

insights with you guys I think sometimes

I tend to go down rabbit holes so um I

will improve uh I I will cut down those

RAB hole segments in the future but

nevertheless hope you guys have enjoyed

this segment and I will see you in the

next video take care and goodbye