How to Read 200 Books a Year

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Hey friends,

Iโ€™d like to propose a new theory of reading.

I call it theย Explore vs Exploit Model.

See, when I tell people I read 200 books in a year, I get two main reactions.

The first is โ€œOMG how are u so wise??โ€ But thereโ€™s a counter-movement that says โ€œfuck you, thereโ€™s no way you can absorb all that info from 200 books! Itโ€™s a scam! Youโ€™d get more value from readingย just 3 booksย per year, and applying the lessons.โ€

But that counter-argument misses a crucial point: thereโ€™s more than one way to read a book. And you donโ€™t have to stick to just one mode.

In fact, I have two main modes of reading.

๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ 1. Reading for Exploration

We all have a mental box of possibilities โ€“ things we know about ourselves and the world.

When I read for exploration, Iโ€™m trying to expand that box as much as possible. I read quickly (often listening to audiobooks at 2x speed), just to get new ideasย on my radar:

  • Listening toย Storyworthyย by Matthew Dicks during a road trip
  • Skimming new productivity books for original ideas.
  • Taking a new fiction author for a test-drive

Letโ€™s say youโ€™ve never studied business. You could do a lot worse than speed-listening to the top 5 business books on Amazon (about 20 hours of listening). Youโ€™d get 5 different perspectives and a pencil sketch of the field. And if you get really interested, youโ€™ll know which book to revisit.

This is how I found the bookย Traction, which I dip into every month for advice on running my company.

So long as you enjoy the process, thereโ€™s nothing inherently wrong with listening to 200 audiobooks/year at x3 speed. You wonโ€™t remember them all, or be able to act on every insight, but youโ€™ll massively expand your horizons.

โ›๏ธ 2.ย Reading for Exploitation

This is where it gets serious.

About once a week Iโ€™ll read a book in-depth, making Kindle highlights and (sometimes) taking detailed notes. This can take 15h+ per book, so itโ€™s a serious time investment.

I do this when I want toย exploitย a bookโ€™s contents. It could be about investing, relationships, Stoic philosophyโ€ฆ if a book has solid info thatโ€™s relevant to my life, Iโ€™ll upgrade it to my โ€˜reading for exploitationโ€™ list. This applies to pretty much every book that Iโ€™ve summarised on YouTube (Atomic Habits,ย Make Time,ย Four Thousand Weeks, etc).

Iโ€™ll only invest this much time and effort in a book if at leastย oneย of these things is true:

  1. Iโ€™ve already skimmed it, and decided itโ€™s worth a proper read
  2. Itโ€™s been recommended by a trusted source
  3. Itโ€™s essential for my work (eg a Book Club video)
  4. I can tell itโ€™ll be amazing.

Reading isnโ€™t a choice between skimming 200 audiobooks at 3x speed or spending 80 hours taking notes on Marcus Aurelius. Itโ€™s more like a funnel – get lots of ideas on your radar with Reading for Exploration, then niche down and put ideas into practice with Reading for Exploitation.

๐ŸšจTwo Warnings

  • Donโ€™t take reading so seriously that you never pick up a book (โ€œoh no I need to take notes and absorb 100% of the contentsโ€).
  • Donโ€™t get so addicted to the novelty of skimming a new book that you never re-read books, and take notes on the good ones.

Have a great week!

Ali xx

๐Ÿš€ Grow Your YouTube Channel

Heads up – the waiting list for Cohort 7 of my Part-Time YouTuber Academyย is now openย ๐ŸŽ‰

Itโ€™s an action-packed, 5-week live online course running Nov to Dec 2022, where Iโ€™ll teach you how to start, grow, and eventually monetise your own YouTube channel.ย Sign up here with your email, and youโ€™ll be the first to know when we open PTYA for enrollment. Youโ€™ll also get updates about the new cohort.

๐Ÿ“š Shortform

If you want to put a lot of new books and ideas on your radar, I highly recommend Shortform. They write short summaries of the worldโ€™s best non-fiction books, and have a library going into the 1000s. Each summary gives the bookโ€™s key ideas in one page, plus a longer 3-5 page breakdown with commentary and analysis.

Itโ€™s like getting a smart friend to tell you about a book.ย Click this linkย to get a 5-day free trial, and 20% off the annual premium subscription.

Thanks to Shortform for sponsoring this issue of Sunday Snippets. ๐Ÿ™

โ™ฅ๏ธ My Favourite Things

๐Ÿ“ฑย App –ย Rize.ioย Iโ€™ve been using this desktop app a lot recently. It tracks all your computer activity, and gives you a breakdown of how you spend your time. Which can be a harsh reality checkโ€ฆ You can also set focus times โ€“ notifications will pause, and the app will play the right music and ambient noise (eg coffee shop chatter) to get you in the zone. If youโ€™re interested, you canย use the promo code ALIABDAALย to get 25% off for 3 months. (Theyโ€™re not paying me to say this at all, and this is an old promo code that doesnโ€™t give me any kickback, I just genuinely use the app a lot these days especially for book writing stuff so Iโ€™m mentioning it here).

๐Ÿ“„ย A3 Padsย – Iโ€™ve loved using these big pads to brainstorm video and book ideas. Thereโ€™s something about Some coloured Sharpies and Iโ€™m all set.

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ’ปย An Actual Deskย – Itโ€™s ironic: even though Iโ€™m theย desk setup guy, I havenโ€™t had my own desk for at least a year. My bedroom in London was too small to have a proper desk, and in the studio I was alwaysย hot desking. But now Iโ€™ve moved to a new place and have my own desk again, Iโ€™m rediscovering how good it is to have a main base of operations.

๐Ÿ“…ย My Ideal Week –ย Iโ€™m trying to stick to an ordered schedule where I block time for breakfast, meditation, workouts, and a lot more every week. Wish me luck.

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