041 How to Read a Book in 2 Hours

If you’re like me, you like to read. And you like to read a lot.

In fact, some people might call you obsessed. I get that all the time. No surprise, since I try to read 100 books every year …

But it can be frustrating. Daily demands. Lack of time. Big books. You get so close to reading one hundred … but alas, at the end of the year I fall, slump headed, sixteen or twenty or forty books away from my goal.

If that’s you, you’re not alone.

Like most determined and driven writers, professionals or students, you have a list of books the length of your arm. A list you want to finish by the end of the year.

Ambitious, but naive.

However, there is a way to read more books in less time — and even catch up with the classics you’ve missed.

In this 6-minute episode you’ll discover:

  • 3 types of reading goals (only one allows chapter pacing)
  • What you need to learn from a book by reading the table of contents
  • The one step you can’t miss
  • The one reason we fail to reach our reading goals every year
  • The worst books to chapter pace

The Show Notes

How to Read a Book in 2 Hours

Demian Farnworth: Howdy friend, you are listening to Rough Draft, your daily dose of essential web writing advice. I am Demian Farnworth. I am your host and the Chief Content Writer for Copyblogger Media.

And thank you for spending the next few minutes of your life with me.

If you’re like me, you like to read. And you like to read a lot.

In fact, some people might call you obsessed. I get that all the time. No surprise since I try to read 100 books a year …

But it can be frustrating. Demands. Lack of time. Big books. You get so close to reading one hundred … but alas, at the end of the year I fall, slump headed, sixteen or twenty or forty books away from my goal.

If that’s you, you’re not alone.

Like most determined and driven writers, professionals or students, you have a list of books the length of your arm. A list you want to finish by the end of the year.

Ambitious, but naive.

However, there’s a way to read more books in less time – and even catch up with the classics you’ve missed.

But I’m not talking about speed reading here. I’m talking about something different.

The Steps: Read Any Average-Sized Book in Two Hours

Imagine you look at Gregory Ciotti’s 50+ best books for entrepreneurs to read. And let’s also say you only have two hours to read every week night. So five days a week.

Now, if you commit to the following process, you could potentially read one book a night. And be done with that list in ten weeks. Or less than three months.

Let’s pick one book out of this list. Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. This is our test subject.

Three Types of Reading Goals (Only One Allows Chapter Pacing)

Step 1. Determine your reading goal.

Superficial? Inspectional? Analytical? All you really want to learn are the principles behind making ideas stick. So your goal is superficial.

What You Need to Learn From a Book By Reading the Table of Contents

Step 2. Skim the table of contents.

The first 6 chapters of the book cover the principles you are after. You also see you’ve got an Epilogue, Acknowledgments, Notes and the Index.

So Step 3. Determine what you have to read.

According to your goal, all you really have to read are the first 6 chapters.

The Method I Call “Chapter Pacing”

Step 4. Break the chapters down into time blocks.

Since you only have two hours, spend only 20 minutes per chapter.

See, this is a lot like runners who pace themselves during a race. They know to finish a ten mile race in two hours they need to run one mile every 12 minutes. The same principle can apply to reading.

Which is why I like to call the method I just described “chapter pacing.” But let me tell you why using this method is important.

Why Chapter Pacing Is Important

But why read this way?

If you don’t chapter pace, there’s a good chance you’ll end up spending 1 hour and 45 minutes on the first three chapters – but blazing through the rest.

The result in an imbalanced understanding of the book.

And frustration.

Chapter pacing eliminates the problem of imbalance and frustration. It allows you to give the essential topics equal study.

And don’t forget, you are marking this book up as you read. At least underlining it. Pasting a sticky note here or there. Only if you own it, of course.

See, Made to Stick is a scannable book. That’s why it works for this book. And when you spend less time on scannable books, you have more time to crawl through the heavier ones.

The Worst Books to Chapter Pace

When Not to Read This Way

This method wouldn’t work on a book like James MacGregor Burn’s Leadership or Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Some books demand slow, careful reading – not skimming.

Nor would you read this way if you were trying to memorize something.

That’s obvious.

However, most contemporary business books like Made to Stick are heavy on ideas but light on substance. They’re prime for the two faster styles of reading: superficial and skimming.

What this means is, if you can knock out 50 books in less than three months time, you can then devote the other nine months to the dense volumes.

And get you ever closer to that annual goal of reading 100 books by years end.

So, the bottom line is, whenever you approach a book, determine your reading goals. Then plan your reading accordingly.

And just to help you along the way with what you should be reading, in the next episode I’m going to share a few books with you that are required reading … but don’t have anything to do with business, copywriting, or the web.

Some are scannable. Some are books you’ll want to absorb. You’ll just have to wait and see.

Until next time. Take care.