If you’ve been a bit random with reading like me—starting the first 50 pages of every book and then dropping it (probably ADHD in my case)—this plan might actually help you the way it helped me a lot:
Find your passion
I realized I enjoy psychology, logic, and history the most.
So I started balancing: one “important” book + one book I actually love as a reward.
Know your capacity
Let’s say the average book is ~365 pages.
If you read 30 pages a day → that’s about 30 books a year.
Choose carefully
We live in an age of abundance. Even if you lived 80 years reading 24/7, you’d finish less than 1/1000 of all books out there.
So picking wisely matters.
Example: want 30 books this year? Make a list of your top 200, then pick the best 30 (half of them from topics you love).
Stick to the goal
Rank your 30 books by importance.
Read them in order. Don’t open a new book before finishing the current one.
If you find a tempting book, just put it as #31.
Enjoy it
Reading is joy, not a race.
If you burn out, take a day off and come back. The key is not to break the habit.
Read actively
Without notes or highlights, you lose about 90% of the benefit.
Write down key ideas and quotes. With AI tools, this has become way easier.
Test yourself
Try explaining the book to someone, or write a short review.
If you can deliver the ideas clearly, it means the book really stuck.
And if it’s a practical book (psychology, logic, history, self-development, etc.), apply just one concept to your life or discussions. That boosts retention a lot.
Note:
This is just a personal system. Feel free to tweak any step as long as you understand the core idea behind it.
by Curious-Activity-978