There’s a really great segment in The Last Safe Investment in which the authors discuss filling in empty time with reading/listening to books. Whether it be listening to an audiobook on a commute to/from work or reading while waiting for someone. Within each person’s day, there are two to three hours of time to fill. If done daily, reading during that empty time will add up to reading a book a week. Since I’ve started an aggressive reading schedule, filling empty time has become a pretty necessary habit.
How I Read During Empty Time
We all have time during the day where things are laid back. Maybe it’s the minutes before going to sleep or a couple minutes of break time during work. No matter what we do in our lives, there is always time to carve out. I used to do something mindless, like catch up on Facebook posts or read blog posts. Now, I open up my latest book and dive in without regard to how far I can get.
The hardest part for me in reading is getting to a good stopping point. I used to try to read a chapter at a time, and if I didn’t have time to read the chapter I wouldn’t pick up the book. But there’s no time to do that when you’re trying to finish a book a week. So, I’ve created a bit of a rhythm when it comes to reading. Instead of trying to get through an entire chapter, if I only have a few minutes, I try to knock out three to four pages to get to the next subheading. Doing that about six to eight times during my empty time gets me through a chapter (in most books).
Then, when I get home from work, or before even starting work, I dedicate my time to reading. This way I am always connected to the book at hand, and starting/stopping isn’t an inconvenience. It also keeps the material fresh in my mind throughout the day.
Filling Empty Time
The past month has been extremely helpful for my brain in filling empty time. Not only do I get to read amazing books during my empty time, it also makes me think about the little decisions I make throughout the day. Each second I’m doing something, I could be doing something else. Each minute I spend slacking off, I could be learning or improving my abilities. Filling empty time has helped me in reading a book a week, but it’s also helped me managing my time in other aspects of life.