Too often I hear friends of mine tell me things like, “Amir, this books seems really interesting. I just wish I had time to read it.” The truth is, they do, no matter how busy they are or think they are.

Sort of.


Courtesy of Yogi

Reward Yourself

For some of us, our list of things-to-do just seems to grow longer and longer. For others, there are times when we experience a sudden burst of tasks that overwhelms us. When that happens, the priority placed on reading for pleasure, drops to the bottom.

Don’t let your job, family responsibilities or anything else take away from you the joy of learning that which emotionally satisfies you. You can still have it. In fact, you deserve it.

Reward yourself. The joy is yours to grasp, and grasp it you shall!

Compliment Your Information Intake

Audiobooks are a superb form of media. We don’t read them. We listen to them and therein is the glaring similarity they share with regular books.

Their purpose: consumption.

An increasing selection of books nowadays comes in both traditional paper-printed form and audiobook formats. You can find many easily available on iTunes and Amazon. Many are actually read to you by the authors themselves. In doing so, the voice and its tone convey more than the written word does and indulges the listener in a unique form of enjoyment, different from that derived by reading content.

Besides reading traditional forms of books, compliment your information intake with audiobooks (and even podcasts). Unlike reading, listening to audiobooks is pretty much effortless!

Hit Two Birds With One Stone

There are a number of activities we perform daily which take up a significant amount of time. Maximizing the value of that time is what the following is about.

Showering and learning: I spend about 40 minutes everyday in the shower. Most people do (please tell me you do). How about you?

Here’s why it’s important:

  • One day: 40 minutes
  • One week: 40 X 7 = 280 minutes (That’s almost 5 hours)
  • Two weeks: 40 X 14 = 560 minutes (That’s 9 hours)
  • One month: 40 X 30 = 1,200 minutes (That’s 20 hours)
  • One year: 40 X 365 = 14,600 minutes (That’s a whopping 243 hours!)

And there you go!

Audiobooks can vary from 4 hours to 20 hours in length. Many podcasts are usually shorter than an hour (and most are free).

You can’t read a book while you shower (unless it’s some super cool water-proof book and somehow you’ve got four arms). So, instead of singing and whistling every time you’re in there, why not listen to an audiobook? Hit two birds with one stone!

Driving and learning: I think by now this one is pretty obvious. Enjoy an audiobook instead of listening to your car radio or your Michael Jackson CD everyday. 40 minutes of driving in one day eventually adds up to a lot of time.

Commuting and learning: Personally, when I’m commuting by train I prefer to actually read a book but sometimes when I’m feeling tired with heavy eyes, I take out my iPod and listen to some music or podcasts instead.

Go out and grab yourself an audiobook. It’s time to maximize the value of time and boost your learning productivity.

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