Too many books, not enough time
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:58 am
I have a silly system for reading, of all things.
My problem is that I'm constantly buying new books, and I never finish my old ones.
Here's the "finishing" system.
I have a stack of 5 books next to my bed. These are the "current" books. I also have two folders next to my bed, both labeled "to read". The front one is a "closed" folder, meaning I never add to it--I only read and take out articles. The back one is an "open" folder, meaning I add new articles to this one when I get new magazines in the mail or new articles that I've printed from the internet. I never read from the "open" folder. When I finish off the "closed" folder, it becomes the "open" folder and vice versa. This is a silly trick, but gives you a nice feeling of completion when you work your way through the closed folder.
I roll a die, and read the book in the stack corresponding to the number on the die. When I roll a six, I read an article from the closed folder.
As long as I want to continue reading, I put the book down on the top and roll again. If I roll and don't want to read that book or article, or I'm just done, I'm done. If I get absolutely sick of a book, I'm welcome to chuck it.
Either way, I pick new books from my backlog and put them in the bottom of the pile when I drop below 5 books in the pile.
That's it--I get enough variety that I'm not constantly starting new books, but not so much that I never finish them.
My problem is that I'm constantly buying new books, and I never finish my old ones.
Here's the "finishing" system.
I have a stack of 5 books next to my bed. These are the "current" books. I also have two folders next to my bed, both labeled "to read". The front one is a "closed" folder, meaning I never add to it--I only read and take out articles. The back one is an "open" folder, meaning I add new articles to this one when I get new magazines in the mail or new articles that I've printed from the internet. I never read from the "open" folder. When I finish off the "closed" folder, it becomes the "open" folder and vice versa. This is a silly trick, but gives you a nice feeling of completion when you work your way through the closed folder.
I roll a die, and read the book in the stack corresponding to the number on the die. When I roll a six, I read an article from the closed folder.
As long as I want to continue reading, I put the book down on the top and roll again. If I roll and don't want to read that book or article, or I'm just done, I'm done. If I get absolutely sick of a book, I'm welcome to chuck it.
Either way, I pick new books from my backlog and put them in the bottom of the pile when I drop below 5 books in the pile.
That's it--I get enough variety that I'm not constantly starting new books, but not so much that I never finish them.