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You may have a <\/span>plan for your week<\/span><\/a>, a <\/span>plan for your workouts<\/span><\/a>, a <\/span>plan for your finances<\/span><\/a>, and even a <\/span>plan for your leisure time<\/span><\/a>. These plans help you get the most out of your time and resources — the most out of your life.<\/span><\/p>\n But have you ever thought about having a <\/span>reading<\/span><\/i> plan?<\/span><\/p>\n You should: just like any other plan, it can help you maximize the value, enjoyment, and satisfaction you get from your reading.<\/span><\/p>\n Today we\u2019ll talk about why, and offer suggestions for formulating a reading plan of your own.<\/span><\/p>\n A reading plan is exactly what it sounds like. Rather than flitting about from random book to random book, you have a system — usually a list — for determining what you\u2019ll read next. Whether that\u2019s specific titles (all of Dickens\u2019 works), or simply broader topics\/genres (Civil War history), a reading plan guides your reading efforts and keeps you from stagnating or always choosing the path of least resistance (whatever is right in front of you, easiest, or most entertaining). <\/span><\/p>\n This doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019re only reading those books, of course. At any given time, I\u2019m probably reading 2-4 books, one of which is part of a larger plan I\u2019m following (right now it\u2019s biographies of US Presidents, in chronological order; before that, <\/span>it was a deep dive in the Western genre<\/span><\/a>). If you\u2019re a one-book-at-a-time person, maybe every other book is just for fun, and every other is part of your plan. <\/span><\/p>\n Keeps you in a lifelong learner mindset.<\/b> Everyone should strive to be a lifelong learner.<\/a> Your education doesn\u2019t end once you have a diploma in hand. Reading can be used not only for entertainment, but to further your own education, and giving it a plan can help you make this \u201ccurriculum\u201d more substantive and meaningful. <\/span><\/p>\n Keeps you disciplined in your reading.<\/b> I don\u2019t mean this to say that your reading shouldn\u2019t be fun or enjoyable. It absolutely should be. I mean this more in the sense that having a plan keeps you reading consistently. When you see a list of books you\u2019re trying to tackle, you\u2019ll be motivated to actually put in the time to get your 50 pages or 30 minutes per day. Just as a to-do list keeps you focused on completing work tasks and chores, a to-read list keeps you focused on knocking out books. It can help you make reading a priority. <\/span><\/p>\n While I know I\u2019m in a unique position since I work from home, and since reading is often part of that work, I try to read about 100 pages at the start of each day before tackling just about anything else (100 pages of anything; perhaps it\u2019s all of a single book, but many times it\u2019s split between a couple books). <\/span><\/p>\n My list keeps me motivated to wake up early and stay on track before the kids are taking up my time and mental space. Since I know this is my goal, I also know that I have about 3,000 pages a month to work with, and I occasionally even schedule out the reading I\u2019d like to accomplish each week. When you take your reading seriously, you get serious amounts of reading done. It\u2019s that simple. <\/span><\/p>\n Helps push you to get through books you may otherwise not have the gumption to finish.<\/b> While your reading should indeed be an enjoyable endeavor (I can\u2019t repeat that enough; hating what you\u2019re reading will make you not want to read anymore), sometimes it\u2019s worth finishing a book that you aren\u2019t super in love with. <\/span><\/p>\n Every once in a while I come across a book that I want to have read (past tense). To get there, I obviously have to read it (present tense). And sometimes those books \u2014 even if the writing is good and I\u2019m enjoying the story \u2014 can be a slog. It\u2019s sort of an odd phenomenon, but I\u2019m sure you can relate. For me most recently, that has been <\/span>Anna Karenina<\/span><\/i><\/a>. I can objectively state that the writing is just magnificent. Tolstoy crafts a sentence as well as any writer I\u2019ve encountered. But, I got stuck about halfway through, and haven\u2019t been able to finish. It just sometimes takes a lot of mental energy to keep going with hard books that you aren\u2019t naturally drawn to. I want to be someone who has read <\/span>Anna Karenina<\/span><\/i>, but it\u2019s not currently part of any plan of mine, so it sits on my shelf, but halfway finished. <\/span><\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s look at a book that was also somewhat tough, but that I managed to finish: <\/span>Washington: A Life<\/span><\/i><\/a> by Ron Chernow. I originally bought it back in college and made it about \u2153 of the way through before giving up. Then about 6 months ago I tried again, and got stalled about 50 pages in. I couldn\u2019t figure it out. Chernow is an amazing writer, and the story was superb. It was just hard to get through; the typeface was small (which meant a lot of words per page), and it was all such new information (I hadn\u2019t read much about the Revolution before) that my brain was drained after seemingly each page. It wasn\u2019t until I committed to reading a book about each of the presidents that I was finally able to sit with it each morning and get it finished in just a couple weeks. <\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s just something that happens in the brain when you have a list and curriculum to work though that adds an extra dose of motivation. <\/span><\/p>\n Greases the reading wheels a bit.<\/b> This is perhaps a minor point, but one worth noting. Have you ever noticed that even simply choosing your next book saps some of your reading willpower? You\u2019re at the library, or the bookstore, or even just staring at your own shelves, and you\u2019re overwhelmed with the choices. You want to read all. the. books. But you just can\u2019t decide on which one to pick up, and by the time you finally settle on something, you\u2019re drained from simply making the selection. It\u2019s indeed proven that this \u201cparadox of choice\u201d<\/a> can be paralyzing, and stymie our ability to make a decision or accomplish anything at all. Conversely, when you work from a plan, you don\u2019t have to choose at all; you simply go to the next book on your list, full of willpower and fresh energy. Having a reading plan greases the wheels and lets you get into a groove<\/a> much easier. <\/span><\/p>\n Creates room for mastery of a subject. <\/b>This is perhaps my favorite part of having a reading plan. We\u2019ve made the case multiple times here on Art of Manliness that everyone should strive to be \u201cT-shaped\u201d<\/a>; that is, you should have a breadth of general knowledge, but also mastery in a single topic or subject or skill. Such mastery provides satisfaction and self-confidence in spades. <\/span><\/p>\n So how do you achieve mastery? One way is certainly by reading deeply into a single subject. Whether driven by your career or your personal passions, having a reading plan is a surefire way to deepen your knowledge base.<\/span><\/p>\n As mentioned above, last year I set out to find the very best Western novels as research for an article. I read nearly 50 for the project, and now feel like I can talk Western literature as well as just about any other expert on the topic. Before working for the Art of Manliness, I was employed by a \u201cgreen\u201d IT services company. I didn\u2019t know much about this sector, so one of the first things I did was make a list of every book I could find on data centers, green IT initiatives, the \u201ccloud,\u201d etc. <\/span><\/p>\n You can not only read deeply into your professional field, but into your hobbies and interests as well. If you\u2019re a hunter, read about the history of this pursuit<\/a>; read biographies of famous hunters; read practical field guides on the sport; read everything about hunting you can get your hands on.<\/span><\/p>\n Make a list, and plumb the depth of the vertical axis of your knowledge. Truly master a subject.<\/span><\/p>\n Provides a sense of accomplishment. <\/b>Just as your body feels accomplished after pushing through a lifting plan and hitting your goal on your deadlift, so your brain feels accomplished when you push through a list of books that you\u2019ve been working through for a long time. You\u2019ll feel as though your reading has really meant something. If nothing else, I can all but guarantee that having a plan will assist you in reading <\/span>more<\/span><\/i>, which alone will increase your sense of accomplishment. <\/span><\/p>\n Make it a challenge. Push yourself a little bit. Don\u2019t simply choose from the New York Times<\/em> Best Sellers list, which is not only manipulatable, but also almost always consists of some combo of mystery fiction and celebrity memoir. Again, sometimes there\u2019s a place for those books, but not in a reading plan in which you hope to challenge yourself. <\/span><\/p>\n That said, you do you. If you want to read the canon of James Patterson, go for it. Again, if nothing else, you\u2019ll likely read more, which is always a good thing. (You might also come to realize that all his books are actually the same, and you\u2019ll want something a little more challenging. Zing!) <\/span><\/p>\n A few ideas for reading plans to follow: <\/span><\/p>\n Art of Manliness lists<\/b>. We have a number of lists of books here on AoM. Our list of 100 books every man should read is the most popular<\/a>, but any of them will do the trick:<\/span><\/p>\n The Great Books.<\/b> There are a number of avenues to pursue reading the Great Books. Online Great Books<\/a> is a paid program, but has the benefit of allowing you to read and discuss them with people on the same track. Mortimer Adler has a long list in the back of his classic <\/span>How to Read a Book<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Susan Wise Bauer has a slightly more accessible list in the back of her book, <\/span>The Well-Educated Mind<\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Award winners. <\/b>Go through some sort of list of award winners. The list of Pulitzer winners<\/a>, for any category, is popular to do. The National Book Award<\/a> is another. Read a book by each author who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature<\/a>. The options here are many. <\/span><\/p>\n The entire canon of a single author. <\/b>Love Hemingway or Steinbeck or Dickens? Read everything they ever wrote, in chronological order if you\u2019re feeling especially bold. <\/span><\/p>\n Read through some historical category. <\/b>Men tend to really enjoy biographies and histories, so dig into that in a more specific way. Read a biography of every president (or leader of the nation you live in). The creator of <\/span>bestpresidentialbios.com<\/span><\/a> has spent<\/span> 5 years <\/span><\/i>doing that. Make a list of Civil War books. Read every book you can find about the state or region you live in (including novels set in that state\/region). You get the idea. <\/span><\/p>\n The number of book lists out there on the web is innumerable. Find one, commit, and stick to it. Plans take you more directly to what you want — and that\u2019s as true in reading as in anything else.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat Is a Reading Plan?<\/h3>\n
The Benefits of a Reading Plan<\/h3>\n
Some Ideas of Reading Plans to Follow <\/h3>\n
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