Arsène Hodali

web novels, poetry, prose.

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How I Read 21 Books Every Week

I read about 21 books per week.
I’m able to do this buy combining four things:
  • Audio Books
  • Speed Listening
  • Speed Reading
  • Polyphasic Sleep

Audio Books

Most of the books I “read” I actually listen to. I’m a big fan of audio books. They let you consume knowledge while allowing you to do other tasks.

And I abuse this to the fullest. When I cook I have my earphones on listening to a book. When I’m in a car (or on a bus) I have my earphones on listening to a book. When I find myself with dead-time between performances and such I’m listening to audio books. When I brush my teeth I’m listening to audio books (yes, I really do… if only I could take a shower with them on).

You get the picture though. If I’m not working, socializing, teaching a class, performing, practising, writing, or making business plans (busy, busy) I’m listening to audio books.

I’ve even started to listen to them while I do activities that require low brain power such as checking Twitter, eMail, Facebook, etc. You can find great audiobooks at sites such as Audible.com or by simple searching Google (there are also sites that turn anything you want to read into an audiobook for you).

Speed Listening

This has got to be one of the best tricks I’ve ever learned (learned the trick from Ben Cashnocha’s blog).
We (as humans) talk slow.
You might not notice it, but in reality you can still perfectly understand what someone is saying if they spoke at twice the speed.

Ben Cashnocha says he listens to his stuff at 1.7x the normal speed by using an application to speed it up. I’m lazier than that.

My iPhone has a button that allows you to listen to anything at 2x the speed. I figured out that 2x wasn’t that far off from 1.7x, so I tried it (what did I have to lose). The best part was realizing (after a few seconds) that I could still comprehend everything that was said! Thanks to this, I’ve literary increased my reading/listening speed by 100%.

Speed Reading

There are those moments in life where I can’t find an audio version of a book and I find myself having to actually read the actual book (the horror!!!). This is where speed reading comes in.

The trick to increasing your reading speed is quit easy. First, read a page of book, then read the next page way too fast for comprehension. Don’t worry about knowing what you’re actually reading, just read as fast as humanly possible (or go beyond that). Now, read the page again, but read it as you would normally. Did you notice? Your reading speed just increased!

This works because of the speed shift you just did. It’s similar to when you think that driving at 50 miles per hour is fast but when you slow down from 90 miles per hour it’s… slower. You can keep doing thus, and keep pushing your limit with it, but eventually it’ll hit a plateau. This is where you add the other aspect of speed reading into the equation.
Start (and finish) reading every line on the page every third word in.
This allows you to use your peripherals. Over time you’ll notice that you’re still able to see the other words without actually focusing on them.

Polyphasic Sleep

I sleep two-hours per day (if you read my blog regularly then you’d know this already). Check out the category on my life for the posts on this if you’re interested. They go into far greater detail about this than I would here (I’m not one to repeat myself, I might as well copy and paste).

Imagine all the free-time I have at night while others are sleeping. In fact, I do most (if not all) of my best thinking, reading, and writing at night; it’s so peaceful! No phone calls, no traffic noises, just calm.

Thought I would share that with you. Apply as many of these things to your life  and see where it gets you. Personally speaking, I’m more than happy with the results.

THE RESULTS: What I Read This Week (so far)

20 Books + 56 Short Stories

  • The Complete Sherlock Holmes: All 4 Novels and 56 Short Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • 50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need To Know by Ben Dupre
  • What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
  • The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
  • The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
  • Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin (currently reading)
  • The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
  • The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin
  • The Bootstrapper’s Bible: How to Start and Build a Business With a Great Idea and (Almost) No Money by Seth Godin
  • The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by Lierre Keith (currently reading)
  • The Google Story by David A. Vise
  • The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich
  • My Start-Up Life: What a (Very) Young CEO Learned on His Journey Through Silicon Valley by Ben Cashnocha
  • iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It by Steve Wozniak
  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
  • The Blog Business Funnel by Skellie (currently reading)

*As you’ll quickly notice, I’m currently fascinated with mystery novels and dot com/entrepreneurship stories. They’re hitting close to home with what I’m currently trying to do, so I’m finding them fascinating.


Creative Commons License photo credit: jc.westbrook

28 Comments

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  1. James says:
    10.18.10 at 6:25 am · Reply

    That is astounding… and completely incomprehensible to me. I read so slowly, it takes forever to finish anything. Your list above would take me about 2 years to complete at my current pace. (Mind you, that’s printed books, not audio.) I’m often tempted to learn speed reading, but I wonder about retention rates. The one advantage to the way I read is that I’m able to retain more than anyone I know. That’s because I’m essentially reading every book 3x over, going back and rereading sentences, paragraphs or entire passages several times until they’ve completely soaked into my brain. It’s glacial and frustrating at times, but I almost never have to pick up a book again; unless I want to, for entertainment value.

    I suppose if I shot-gunned a (audio) book in a matter hours instead of weeks, then I could repeat it a number of times and theoretically get the same level of comprehension in a fraction of my usual time. Even with audio books, though, I find myself having to slow down and focus in order to follow along. I usually can’t do anything else but listen, or at most engage in some non-cognitive repetitive work. I’m just not a good multi-tasker.

    So I guess my question for you is: do you find that you are able to retain as much when you are speed reading/listening? Do you normally need to go back to a book to refresh your memory on certain sections? Would you describe yourself as a natural multi-tasker?

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      10.18.10 at 7:09 pm · Reply

      Excellent question (and comment). Glad to answer it.

      This is the trickiest part of reading I suppose; retention.

      I find that when I’m reading (or listening to) a nonfiction book I retain the information easier than I would a fiction book. Nonfiction books are based in fact and they reference real life scenarios and objects, so your mind doesn’t work as hard as it would while reading a fiction book; one which is filled with scenarios beyond this world that require you to use your imagination.

      I usually multi-task when I’m on a nonfiction book, and single-task when on a fiction book. The fictional retention rate would drastically fall for me if I tried to do anything that required serious thought while listening to them (for example, I listen to them while washing dishes, cooking, housework mostly because that’s something I’ve gotten used to over the years and I can do it with little thought).

      Yes, I do go back and re-read/re-listen books. Generally I reread nonfiction books due to a scenario I’m facing that I remembered that certain book addressing, and I reread fiction books to remind myself of a certain feeling/way at looking the world/writing style. When I reread nonfiction I reread it in snippets, getting the information I want and getting out there. But for fictions, I reread the entire book because my aim in rereading the fiction is to see the flow of the words, the use of language and imagination, etc. etc.

      The whole ‘natural muti-tasker’ thing doesn’t exist to me. I think natural muti-taskers are actually unnatural naturals. Meaning that they’ve trained themselves on how to multi-task to the point that it’s natural (nothing natural about training). But I find that few people train themselves on single-tasking (focusing) and I find that sad because I think that’s what important in this world. Focusing on one task at a time.

      What I do for myself is rank tasks according to how much brain power they require of me, and then I set myself a limit of 10. For example writing requires all my concentration, so it’s a 10. So I can’t multi-task while doing it or it’ll show in my work. However eating alone requires a concentration of about 2-4 (depending on how good the food is), so I generally listen to audiobooks while eating (they require a concentration of about 6-8), so it all adds up to 10 in the end.

      That’s what I see retention as. Everything under 10. You can either single-task, or multi-task, but be sure to keep it at a certain limit, for if you surpass that limit you won’t retain much.

      Hope that helped.

  2. Swail says:
    10.17.10 at 10:38 pm · Reply

    I listen to audio books too, and then I feel weird saying “I read that”. We need another word. Absorption? “Oh that’s a good one.. I absorbed that last month.” Nah.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      10.17.10 at 10:49 pm · Reply

      Hahaha, and how long till people look at you weird after you say that?

  3. Lufkin says:
    06.24.10 at 2:10 pm · Reply

    As I’ve already posted on another one of your pieces, I plan to start the Dymaxion Sleep Schedule mid-July. Once I’m in the full swing of things I plan to pick up speed reading again. EyeQ has some great software for it that I’ve already got.

    I didn’t stick with it before because I felt like I didn’t have enough time to sit down and read, so with the polyphasic sleep schedule that should change. My goal is to read my college textbooks from cover to cover, among other texts.

  4. Sally says:
    06.22.10 at 5:55 pm · Reply

    I was always a slow reader. I had a hard time keeping up in school and things didn’t get much better at work. I have an endless flow of reports every week. But now thanks to speed reading I get the content the first time and its been way easier than i could have imagined. I recommend it to every one.

  5. Ariane says:
    04.21.10 at 12:46 pm · Reply

    Hey! So my mom told me about this and I wanted to check it out so I googled your name, and google auto-completed it!
    That means you’re officially famous. 🙂

    And sort of crazy, but then all geniuses are.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      04.21.10 at 7:17 pm · Reply

      haha, I think I know you, and your mom. Georgia? 🙂 j/k

      I like the fact that my name is auto-completed (didn’t know that). But how do you brag about that… “hey guys, my name get’s auto-completed on Google, yeah, I’m the shit now”…???

      ps- I’m a genius now?

      • Ariane says:
        04.21.10 at 11:44 pm · Reply

        hahaha wow, I know you’re joking. Yes, you should know me and my mom very well.
        And dude, just be like, “You know how google auto completes Johnny Depp’s name? Well guess what?
        Same.” haha.
        And yeah, I mean…I’m impressed. I had no idea that this is what you’ve been up to.

        Facebook? Since we’re related and all? 🙂

  6. Karen says:
    03.24.10 at 5:51 pm · Reply

    Wowza, you’re like a reading machine. I’ve always wondered how people read so fast.

    I think I need to improve my reading comprehension for this to work effectively, though. I just tried the first bit of speed reading, and I had to go back and reread what I just sped-read (hehe..)

    Great tips, will keep trying!

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      03.24.10 at 8:15 pm · Reply

      Haha, thanx (that was a compliment right?).

      It takes a while to get used to reading at top speed, but once you are…

  7. Steven Poenc says:
    03.13.10 at 2:01 am · Reply

    Have you heard of Photo Reading? I’ve heard some good things about that. I may check that out, even though I can already speed read.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      03.13.10 at 2:37 pm · Reply

      Just heard of it from you. I’ll check it out, definitely sounds interesting.

  8. Arsene Hodali says:
    03.05.10 at 6:21 am · Reply

    Quick word:

    Just finished “The Blog Business Funnel”. I even signed up for her affiliate program.

    Highly recommend it. Get it through me or anywhere else. I don’t care that much about affiliate links, but good information should be spread.

    PS- Skellie’s blog Skelliewag is one of the few I read. I’ll publish my review for it (the book) next week.

  9. Sam says:
    03.05.10 at 4:56 am · Reply

    For fiction, I prefer reading the book, rather than listening. I only like listening to PD audiobooks.

    How’s your polyphasic trial going along though? Are you going to write an update soon?

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      03.05.10 at 5:01 am · Reply

      Better!

      Truthfully I’m mad at myself for not being able to take a picture or update more.

      Wayyy too many things going on (things I’m grateful for).

      I’ll write a post/update on it next week.

      LOOK FOR IT! =)

  10. Philip says:
    03.05.10 at 1:27 am · Reply

    For those of us that can’t make it through that many books, which is one or two that you would recommend above the others?

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      03.05.10 at 4:24 am · Reply

      For increased wisdom/knowledge I’d recommend any of the Seth Godin books, especially Linchpin (Seth’s been working on that one for about 10 years and it shows).

      For pure geeky/tech fun I’d recommend “The Accidental Billionaires” and “iWoz”.

      For thriller/mystery I’d recommend “The Girl Who…” series.

      • Philip says:
        03.05.10 at 7:28 pm · Reply

        Thanks! I have loved Seth’s books. They are always inspiring. Have you read Gary V’s book, Crush It yet?

        • Arsene Hodali says:
          03.05.10 at 8:55 pm · Reply

          Of course. If I recommend that too would you be surprised? 🙂

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