Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Be a Quitter! Stop Finishing Books

Stop wasting precious time finishing books that don’t grab you in the first few chapters. Life is just plain too short – you can’t possibly read every book there is anyway so be choosy!

It took me a long time to come to this conclusion but I’m so glad I did. In fact, it’s one of my New Year’s goals. So far so good – I have at least four books that I’ve quit reading after only wasting an hour or two on them. Think how much extra time I’ll have at my disposable over the course of a full year!

If you’re like I was and have a relentless compulsion to finish books once started, give yourself permission to stop this counterproductive behavior starting now. Resolve that you are not going to continue reading books that are boring, offensive or stupid. It doesn’t matter what the critics say – the only thing that is important is how you feel about the book. It is your time being spent, after all.

If necessary, gain some first hand experience with quitting. Get a book or two (or three) that you KNOW you don’t want to read and practice quitting during the first few chapters – or even the first few pages. Imagine how much more enjoyable your reading time will be when you only read those books that are worthwhile!

1 comment:

  1. Ditto for stupid, boring time wasting movies and TV shows! Cut your losses if they don't grab you in the first few minutes.

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