Reading Plan: Read More Books in a Sequence

Reading Plan: You Have to Work the Plan

Plans are useless if you don not use them. And that’s the case for a reading plan. In the first post in this two-part series on reading plans, I walked you through the process of how to read more books. Yes, it’s important to schedule time for reading every day. And yes, it’s important to choose which books to read. But one of the things I learned the hard way, is that out of sight, means out of mind. Your reading plan should be located in a place where it’s easily accessible. Before I continue the reading plan process, indulge me for a second. I’d like to share a story with you. And I promise that I won’t take up too much of your time.

Reading Plan: Structuring the Reading Journey

The morning of October 3, 2012, my mother died unexpectedly from a heart attack. My heart was absolutely broken. And during that day, when I was so shocked, a so-called friend asked me if my mother was “saved” which pissed me off to no end. I am a Christian, but not a fundamentalist. During my time of grief, I wondered if things would ever feel better again. I came up with the novel idea (which turned out to be not so novel), to immerse myself doing something I love. It was a no-brainer for me to read books. I created the Virtual Literary World Tour for myself. I didn’t invite anyone to join me on the journey. It was to heal my broken heart. My objective was to read books by authors born in 30 different countries, expanding my mind, while healing my broken heart. I read 80 books in four months, and traveled to 29 countries via the authors’ writing. It was a very good experience for me, and I learned a lot of lessons.

[color-box color=”mycustomcolor”]A big lesson I learned is that the sequence in which you read your books is very important. I read several books dealing with difficult subjects right after each other. And you know what, it was too much. Mix things up – mix up the types of books you are reading.[/color-box]

The posts I wrote to chronicle my reading journey didn’t get a lot of traffic because I didn’t know a lot about using the right keywords. Who in their right mind is going to search for virtual literary world tour? Sarah Arrow, I wished I had known you then! A big lesson I learned is that the sequence in which you read your books is very important. I read several books dealing with difficult subjects right after each other. And you know what, it was too much. Mix things up – mix up the types of books you are reading. After reading a book that deals with a difficult subject, read a comic book, or a book that makes you laugh. I cried a lot while reading, which had a cleansing and therapeutic effect. But I could have done a better job of organizing the sequence to read books. You know what they say about hindsight.

Further Reading

Events to Mentor Yourself

The events on The Invisible Mentor blog will always be bookish in nature, and will be designed so that you can mentor yourself.

The Invisible Mentor

Global Reading Challenge: Virtual Literary Tour

It is worth mentioning that Nina Sankovitch also decided to read books to heal her heart after her sister died. As a result of her personal project, many opportunities came her way. Take some time to browse her website.

Reading Plan: Scheduling/Reading Books

After reading a book, review your notes, then extract he five big ideas. Click To Tweet

You have scheduled time for reading every day. Go the extra mile, schedule the book you plan to read each day. Decide on the books that you plan to read, three months at a time. And make sure that you have the books handy, so you do not find yourself scrambling when it’s time to read a particular book. As you are reading a book, make note of important information that can help you in work and life. Connect the new information to what you already know. After reading a book, review your notes, then extract he five big ideas. Train yourself to spot big ideas, so you will always find them.