Last year, under the Work From Home policy, I had plenty of time to stay at home. I have developed a habit of reading since then. Earlier this year, the Work From Home policy ceased. Since I hadn’t adapted to the new lifestyle, my reading rate dropped for several months. After I decided to attempt the PSM II exam, I dedicated more time to reading.
This month, I’ve finished reading three books. Two were about Kanban. The remaining one was about behavioural economics. I’m now reading two books. Two more are on the way through Amazon.
As I’m very cautious not to crumple the books, I seldom bring books out. Instead, I own both physical and electronic books. They can be the same book or the different ones. When I’m at home, I read the physical book. When I’m commuting or at the office, I read the electronic one. I’m comfortable reading multiple books simultaneously, especially those in different contexts. In fact, it works best for me as I don’t have to spend all my time focusing on the same context.
Reading doesn’t solely change my life, but applying the things learnt from the books does. If you don’t apply anything from the books, it means you haven’t learned anything from them. Sometimes you might oppose the writer’s idea, and that’s fine. Simply counter-suggest one and apply it to your real life. What about novels? Great novel writers should present their stories with great storytelling. Storytelling is a useful skill, not only for writing stories, but for presenting ideas.
People often tell me that they don’t have time for reading. But why do they have time to check out social media but not read a single book? Nowadays, I seldom check social media. I’m a bit hard to reach as I check the unread message infrequently, except when I’m talking to someone. Instead of aimlessly wandering the Internet, there must be a purpose for me to use the computer.
Here is my reading log to acknowledge the writers who wrote inspiring books. I gain knowledge from them and learn by applying it. My English reading speed increased, too.