Let’s talk about reading vs writing.

I’ve always been a prolific reader and I speed read. But I’ve never counted exactly how many books I read in a year. I was curious to put a number on my reading, so in Dec 2022, I decided to count all the books I read and finished in 2023, starting on January 1, 2023, and going until Dec 31, 2023.

At the end of the year – the number was in. I had read 614 books. That didn’t include books I started but didn’t finish because they weren’t to my taste.

What did I read? Mainly science fiction and fantasy, but also a lot of business-related books.

I love reading books and I think it is appalling that, according to one poll, as many as 50% of Americans didn’t read a book last year.

To me, book reading is more beneficial than watching TV. But, in addition to reading all these books, I also do watch some TV and YouTube of course.

This huge number of books led me to start thinking about my personal media consumption.

Was I missing an opportunity here? What about reading vs. writing? Could I be writing more instead of reading and watching TV and YouTube?

Like many people, I have had the usual daydreams about what I would do if I won big at the lottery and never had to work again. I have the usual ideas of traveling the world, but the one thought that really resonates with me is that if I didn’t have to work, I would like to write books.

Now, I already do a LOT of writing. I continually write articles for myself and my clients, but this is different than writing books.

I have written and published one book, “Stop Wasting Time.” Writing this book was an amazing experience. It has helped my business and gives me an affordable resource to help people who may not have the budget for my time management coaching. I do plan on writing more productivity books, but my secret desire isn’t to write more non-fiction books.

I am a big science fiction and fantasy fan and I have a lot of story ideas in these genres in my head. I have jotted down ideas and outlines, and even mind-mapped stories. I have written a few short stories and even started a few pages for novels, but I have never finished writing a whole fiction novel.

I started to wonder, what if I reduced my screen time and reading for a few hours each week, and invested that time into writing my first fiction book? Instead of waiting to retire or win the lottery, why not start writing these books now?

I have learned by implementing an exercise program for myself how powerful some dedicated hours each week can be to reach your goals.

So I decided to take some of my screen and reading time and reinvest that time into writing my fiction novels.

Now, In 2024, I no longer count how many books I read. Instead, I am counting how many words I write.

In 2023, I read 614 books – in 2024, I am going to write 1!

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The post Reading vs Writing: After Reading 614 Books, it is Time to Turn the Page appeared first on Time Management Training.