In April 2021 I started to read 4 pages a day from big books I always wanted to read, but never had time for it. 4 pages and stop even if I get into the flow, 4 pages even if I'm falling asleep because it's so boring.
Not even 2 years in, I've already read the Bible, the Elements of Euclid, Zeldovich's Intro to Higher Math, and am in the middle of Das Kapital. The Great Books canon never looked more approachable.
My dumb but astonishingly effective life hack: I leave a big non-fiction book in the bathroom and don't take my phone in there. I've made my way through so many textbooks one bowel movement at a time because even the most boring one is more fun that reading the shampoo bottle.
Having enough time to read a couple pages and move a bookmark forward during bowel movements sounds to me like a sign of constipation and a risk factor for hemorrhoids. Would not recommend. It's really best for those bathroom breaks to be fast and easy. Heed my unsolicited advice and spare yourself the considerable undue suffering that awaits.
You don't. People have been reading in the bathroom for decades. You're getting little shit particles in your nose regardless of whether you read in there.
Thanks for the breath of "fresh air" with the philosophy - am all for cleanliness and hygiene but yeah sometimes it's just not possible (just got back from taking dog to vet. for UTI)
Yeah. Maybe you wipe down the book after you finish it and replace it with another book, but in terms of self hygiene you should be washing your hands after using the toilet anyway.
Don't know of anyone who'd truly appreciate it but it'd be basically impossible to know about unless you did a test/asked etc. The Seinfeld episode on the subject is funny but quite dramatized.
The point being we all interact with fecal matter way more than anyone would like to know - even just by smelling.
It's been a topic for climbing gyms [1] and have heard the same for hand shakes but no link provided
Totally! This translates too. I've had a home office conversion project going on the back burner for a while and always put it off because its so "monumental". I've started just working 10mins a day on it and the progress I made in two weeks was really astounding to me.
I would say, maybe DON'T stop if you get in the flow but don't feel bad if you can ONLY manage the 4 pages/ten minutes.
If anyone else wants to do a more guided form of this, The Harvard Classics has a 15 minute a day reading guide. This website has the intro and a passable selection of .pdfs to use:
Note that the page numbers are for the book pages, not the .pdf pages.
I did it over the pandemic, and yeah, it's really really good. But you do have to get used to older writing styles. The mid 1700s to early 1800s authors really like run-on sentences. Also, Shakespeare takes some getting used to, so pull up a YT video and read along as you listen.
Not even 2 years in, I've already read the Bible, the Elements of Euclid, Zeldovich's Intro to Higher Math, and am in the middle of Das Kapital. The Great Books canon never looked more approachable.
Just 4 pages a day. It really adds up.