I read 40 books last year using the 20-page rule
I used to start ten books a year and finish three. Last year I finished forty, and the only thing that changed was one rule: every book gets 20 pages, then a verdict.
Twenty pages is enough to know. Not whether the book is good — whether it is good for me, right now. If the answer is no, it goes back, guilt-free, and the next one starts tonight.
The rule sounds like it is about quitting, but it is actually about starting. Knowing I can bail cheaply made me pick up books I would have called too hard or not my thing. A third of my favorites last year came from that pile.
Reading died for most people somewhere between the books they should finish and the books they actually want. The 20-page rule is just permission to want.
Part of the deeper dive: The Productivity System Guide: What Actually Works After You've Tried Everything.
Comments (4)
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Permission to want is such a good way to put it. I abandoned reading for years because of should-finish guilt.
This is basically the reading version of my library hold trick. Permission to quit cheaply is underrated as a strategy.
This resonates so much. Been stuck on the same problem.
The framework you shared is exactly what I needed.