Arshad's Blog

My 50 Page Rule

I just read this post from Jedda, titled You don’t have to finish that book, and I agree 100% we don't have to finish every book…but.

But what about those times when the book is not the problem, but you are? What about those times when the book is a little difficult, and you’re feeling really lazy? What if you’re just reading a book at a wrong time in your life?

It is easy to dismiss books as “not for me” or “not good” subconsciously when books get a little challenging. And it is easy to rationalize ourselves into thinking it’s the right thing to do.

But a good book worth reading is not always going to be an easy read as well. It quite literally will stretch yourself. And it is most often not obvious which book is which.

But no worries, there’s an easy workaround for this.

Although I don’t think you should go as far as Jedda to read 77% of the book before abandoning it, what I practice is what I call “At least 30-50 pages of reading with a clear mind rule”, in short "My 50 Page Rule".

The 50 Page may be clear for most people, but Why the ‘clear mind’ part? Because night time reading is often very messy and unfocused, at least for me, and its easy to dismiss books as “hard” or “not worth it” when it really is just my lack of investment and attention in to the book.

If I get to 50 pages in a clear reading space and I still don’t find it useful or maybe feel like it’s not the right book for me at the moment, I either set it aside for later, or abandon it completely.

And it’s always fine to read a book in parts as your curiosity guides you as long as you leave breadcrumbs to follow for what you already read when you pick up the book later.

I think this is a good rule to follow for most people.

Tell me what you guys think.

— Arshad