Don’t Have Time to Read? Try Reading in Small Sips
Easy tips to get you started as a regular reader and some books that might help.
“You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.”
— Stephen King, On Writing (236)
We are often told that reading is a virtuous habit to cultivate. That it is an “acceptable” form of procrastination and an effective way to spend one’s time.
And yet, as we get older — as we leave school behind — many people find themselves reading books less and less. Some don’t read at all.
In my career field, I am asked to spend forty hours every week staring at a computer screen. In college, I spent hours on my laptop completing coursework, socializing, and — during the pandemic — attending online lectures. Halfway through, I began to develop severe eye strain and headaches from my excessive screen exposure.
Because of these experiences, I actively seek respite away from the digital world. I long for the moments when I can remove my blue light glasses and turn my gaze towards the printed words of a book — away from the distractions of our increasingly interconnected world.
But getting to that point has not been easy. Most people I know often fall short of building regular reading habits. They struggle to find moments in their busy lives to sit for extended periods of time and form a relationship with the written word.
In his memoir On Writing, Stephen King provides a hint for how we can make more time to read books. King’s advice is as valuable to ordinary people as it is to beginning writers:
“The trick is to teach yourself to read in small sips as well as in long swallows.” (King 147)
King encourages us to find comfort in reading in whatever time we may possess, whether it’s a couple of minutes or a couple of hours.
Those who may wish to begin reading can find themselves paralyzed by lengthy novel chapters or long nonfiction passages. They may find it better to start smaller passages. It’s for these people that I recommend daily readers.
Daily readers are books that give readers 1–2 pages of wisdom that they can tackle in a few minutes each day. They often cover themes like mindfulness, self-help, business, and philosophy.
Some authors edit selections of their previous work into a single daily reader. These often serve as great introductions for new readers to explore their work.
Daily readers can be found in two general formats: calendar day and numerical day.
Books formatted by calendar day have unique entries for each day of the calendar year (i.e. January 8th or August 2nd). Authors who use this format recommend that you start reading with the entry for the current day. From there, you continue to read one entry each day for the entire year.
Some readers make the mistake of starting calendar day readers from January 1st when their first day of reading is a different day of the year. This is a common mistake. If you start a calendar day reader on October 15th, for example, you should start with the October 15th entry.
Contrary to the calendar day reader format is the numerical day format. These books are formatted with entries titled from Day 1 to Day 365 (or Day 366 for leap years). This format is used when authors want readers to read from the very first entry onward, regardless of the date they first picked up the book.
I’ve grown increasingly fond of the daily reader format, having read a select few over the past two years. They’ve allowed me to reengage with some of my favorite authors in a format that’s easy to review.
Daily readers have also helped me maintain my reading habit. When things get busy at home or if you’re traveling, it can be hard to get back to the books you set out to read. Having a daily reader — with passages as small as a few paragraphs — is enough to scratch that reading itch and keep you on the path of regular reading. They allow you to receive the benefits of reading within a mere fraction of the time you may spend on other tasks.
Below are some of my favorite daily readers, covering subjects like creativity, philosophy, travel, and parenting.
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
Day Format: Calendar
“To a Stoic, the idea of idly discussing some issue — of believing or arguing two contradictory ideas — is an absurd waste of time, energy, and belief. As Seneca said, philosophy is not a fun trick. It’s for use — for life.” (Holiday and Hanselman 243)
As of writing, I am now on my second read-through of Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman’s The Daily Stoic. The Daily Stoic is an accessible introduction to the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers of Stoicism.
Each passage begins with Hanselman’s beautiful translations of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, and other Stoic philosophers. Holiday accompanies these with light discussions on the Stoics’ teachings and how we can apply them in our regular lives.
The Daily Stoic has an entry for each calendar day of the year, including leap years, with each month centering around a particular theme like Fortitude, Awareness, and Acceptance.
Readers of The Daily Stoic are encouraged to read the introduction at the beginning of the book and then jump to the current day that you are reading.
The Daily Laws by Robert Greene
Day Format: Calendar
“The human mind is naturally creative, constantly looking to make associations and connections between things and ideas. It wants to explore, to discover new aspects of the world, and to invent. To express this creative force is our greatest desire, and the stifling of it the source of our misery.” (Greene 90)
The Daily Laws is the collected best hits of New York Times bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene.
In The Daily Laws, Greene pulls from his decades of experience discussing the topics of mastery, strategy, and human nature. With this extensive backlog, Greene provides a handbook to address our everyday struggles.
The Daily Laws is divided by calendar day and grouped thematically for each month. Every month begins with an original essay discussing that month’s theme in greater detail.
New readers are encouraged to begin with the introduction, read the opening essay for the current month, and jump to the entry for the current day.
The Daily Pressfield by Steven Pressfield
Day Format: Numerical
“My long-held belief is that an artist’s identity is revealed by the works he or she produces. Writers do not write to express themselves. They write to discover themselves.” (Pressfield 115)
Artists, writers, and creators of all types might be familiar with Steven Pressfield. Author of The War of Art and Turning Pro, Pressfield has devoted much of his career to helping artists navigate the day-to-day struggles of their creative endeavors. In helping creators push against the force of creative “Resistance,” Pressfield has helped many people fulfill their artistic visions.
The Daily Pressfield collects Pressfield’s published and unpublished works on the creative process. Unlike the other entries on this list, The Daily Pressfield uses the numerical day format. The days are numbered from one to three hundred sixty-six, with entries grouped thematically each week.
From Day 1, Pressfield guides the reader on their creative journey, as they overcome Resistance and assemble a body of work that they can take pride in.
Honorable Mentions
The Daily Dad by Ryan Holiday
Day Format: Calendar
“We must, as parents, teach our children where their value really lies. It’s not in their accomplishments. It’s not in what they earn or how they look. It’s not to be found in anything external at all. Their value — to us, to the world — is inherent. It exists because they exist.” (Holiday 61)
To start off the honorable mentions, we have Ryan Holiday’s second daily reader, The Daily Dad. Despite what the title says explicitly, The Daily Dad is a daily reader for both fathers and mothers with brief snippets of parenting advice, pulled from the lessons of history, philosophy, and modern culture.
The premise of The Daily Dad is that reading parental literature must not begin and end with your child’s baby or toddler years. The act of learning to be a better parent, in Holiday’s view, is a lifelong endeavor — one that warrants constant study and reflection.
Much like Holiday’s previous daily reader with Stephen Hanselman, The Daily Dad contains an introduction and thematically grouped calendar day entries.
The Vagabond’s Way by Rolf Potts
Day Format: Calendar
“Because we can’t relive any of our given days, we’re forced to make the most of the days we’re given. And, because our time is scarce, we should take care not to postpone our fullest lives.” (Potts 13)
Rolf Potts, bestselling author of Vagabonding, wrote a daily reader that pulls from the lengthy legacy of travel writers that preceded him. Those lessons have been assembled into The Vagabond’s Way.
Potts encourages us to rethink our mindset around travel and to take a more introspective look at the world and our place in it.
The Vagabond’s Way has thematically grouped entries for each calendar day.
The preceding list is just a small fraction of the daily readers available for you to read.
Whether you choose to check out one of the books above or seek out something more catered to your interests, I highly encourage you to add at least one daily reader to your library. It is one of the best ways to not only cultivate a reading habit but to keep it.
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Sources:
Greene, Robert. The Daily Laws: 366 Meditations on Power, Seduction, Mastery, Strategy, and Human Nature. 2021. New York, New York, United States of America, Penguin Books, 2023.
Holiday, Ryan. The Daily Dad: 366 Meditations on Parenting, Love, and Raising Great Kids. New York, New York, United States of America, Portfolio / Penguin, 2023.
Holiday, Ryan, and Stephen Hanselman. The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. New York, New York, United States of America, Portfolio/Penguin, 2016.
King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. New York, New York, United States of America, Scribner, 2000.
Potts, Rolf. The Vagabond’s Way: 366 Meditations on Wanderlust, Discovery, and the Art of Travel. New York, New York, United States of America, Ballantine Books, 2022.
Pressfield, Steven. The Daily Pressfield: A Teaching A Day from the Author of The War of Art. Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Sarsaparilla Media LLC, 2023.