Every semester, I ask students a series of questions to learn more about them and how to tailor my pedagogy. I usually ask them if they are a first generation college student, an athlete, if they work off campus, and various other inquiries that give me some information about them. After I ask them these questions, I break down their week, by time. I begin by reminding them that they have 168 hours in a week. I then ask them, “How many hours, per credit hour, should you study for a class?” Most of them know this. They reply, “2–3 hours per credit.” Ok, if they are taking 15 hours, then I tell them that will equate to 60 hours, on the high end. That means they have 108 hours left in the week.

If the student works, I ask them how many hours they work per week. If they work, most work 20 hours or more every week. So, if a student works 20 hours during the week, then that means, on top of their classes, they have 88 hours left in the week. Next, I’ll ask about sleep. This, of course, varies from person to person. To make it an average, we say that they will get 8 hours per sleep every night. That means they will get 66 hours of sleep, which will take their hours of the week down to 22 hours. Now, we think about eating, say 1 to 2 hours per day. That means we’re now down to 15 hours. If the student is an athlete, that takes up even more time (between 32 and over 40 hours per week), resulting in an overage. I conduct this exercise with students to help them think about time management, especially during their first semester of year in college.

Along with the above questions and exercise, I ask students how much they read and write. Most say they don’t write, but I remind them that thet write, even when they send a text message. I also remind them that they read everyday. This semester, I followed up these questions by asking students, “How many of you wish you could read more?” When I asked the question, I thought maybe two-three students would raise their hand saying that they wished they read more. However, to my surprise, more that half of the hands in the class shot up when I asked them the question. This response inspired me because it showed that while these students may not regularly read, they wish they did.

I followed up this query with more questions, specifically targeted to different activities that students may engage in. I asked them if they played an instrument. If they did, then I would ask them how long it took them to learn that instrucment. If they are an athlete, I asked them how they got better at their sport. Most said they trained, conditioned, and practiced. I then asked them how they felt if they missed any of these activities. They said they didn’t feel bad, but when I asked them if missing these activities would impact their performance in competition, they stated that it would impact their performance.

After asking students these questions, I then pivoted to reading. I told them that the only way to read more is to actually read more. You must train yourself, as you would train yourself for anything else, to read. Make it a habit. I tell them that I used to be a slow reader. I’m not a fast reader now, but I do read faster. I tell them that I used to not read or write everyday, but once I started to do both everyday I felt bad if I missed a day. Reading became a habit that took up part of my day. It became something I could not live without.

I asked them, after telling them that reading just requires forming a habit, how many books they thought that I read last year and so far this year. Most of them guessed about 20 to 30 books. I told them they were way off. Last year, I read 143 book. This year, through mid-August, I read 120 books, which puts me on pace to read 180 to 185 books. I told them that I switch up my reading, moving from fiction to memoir to history to graphic texts and other genres. I told them that this helps me read. I told them that to form they habit they just need to read. Waiting for an oil change? Read. Eating lunch in the cafeteria by yourself? Read. Working out on the elliptical? Listen to an audio book. Have ten minutes to spare? Read. I told them to start low and build up. Read 10 minutes a day for a week, then 20 for the next week, and so on.

You can scour the internet and find countless pages telling you how to read more. There is no real secret because most of these boil down to a simple action: read. How you get to that action, though, is where the differences arise. Like I mentioned, if you don’t read a lot right now, just start slow and build up. Find times and places that work for you. What works for me reading will not work for you. I have certain spots and times I read. You will have different spots and times. You will have different techniques. However, the end is the same, just read.

Looking for tips on reading for this post, I came across an anecdote about Warren Buffet. Speaking to a class at Columbia University, a student asked him how to prepare for a career in investing. Buffet pulled some papers out and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.” Buffett says he probably spends about 80% of his day reading and thinking about ideas. That is the power of reading; it’s importance.

Ernest Gaines would always say, when someone asked him how to become a better writer, that there are six words to become a better writer: read, read, read, write, write, write. Reading opens doors for us. It opens worlds. All of us have heard these cliches, but it is true. Warren Buffet points it out. Ernest Gaines points it out. The more we read, the more engaged we become with the world around us and ourselves. It is like “compound interest,” growing every time we scan a page or listen to a text.

Do you wish you could read more? If so, I have one thing that you need to do to make that wish come true: read.

What are your thoughts? As usual, let me know in the comments below. Make sure to follow me on Bluesky @silaslapham.bsky.social‬.