Unliterate no more
Since I failed miserably at every single resolution I made last year, I’m going to take it simpler in 2008, and only choose one.
Someone on a message board announced he’s challenging himself to read a book a week this year; I read too slowly and am too easily distracted for that, so I’m aiming for 26 books, or one every two weeks. So I declare 2008 to be The Year of Reading an Unremarkable Amount, Which Is Still Going to Be Quite Challenging For Me. Mark your calendars.
My ongoing resolutions — lose weight, and stop smoking — are still in effect, but I’m going to stop pretending that those are to-do list items I can check off. I’ll keep them in the “necessary life transition” category. I should probably throw “spend less time at work and get more accomplished in the hours I do work” in there somewhere.
The first book for the year is Getting Things Done by David Allen. I’ll get around to it sooner or later.
January 2nd, 2008 1:19 am
I thought about reading this book last year, but I started getting nervous that I would have to read a lot of anecdotes about how real people use his techniques.
For example, he might suggest a tip like “Writing things down”, which is great, but then I would have to read 10 pages about how Mary of Medicine Hat, NM never wrote things down, but now she does, and now she is happy.
Which brings me to my two main points: First, good luck. And second, instead of filling these books with real life filler, I think they should fill it with porn.
January 2nd, 2008 4:47 am
See, I think they should do the opposite, and fill porn with productivity tips. Ninety uncut minutes of pure hardcore action items! I’m pretty sure “Getting Things Done” is already the title of a porn movie, anyway.
And I’m not actually going to start with “Getting Things Done,” that was a joke. I’m really planning to start with “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy on Rain’s suggestion, but I’m already not looking forward to it. And seeing as how it’s 3:45 AM and I’m just getting in from work, I’ve already failed on the “spend less time at work and get more accomplished” resolution.
January 2nd, 2008 3:24 pm
Oooo, I read The Road a couple months ago. At first, the writing style bugged me a little, but hot damn it’s a good book. I needed a serious drink after finishing it.
January 2nd, 2008 5:13 pm
Chuck, if you end up liking “The Road,” you can thank me. But if you don’t, go tell it to Oprah.