Are you getting enough time to read these days? Are you even getting to read one book a year? How about one a month, or even one a week? If you are like most of us, leading busy lives balancing family, friends and work, the answer is probably not.
And that’s a shame. Because reading books will empower you in ways that pay off. For instance, there are books that will show you ways to become a better real estate agent, ones that will help you have a happy and harmonious family life…even with teenagers, and many more topics!
And of course, reading books is an excellent way to help you escape the realities of life for a little while with a good mystery or biography or travel log!
The problem revolves around time management. Where can you carve an hour or so of uninterrupted time to read?
I have an answer that works for me and maybe it will work for you. We all spend a great deal of time in our cars. Some of us use the time to return phone calls, others to listen to the radio and others still to have some quiet time. All of those are good uses of “windshield” time, but there is also another use for that time.
Audiobooks are original books that are read by voice actors. You can get unabridged books which are faithful, word for word, readings of the author’s original work. Or you can get condensed versions. Personally, I prefer the unabridged versions as I hate to think that something I really needed was left out!
One of the best sources of audiobooks is audible.com Audible is an Amazon company so it is backed by one of the largest companies on the planet. If you have a Kindle reader, you can synchronize the Audible book with the Kindle version so you can switch back and forth without losing your place.
Audible makes an app for iPhones and for Android phones, so you can download the books to your phone and listen to them while walking, working out, or driving. If your car can “pair” with your phone via Bluetooth, the book will play through the car’s speakers. The book pauses when a phone call comes in, and then picks up again when the call ends. When you have to stop listening, the app will remember where you left off and will pick up at that spot when you next open the app. Another cool feature of the app is that I can speed up the “reader” so that I can fly through the book if I so wish.
Audible works best as a subscription service. You agree to pay so much a month and for that you can get 3 books a month to download. This represents a tremendous value when compared to buying them one at a time. You can buy books without having a subscription, but you pay more. In many cases Audible offers a free book for first time subscribers, so you might want to investigate that before committing.
My library of books that I have “read” is well over 100 books. I have listened to them over the past 3 years, which is a rate of over 2 ¾ books a month. Some of these are fiction, some are biographies, some are hard science, some are philosophy and others are sales and real estate related.
I know that “reading” this way has greatly improved my knowledge on a wide variety of topics and it has certainly helped me keep my composure when dealing with bay area traffic!
Give it a try and let me know what books you like!
