1---
2title: "100 Days To Read"
3description: "Switching gears a little and reading for an hour every day"
4author: Amolith
5cover: /assets/pngs/book.png
6date: 2020-07-23T00:48:16-04:00
7draft: false
8toc: true
9categories:
10 - Technology
11 - Meta
12tags:
13 - 100 Days to Read
14 - 100 Days to Offload
15---
16## The idea
17
18I've found it very difficult to stick to a regular schedule for
19#100DaysToOffload for various reasons. Chief among them is simply
20that I don't have enough time with everything else I have going on; what I want
21to write and the ideas I've had take longer to get on paper (or screen) than I'm
22able to dedicate at the moment.[^1] However, I love the intent behind it and
23want to continue in a somewhat less involved manner. Enter
24#100DaysToRead (dead link to hashtag on fedi instance).
25
26## The "rules"
27Quotes are used because they're not solid rules; it can be hard to learn
28something significant from fiction, you might miss a day here and there, what
29you learned could be a bit personal and not really suitable for social media,
30any number of things might result in "breaking" one or all of them. Just do your
31best. :simple_smile:
32
33### Read for an hour a day
34I recommend using some kind of timer or stopwatch to track how long
35you've been reading. A stopwatch would be best as it allows you to get
36sucked in without ringing and making you feel as if you *need* to stop;
37the pull of real life is great and audible reminders only serve to
38exacerbate the urgency of rejoining the rest of the world. Part of the
39idea behind this is not only to learn something but to *enjoy* it and
40that's difficult when you're anxiously waiting for a timer to ding so
41you can get back to watching a show. I spent a *lot* of time with books
42when I was younger then fell completely out of the practise once I got
43more involved with school and want to make it a habit once more.
44
45### Take notes
46The *main* goal of this challenge is to learn things and the effects of
47this rule are twofold; you'll certainly be learning a lot but it will
48also provide material to write about in the future.[^2] Take notes in
49whatever manner you prefer, from writing in the margins[^3] to writing
50on the wall, though the latter might not be the greatest idea. I
51personally plan to put my notes in [a
52Zettelkasten](https://zettelkasten.de/) created with
53[vimwiki](https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki/) along with the rest of my
54notes.[^4] I will first write down whatever thoughts I have in my
55[pocket
56notebook](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Moleskine-Classic-Notebook-Hard-Cover-Pocket-3-5-x-5-5-Plain-Blank-Black-192-Pages-9788883701030-Hardcover-Ntb/8402217)
57(these will likely just be a short summary with the page/paragraph as
58reference[^5]) then, directly after I've finished the session or later
59that day—the same day!—I'll go through the notes and expand them a bit.
60I want the *full* thought stored in my Zettelkasten for use in the
61future; whenever I read another book and have a related thought, I'll
62return to this note and add links between them.
63
64### Post a short summary
65Whatever you've learned that day, post a condensed version along with the
66book/page/paragraph on social media using the #100DaysToRead tag! Expanding a
67short summary then condensing it again with different wording helps to ensure
68you understand the material and will aid in recollection. Posting about it will
69give others the same information and might even pique their interest about what
70you're reading.
71
72## Thoughts
73Inspiration for this comes partly from [episode
74112](https://www.social-engineer.org/podcast/ep-112-catching-spies-and-paying-parking-tickets-with-joe-navarro/)
75of [The Social-Engineer
76Podcast,](https://www.social-engineer.org/podcast/) partly from me
77wanting to learn more, and partly from me wanting more material to write
78about. There is so much knowledge in books but it takes a great deal of
79discipline to sit down every day and read for an hour when there are
80upgrades to perform, emails waiting for replies, games to play, shows to
81watch, and so much else. Another small aspect of this is partly to
82alleviate those concerns and stresses; it's a time to sit down, lose
83yourself in a book, and forget about the outside world.
84
85## What I'm starting with
86Fittingly, I plan to begin with *[How to Read a
87Book](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Read_a_Book)* by [Mortimer J.
88Adler.](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer_J._Adler) It provides an
89in-depth discussion on reading critically and learning as much as
90possible from a given book. Adler doesn't push a "one-strategy-fits-all"
91method either. He goes through a variety of approaches for different
92genres and encourages a deep level of thinking for all, fiction
93included. I'm looking forward to starting it tomorrow!
94
95[^1]: With finding links, proofreading, revising, expanding, and
96 shortening various sections, this short post took me over two hours
97 to write.
98
99[^2]: Maybe a #100DaysToOffload Take 2!
100
101[^3]: I physically can't bring myself to do this but some people love
102 [marginalia](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginalia) and actively
103 seek books with them. However, it's a very effective technique and
104 might be fun to follow your thought trail when re-reading a book.
105
106[^4]: I am currently evaluating [Anytype](https://anytype.io/) as a tool
107 for creating and maintaining a Zettelkasten as well as storing other
108 types on information. At the moment, I can only use it on Windows so
109 it's inaccessible when I *really* need it but the developers say a
110 Linux build will be ready soon™
111
112[^5]: I plan to format these like `p20 ¶2`. The second symbol is a
113 *pilcrow* or, more commonly, a paragraph mark. Usage of that and the
114 section mark (§) are detailed in Matthew Butterick's *[Practical
115 Typography.](https://practicaltypography.com/paragraph-and-section-marks.html)*