1
00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:07,600
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

2
00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:13,200
Speaker 2: Good Morning. This is Laura.

3
00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:15,440
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

4
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:21,840
Speaker 2: Today's tip is to start a reading project. If you

5
00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,279
Speaker 2: read just a little bit of something every single day,

6
00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,920
Speaker 2: you can make it through something big in a year.

7
00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:37,120
Speaker 2: All you have to do is just keep going. Long

8
00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,199
Speaker 2: time Before Breakfast listeners know that in recent years I

9
00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,120
Speaker 2: have pursued a few long term reading projects to help

10
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:48,080
Speaker 2: me make it through some classic works of literature. Many

11
00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,479
Speaker 2: of us don't read the great books after we leave school,

12
00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,040
Speaker 2: but great books are considered great books for a reason.

13
00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:02,160
Speaker 2: They are often really great. So in twenty twenty one,

14
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,680
Speaker 2: I read through War and Peace at a pace of

15
00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,720
Speaker 2: one chapter per day. War and Pieces three hundred and

16
00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,840
Speaker 2: sixty one chapters are all very short. By reading a

17
00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,600
Speaker 2: ten minute chapter each day, I could savor the book.

18
00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,160
Speaker 2: I felt very little resistance to reading, and I didn't

19
00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,119
Speaker 2: feel pressure to read fast to make it through. There

20
00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,959
Speaker 2: were a few slow moments, but in general I loved

21
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,559
Speaker 2: this tale of Pierre and Natasha and Prince Andre, set

22
00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,200
Speaker 2: against the backdrop of Napoleon's invasion of a Russia that

23
00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:45,280
Speaker 2: was slowly lurching toward modernity. Having enjoyed that reading experience,

24
00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,800
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two, I read through all the works

25
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:55,440
Speaker 2: of Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was an incredibly prolific playwright and poet.

26
00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:01,880
Speaker 2: Even so his lifetime sum of play and poems all

27
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:07,680
Speaker 2: fit in a oneenty twenty four page anthology. Doing the math,

28
00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,960
Speaker 2: I figured that was about three pages a day, spread

29
00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,760
Speaker 2: over three hundred and sixty five days. So at that

30
00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:22,160
Speaker 2: pace I read through Twelfth Night and Macbeth, and Romeo

31
00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,679
Speaker 2: and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream and all the other

32
00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:31,600
Speaker 2: famous plays and then not so famous ones too. Reading

33
00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,440
Speaker 2: all the works of Shakespeare only took me about fifteen

34
00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,760
Speaker 2: minutes a day, and honestly, that is a fascinating number

35
00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,680
Speaker 2: to think about. All that kept me from reading all

36
00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,919
Speaker 2: of Shakespeare's work in the past was fifteen minutes a day.

37
00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,600
Speaker 2: It turned out to be a very doable project, and

38
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,560
Speaker 2: now I have done it, and I'm really glad I did.

39
00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:57,440
Speaker 2: This year, I planned to read through all the works

40
00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,560
Speaker 2: of Jane Austen, well known novels, to be sure, but

41
00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,440
Speaker 2: also her Juvenilia and the half completed works from the

42
00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,919
Speaker 2: end of her life. By reading her work in its

43
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:14,360
Speaker 2: entirety at a very slow, doable pace. I hope to

44
00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,280
Speaker 2: get to know this author whose works have stood the

45
00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,760
Speaker 2: test of time. If any of this sounds appealing to you,

46
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,960
Speaker 2: then now is a great time to start your own

47
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:32,200
Speaker 2: reading project. Think about what might be worth reading at

48
00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:37,000
Speaker 2: a slow pace over a long period of time. My

49
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,920
Speaker 2: criteria is that it be doable in a few minutes

50
00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,800
Speaker 2: a day, spread over a year, and be worth doing.

51
00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,360
Speaker 2: That is, the person's work needs to be the sort

52
00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:52,240
Speaker 2: of thing that classes are taught about. Worth doing. Is subjective,

53
00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,240
Speaker 2: to be sure, but I think the few minutes a

54
00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,680
Speaker 2: day is a wise move. If you bite off too

55
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,160
Speaker 2: ambitious of project, to say, reading war and Piece in

56
00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,760
Speaker 2: two weeks, you will probably fall behind, you will have

57
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,040
Speaker 2: a busy day, or you'll get stopped by a slow

58
00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,360
Speaker 2: part of the story. Let's just say that the whole

59
00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:17,680
Speaker 2: Freemason plot part sidelines a lot of folks and you

60
00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,000
Speaker 2: won't pick it back up. A few minutes a day,

61
00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,320
Speaker 2: on the other hand, won't inspire much resistance. Even if

62
00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,400
Speaker 2: it is a boring part of the story or an

63
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,880
Speaker 2: annoying part. It is only a few minutes. Even if

64
00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,360
Speaker 2: it is a busy day, it is only a few minutes.

65
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,440
Speaker 2: You can do it, and since you can do it,

66
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:45,919
Speaker 2: you stand a better chance of actually doing it. So

67
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,560
Speaker 2: consider whether there is a book or an author you

68
00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,599
Speaker 2: have always wanted to read. Could you make a reading

69
00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,839
Speaker 2: project out of it? What would happen if you spread

70
00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:01,200
Speaker 2: the reading out over a year? How much would you

71
00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:06,160
Speaker 2: need to read each day? Does that sound feasible? When

72
00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,680
Speaker 2: would you generally make the time? How would you make

73
00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:11,880
Speaker 2: it work on a day with travel or lots of

74
00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:16,200
Speaker 2: other things going on. If you can answer these questions,

75
00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,080
Speaker 2: you will be well on your way to finishing something big.

76
00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,120
Speaker 2: A year will pass one way or another. You can

77
00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,320
Speaker 2: get to the other side of the year having read

78
00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,280
Speaker 2: all the works of Shakespeare or the Bible, or War

79
00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,760
Speaker 2: in Peace or Jane Austen or anything else. Or you

80
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:36,320
Speaker 2: can get to the other side of the year not

81
00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,760
Speaker 2: having done any of those things. But all that differentiates

82
00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:44,919
Speaker 2: one outcome from the other might be a few minutes

83
00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:51,920
Speaker 2: a day. Small things done repeatedly really do add up.

84
00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,280
Speaker 2: If you decide to start a long term reading project,

85
00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:58,920
Speaker 2: I would love to hear about it. You can reach

86
00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:04,599
Speaker 2: me at LEAs Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In

87
00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:10,480
Speaker 2: the meantime, this is Laura, thanks for listening and here's

88
00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,160
Speaker 2: to making the most of our times.

89
00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,840
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

90
00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,359
Speaker 1: send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just

91
00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,279
Speaker 1: connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before

92
00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:35,280
Speaker 1: Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod.

93
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,000
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

94
00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,000
Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled

95
00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,160
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

96
00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:46,640
Speaker 2: Should I look forward to staying in touch.

97
00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,520
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

98
00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:01,640
Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, podcast, or wherever you

99
00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:02,880
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.