More on the reading and listening thing

Reflecting on the reading and listening rant of my last post, I've decided that I need to frequent my local library more often. And I also need to work at getting a library system worked out for the user-group I run.

The thing with libraries is that you can't borrow books forever. So you tend to make the time to read them before you have to take them back. Let's say you borrow a book for a month. The first three weeks, it's sitting somewhere in the house, waiting for you to read it. After about three weeks, you notice the book, and you think "Ooh, that book hasn't moved. I should check when it's due back." Turns out it's due in a week's time, and you think "Hmm... that's about 150 pages a day I have to get through if I'm going to read it. I should make a start..." So you read a few pages, and you realise the book is definitely worth reading, and you somehow find an hour or two a day to get it done.

It's a deadline thing. Without deadlines, procrastination can win out. Actually, procrastination isn't the right word. It's more than without deadlines, things can get deprioritised - even if they're quite important. Covey would argue that this is because people live in the "Urgent" quadrants rather than the "Important but not urgent" quadrant. I'm not so big on Covey, but I understand the principle. As I run out of time to read a book, I will probably get to it.

Somehow, the important things get done when urgency increases. If you were told you had three weeks to live, you'd suddenly get around to a heap of things you considered important.