Blinkist - How I'm Going to Read over 1000 Books in a Year

I was inspired to research and write this by @lukestokes and his wonderful post Do You Feel Exponential Change Coming?.

Within his post, @lukestokes suggests that we 'level up as quickly as possible'.

It got me thinking about what this could mean from a personal point of view. I came to the conclusion that you can apply this action to anything you're interested in.

Want to learn to play the guitar? Spend your free time practising rather than watching television.

Trying to get a new business running? Put in the hours needed to achieve that goal, even if it means working at the weekend.

Want to learn as much as you can? Watch informative YouTube channels, documentaries, listen to audiobooks, and read books on your way to work, in your spare time, while you're doing other things.

I started to think about what I wanted to level up in. I have a thirst for knowledge deep down, but I don't always make the time to actually quench that thirst.

There are stacks of books that I've acquired over the last few years that I've been meaning to read, but they inevitably get shelved for some other less meaningful use of my time.

I took @lukestokes' suggestions on board and subscribed to the YouTube channels he listed in his Edutainment post, but it didn't seem enough.

So, off I went to do some research, and I think I've found the answer. I downloaded an app called Blinkist and I couldn't be happier with my experience so far.

But what is Blinkist?

Blinkist is a service that is designed for those who wish to learn as much as possible while leading busy lives. It can be difficult to read as many books as you want when you're working long hours and have other commitments.

Blinkist contains thousands of nonfiction books, cut down to key insight summaries that you can read in 15 minutes or less. You can also play the books in audio format and speed up the playback to finish the book even more quickly!

Categories include entrepreneurship, politics, society, marketing and sales, science, health and fitness, personal growth, economics, history, communication, corporate culture, management and leadership, motivation and inspiration, money, investments, psychology, time management, relationships, technology and the future, mindfulness, and parenting to name a few.

As you can see, there's all kinds of great content for a variety of different interests.

The only downside (if you can call it one) is that the service is not free. Still, it only costs £5 per month for unlimited access, so that seems like a bargain to me.

I'm determined to cram as much information as I can into my day in order to try to keep up with a quickly evolving world. Blinkist seems like a great way to get started and I plan to have the audio books playing while I'm at work, travelling, relaxing at home.

Check it out and let me know what you think!