What unread books can teach us (2015)
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What unread books can teach us (2015)
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Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#2I instituted a 90 day rule which was buying something started a clock that I had to use it within 90 days. It is a silly rule but it helped cut down on what I saw as a problem of buying things I conceptually liked the idea of using but for which time would not allow.
The result is having unopened specialized integrated circuits from a manufacturer that no longer exists :-(. The same thing with books, I had accumulated probably 20 or 30 books which I wanted to read but never seem to have the time. So now when I buy a book I set the timer for when it must be read or used and that has both saved me money and cut down on my stress.
The stress comes from looking at a book I own, and have owned for a while, but haven't read so I don't really know if it is worth keeping!
Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#3I live in a town with a truly world-class bookstore (no accident, that) and I have a rule that I will return any book that turns out to not be worth finishing for store credit, which they (Powell's City of Books) are really good about. Unfinished books used to pile up on my nightstand, even if they had stellar reviews (looking at you, "The Nix"), but being ruthless with this rule has really cut down on wasted reading time and expense.
Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#4I have all my books in a public storage facility, I'm gonna donate every single one to Goodwill or some other thrift store. Trying to be book-free for the rest of my life - ebooks are great.
Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#5I instituted a 90 day rule which was buying something started a clock that I had to use it within 90 days. It is a silly rule but it helped cut down on what I saw as a problem of buying things I conceptually liked the idea of using but for which time would not allow. The result is having unopened specialized integrated circuits from a manufacturer that no longer exists :-(. The same thing with books, I had accumulate…
Great approach
Did you have to "declare bankruptcy" when it came to existing items? What happens if you finally decide or really have to read a book from "before?"
Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#6I live in a town with a truly world-class bookstore (no accident, that) and I have a rule that I will return any book that turns out to not be worth finishing for store credit, which they (Powell's City of Books) are really good about. Unfinished books used to pile up on my nightstand, even if they had stellar reviews (looking at you, "The Nix"), but being ruthless with this rule has really cut down on wasted reading…
I love Powell's Books. I could live there.
Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#780% of my personal library is unread. Never enough time to read everything I want to.
Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#8I instituted a 90 day rule which was buying something started a clock that I had to use it within 90 days. It is a silly rule but it helped cut down on what I saw as a problem of buying things I conceptually liked the idea of using but for which time would not allow. The result is having unopened specialized integrated circuits from a manufacturer that no longer exists :-(. The same thing with books, I had accumulate…
Great approach Did you have to "declare bankruptcy" when it came to existing items? What happens if you finally decide or really have to read a book from "before?"
I continue to work through the backlog :-) But an example of where it hurt me was buying some excellent books on 3D graphics after my time available to write 3D code was waning. I'm still interested in 3D graphics but since I haven't had a really easy to use environment for learning since the 3dfx library died I don't spend a lot of time there. There is a lot of friction between starting with an idea and pushing it through the OpenGL or DX12 APIs.
Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#9This hits home, because I recently made a list of all the unread books I own, and marked whether they were purchased (by me), gifts, or on loan. I was shocked by the number, and instituted a rule of not buying anymore books until I've read all of the ones I currently own that I intend to read.
Re: What unread books can teach us (2015)
#1080% of my personal library is unread. Never enough time to read everything I want to.
I'm getting there... Summer helps - I don't know what it is, but there seems to be more time in the day, even if I get up and go to bed at the same time during the winter.