About this quote

This idea hands you permission to choose how you read. You can quit a boring book, skim what you need, reread the parts that matter, or read simply for fun. That permission takes the guilt out of reading and lets you treat books like tools or treats, depending on your day. Try a two-week experiment: twenty minutes of no-pressure reading each night and notice which books you actually want to finish.

When to use it

• When I'm drowning in assigned reading for a class, I tell myself I can skim the lecture parts and focus on two chapters that actually help my paper.
• At bedtime with my daughter, if I'm wiped out I skip ahead to the silly part we both like and call it good instead of forcing a long story.
• Facing a dense industry report at work, I read the executive summary now and save the dense sections for a clearer morning.
• After a tough week of shifts, I pick a comic collection, read a few pages, and put it down when I'm done—no guilt, just rest.