As an avid reader of business books, some great some not so, I like to recommend the good ones to clients and colleagues but the response I get most often is “I don’t have the time to read books”. I then go on to discuss the idea I heard several years back of the “University highway” learn on the move.
Most of us commute to work and spend anywhere between 10 minutes to over an hour getting to work, during this time we may listen to the radio, contemplate the day ahead or give hand gestures to other road users that haven’t yet mastered the art of driving. Let’s assume your average commute is 20 minutes and you work five days a week that will provide you with up 14 hours a month of valuable learning time, potentially two great books a month.
This time is an ideal time to listen to a book in the form of an audiobook, for those that haven’t listened to an audiobook these are simply books that have been narrated, usually by the author, so that you can listen to the book rather than read it.
It isn’t just driving that is a great time for listening to audiobooks, I like to listen when I’m running, but you could also listen whist taking the dog for a walk, whilst cycling or even at the gym.
Where can I get audiobooks from?
For those with smartphones you can simply download straight from iTunes (Apple) or Google play (Android). Most cars can now be linked up to smart devices to play the audiobook over the entertainment system.
If you are looking to buy books regularly you may want to consider audible.com. Audible.com, owned by Amazon, has the biggest selection of audiobooks with over 200,000 books to choose from; for a monthly subscription of £7.99 you can get one free book credit to use against any book regardless of price on audible.com
There are also thousands of free audiobooks available if you search on-line.
My three to read
There are so many books to listen to that could benefit your business and as it’s the start of a new year I thought I’d recommend three great books that would give you the perfect New Years resolution to make changes for the better in your business.
The E-myth Revisited – Michael Gerber
I’ve talked about this book before but it is a must for all businesses with growth ambitions; my favourite takeaway from this is that if you work in your business (not on) you don’t own your business you just own a job.
The Four Disciplines of Execution – Sean Covey, Chris McChesney and Jim Huling
This is a book that every business leader who has a team should read. The takeaway form this book is that it is easy to strategize, however it is the execution that is difficult if not impossible for many. This book goes through many examples and offers a system to make execution happen every time.
Sleep, the myth of 8 hours – Nick Littlehales
If you are going to take on board the great ideas from either the E-Myth or the 4 Disciplines of Execution then you are going to need to be as alert during the hours you are awake so where better to start than your current sleep routine. Over the Christmas break.I had the good fortune of reading Nick Littlehales book Sleep, the myth of 8 hours, Nick is known as the “elite sport sleep coach” having helped major sports with their sleep science, The book introduces his R90 Sleep Recovery Program that focuses on achieving good quality sleep rather than quantity of sleep..
My takeaway personally was as a night owl I should not be catching up on my sleep at the weekends I actually needed to pick a time to get up everyday and stick to it, nearly halfway through February and all is going well I have reclaimed my mornings enabling me to spend more time with my children and feel so much more alert during the working day.
