If you’ve followed the progress of my annual goals this year, you might be familiar with my 21 goals for 2021 list.
Although I had to adjust and change some of these goals throughout the year due to some unexpected life events (more on that in this podcast episode), there is one goal that I kept, but didn’t make progress on.
UNTIL NOW.
That’s right, I’m tackling the five large novels that I had on my list to read this year that would bring me up to speed on one of my favorite book series. These books are 16–20 in the series (book 21 comes out in 2022) and they are 694, 610, 724, 577, and 692 pages, respectively.
I decided to do this on Monday, December 6, which means that I have 26 days to read a combined 3,297 pages. That’s 127 pages a day on average to reach this goal.
I am so psyched to be doing this. Reading has been such a joy for me this year, so attempting this final reading challenge feels like a fitting way to end the year.
Here’s my plan:
- I already own each of the books in ebook form, so they are easy to access.
- I also checked out three of the books (what was available) at my local library on audio, so that I can switch mediums for some of them when I want to listen instead of read words on the page (fun fact about me: I love to be read to).
- I’m reading my 127 pages a day while on the treadmill in the morning (this is where audio comes in handy), over my lunch hour, and in the evenings after work. I can usually read about 50–60 pages an hour, so I can usually complete my daily page count in 2–3 hours each day.
- I created a small calendar on a post-in so that I can track my 127 pages a day and also note when I’m behind or ahead.
- I measured out what page in which book I need to get to each day to stay on top of the schedule (right now, I’m actually about a day ahead so that I can give myself some margin later on in the month).
So far, I am loving this challenge. Getting immersed with these characters again has been so fun and it’s also been a great way to ensure that I’m getting in some fun reading in the midst of a busy end-of-the-year schedule at work.
Plus, I do love completing a big goal, so I’m motivated to get as far as I can. And, if I don’t finish all five, I’ll still have read more after this challenge than I did before it started.
It’s a win-win all around!