One of my favorite quotes is,“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”
It’s sometimes hard for people to believe that I read well over 40 books a year while teaching full time, raising a family and staying involved in numerous other activities. To be honest, it’s actually very easy! Let me explain…
I count “listening” to audiobooks as well as reading physical books. So while I may only sit & read 4-5 books a year, I listen to 10 times that many. I discovered AUDIBLE over a decade ago and have enjoyed SO MANY amazing fiction & non-fiction books through this convenient book-streaming service.
As band directors, our days are packed, but there’s plenty of times where you can listen to an audiobook without giving up any other productivity. Just add it in to your normal daily activity! For example, listen when you are:
- Getting ready for the day
- Driving to and from school or appointments
- Taking a long walk
- Filing music
- Setting up chairs & stands
- Cleaning the house
- Cooking a meal
These small pockets of time, which might otherwise be “empty,” suddenly become opportunities to consume content and grow professionally and personally.
Side note – I enjoy listening to audiobooks so much that it has inspired me to up my daily walking steps. I average 12,000 steps a day right now – not counting those super busy concert days or convention days! Even on weekends and holidays, my walking routine continues because I want to keep listening to books.
There’s real science behind why reading and listening to books is so powerful. For example, a study from the University of Toronto found that reading fiction can increase brain connectivity and stimulate mental activity for up to five days after finishing a novel (Dr. David Comer Kidd & Emanuele Castano, Science, 2013). That means your brain keeps working long after you close the book!
And it’s not just fiction that helps. According to The Journal of Applied Cognitive Studies, listening to nonfiction audiobooks combined with active learning can improve knowledge retention by up to 60%. Plus, people who read regularly have been shown to have 20% higher vocabulary and better verbal skills (National Endowment for the Arts).
As Jim Rohn said, “Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.”
If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t have time to read,” I encourage you to try AUDIBLE. Start with topics that interest or excite you! You’ll be surprised how fast you’ll get hooked and how much knowledge you can gain without sacrificing productivity.
Want to try out Audible? You can join here (with a special affiliate deal!) and start listening right away! The holidays are a perfect time to start consuming more books.
Band Directors Talk Shop is an Audible affiliate because is such a great service. When you purchase through a link from THIS LINK, you get a great deal and BDTS gets a small percentage to help us maintain and improve our site. We appreciate the support!
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