Is it really possible to read a book a day? Or is this just another clickbait headline?

The short answer: Yes — if you use the right method and stick to the right kind of books.

Let me clarify: I’m not talking about 800-page novels or dense philosophical texts. I’m referring to non-fiction books — around 200–250 pages — written in a clear, straightforward tone. Think business, psychology, productivity, or self-development.

Technically, it’s possible to finish even longer books (up to 400 pages), but I don’t recommend it — and I’ll explain why shortly.

I created this method years ago, purely out of necessity.

At one point, I had a growing pile of unread books staring me down — and no time to waste. I felt guilty for not getting to them. So I had to figure something out.

What surprised me later was realizing I wasn’t alone. A lot of people were doing something similar — or close to it.

I eventually stopped using this method for most books and now only use it occasionally — I’ll explain why later

The Method (3 Simple Steps)

Step 1: Read and Listen at the Same Time

This is the core of the method. You combine an audiobook with an ebook or physical copy, and consume both simultaneously.

• Play the audiobook.
• Speed up the audio to 1.75x or 2.0x, depending on the narrator’s pace. (If they’re already fast, try 1.5x.)
• Follow along with the text as you listen.

Most non-fiction audiobooks are 4–5 hours long. At 2x speed, you’ll finish in roughly 2–2.5 hours.

But here’s the thing: This requires serious focus. Don’t expect to do it all in one sitting. One hour of focused reading is often your max per session. So break the book into 2–3 sessions.

Wearing headphones can help you immerse more deeply and shut out distractions.

Why not just listen to the audiobook? What’s up with this extra step?

Because you’ll drift. Your mind wanders — especially when you’re multitasking, which is how most people consume audiobooks. Most listen while doing something else: walking, driving, working out, commuting, cleaning, cooking. In all of these situations, your attention is divided. Even something as simple as a walk can pull your focus — a noise, a thought, a visual distraction — and suddenly you’re thinking about dinner or that conversation from yesterday, not the book.

But when you read along while listening at high speed, something different happens. Your eyes, ears, and brain are fully engaged. There’s no room for distraction — your attention is focused and steady. You’re forced to stay present, with your eyes tracking the text and your ears following the narration. It’s an environment where you control the variables — fewer distractions mean sharper focus.

It’s like putting your focus in a tunnel. There’s nowhere else for it to go.

And if you do notice your attention starting to slip, that’s your cue: pause. Take a break. Then come back when you’re ready to lock back in.

Step 2: Read It Again and Take Notes

After you finish speed-reading the book, go through it again — but this time, take notes.

Whenever you find something insightful or valuable, pause and jot it down. You want key ideas to stick, and writing them down helps a ton.

You can do this second pass at the same speed or slow it down to around 1.5x for more breathing room.

Personally, I speed-read on day one, then take some notes the same day and finish everything on day two. If the audiobook is short (up to 3 hours), I do both on the same day.

Step 3: Prime Your Brain with a Summary

Technically, this is Step 1 — but I’ve placed it here because not everyone would want to start this way. Some people prefer to come to their own understanding, form their own conclusions, and digest the material without outside influence.

But if your goal is to read faster (and more efficiently), this step can speed up the process significantly.

Before you start reading, watch or read a summary of the book. You can find plenty of these on YouTube, blogs, or summary apps — or simply ask artificial intelligence to summarize it for you.

Why do we do this?

Because someone else has already done the heavy lifting — they’ve read the book, distilled the core ideas, and laid them out for you.

Almost every non-fiction book has a couple of big ideas. The rest is arguments, examples, and stories that support that idea.

By previewing the key takeaways, your brain is already primed. Once you understand the big idea behind the book, you know what to expect — so your brain doesn’t have to work as hard to make sense of the material. It simply connects the dots faster, helping you move through the content more quickly and absorb it more easily.

Why Read the Whole Book When the Summary Covers It All?

You might miss the nuance. Summaries often skip over important examples, details, emotional weight, or the author’s unique style—things that actually give the book its depth.

When you read the whole book, you get a much deeper understanding. Those supporting arguments, stories, and examples are there for a reason—they help convince you that the idea is true. They build trust in the information.

And when you believe in what you’re reading, it’s easier to apply it in your own life. You’re not just hearing an idea—you’re actually understanding why it works.

Less retention.
It’s been shown that people forget summaries faster than full readings. Reading the whole book—especially if you reflect or take notes—helps with long-term memory.

Here is the most important question for you:

Why Do You Want to Read One Book a Day?

What’s your real motivation here?

What do you think reading one book a day will actually give you?

Be brutally honest with yourself.

The desire to read this much is rarely driven by pure curiosity or a genuine urge to master a specific field — whether it’s business, psychology, or anything else. If you do fall into that category, cool — good for you.

But most of the time?

It comes from something deeper — something a little uncomfortable.
A quiet sense of not being enough. Not successful enough. Not smart enough.
A drive rooted in insecurity, comparison, and the constant pressure to be more, do more, know more.

Some Common (and Usually Unconscious) Motivations:

• Successful people read a lot of books, so if I read a lot too, I will become successful. It’s about trying to absorb knowledge as fast as possible — to catch up and reach success quicker.
• I feel stupid and not good enough, so I need to read as many books as possible to feel smart and confident. This is a common pattern for people with an inferiority complex.
• I want to be more interesting, so I’ll read more to achieve that. It’s about enhancing one’s self-image. In many cases, this comes from a desire to appear intelligent or impressive to others, and to gain their approval, admiration, and validation.
• Being well-read will make me more valuable or respected.
• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) If I don’t read constantly, I’ll miss important ideas, trends, or breakthroughs that others know.
• By reading widely and quickly, I’ll accelerate my personal development and transform my life.
• If I keep reading, I’ll eventually find that one thing — that secret — that will change my life.
• I’ll have bragging rights for reading more books.
• etc..

There are more, but most of these motivations fall into just three main categories:

• A need to prove something (to yourself or others)
• A fear of not being good enough
• A productivity obsession — treating knowledge like something to stockpile

And I get it. I’ve been there. All of them.

But Here’s the Problem

Most people who read like this — especially in the self-improvement space — don’t apply what they read.

They chase stimulation.
They chase the feeling of growth.
But they don’t do anything with it.

I’ve done this too. For years, I devoured books. Each one felt powerful, insightful, inspiring. It gave me a little rush — a sense of progress.

But… nothing really changed. I didn’t apply most of it.

The cycle looked like this:

Read a book → feel good → change nothing → repeat

It felt like growth, but it was just a dopamine loop.

You feel accomplished after finishing a book — like you leveled up. Like your brain just got upgraded. But in reality? You’re still in the same place, you are still the same person. Just with a bit more info floating around.

You keep reading, hoping the next one will finally be the game-changer. The secret. The missing piece.

But it rarely is.

So yes, it’s possible to read a new book every day. But if you want to make meaningful change, you need to apply what you read — so don’t rush through book after book. Instead, reread the same one a few times, revisit your notes or summaries, and most importantly, put the ideas into practice.

Give yourself a break from the pressure to consume more and more. Slow down. The next big breakthrough isn’t just around the corner — it’s in the books you’ve already read.

I purposely titled this article the way I did to attract readers who would identify with the unconscious motivations I listed. However, a more accurate title would be ‘How to Read a Book in a Day’ rather than ‘a day.’

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re into self-improvement. If that’s the case, then you definitely need to read this:

Self-Improvement is Masturbation; Self-Destruction is the Secret You’re Looking For