Why reading a lot isn’t that important

What if reading isn’t what creates value?

Reading is a fundamental part of my job. As a postdoctoral researcher, I could summarize a good portion of my work like this: “I read other people’s scientific publications to develop the knowledge that allows me to write my own papers.”

From this perspective, it seems self-evident that: if I improve my reading habits (read more and better), I’ll also improve my ability to create value through my work (write more and better papers). However, this idea is false—or, at best, incomplete.

In this article, I’ll explain:

• why reading doesn’t create value
• what actually does create value
• what kind of reading habit is enough

Note: In this article, I’m talking exclusively about utilitarian reading—that is, reading as a way of solving problems. I’m not talking about reading for pleasure, where reading is an end in itself.

Reading is necessary, but not sufficient

Reading is one of the best ways to access new knowledge. While there are many other methods, reading has several advantages: it gives you direct access to the thinking of brilliant people—whom you wouldn’t otherwise be able to reach—and books are often designed to teach clearly and effectively.

However, reading is not the activity that creates value by itself. Reading is a requirement to able to create value. What creates value is your ability to integrate what you read into your life. In other words, your ability to make changes in your life.

For example, in a previous note I showed how I improved my article-writing workflow thanks to reading the book A System for Writing by Bob Doto. The integration process I followed went like this:

1. Read the book.
2. Identify a valuable idea.
3. Think about how to integrate it into my life.
4. Make a real, lasting change in my workflow.

If I had simply read the book without making the effort to integrate it, that reading would have barely changed my life—it would have created almost no value.

A small reading habit is enough

Usually, your ability to read far exceeds your ability to make changes in your life. For example, if I spend an hour reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, I’ll likely need several weeks—of focused work—to integrate everything I’ve read.

And that’s actually a relief.

It means you don’t need to dedicate a lot of time to your reading habit. All you need is to read just enough to saturate your ability to make changes in your life. And since that capacity is low, a reading habit of just 30 minutes a day may be more than enough.

That way, you can focus your attention on the most important part of the process: integrating what you read into your life.

Conclusion: Prioritize your processing habit

Reading is a prerequisite for creating value, but it is not value in itself.

Therefore, the idea that “improving my reading habit will improve my ability to create value through my work” is false. It’s like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet to “nourish yourself a lot” but ending up vomiting because you couldn’t digest it all.

So, you don’t need to spend much time reading—which allows you to focus on what’s truly transformative: your ability to digest what you read.

What about you? Is there an idea you’ve read but haven’t yet integrated? How could you bring it into your life?