Try reading more books and magazines …and read less on the web. The web is good for short articles (my daily news is thru Google News), but it is inconvenient (typesize, eye focus) and arguably not healthy to read long articles on a computer screen. Combine this with less TV, and you’ll be sure to absorb more of the good stuff, less of the bad.
Here are some personal recommendations:
New Yorker magazine. Brillant writing that reads like a book (no jumping around the pages). Cool insight into politics, great fiction and funny cartoons. Notably liberal. Wonderful breadth of coverage. I just finished the last of a three-part article on global warming and a teaser of a new musical by Sir Elton John. If you’re looking for the other side of the political coin, try the Atlantic Monthly.
Wired magazine. Edgy, conversational writing about the latest in gadgets, music, media and entertainment. Co-founded by mentor Kevin Kelly. I just finished an article on the cartoon-remix band The Gorillaz and a reveal of the technology behind the new Batman Begins movie and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds.
New York Times Bestseller Lists. Fiction and non-fiction lists that are always up-to-date. I use this list to find options for Dad’s next holiday gift.
Fast Company magazine. For business-types, you can’t beat this magazine (alongside Inc. and Fortune) for management and leadership advice. I loved their article on Malcolm Gladwell two months back, and the last issue was about business-integrated design and the leaders who initiate change.
Communication Arts magazine-a-la-coffee table book. For those self-admitted design-snobs that like to look at pretty pictures. I have a decaffeinated coffee table.
End result: reading books and articles increases your attention span and the quality of the material you take in, and reduces the amount of noise that bombards you every day.
“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” ~ Mark Twain
“Today’s public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can’t read them either.” ~ Gore Vidal
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