Stephen Robbins here, and welcome to the Get It Done Guys, quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Books. I just love books. Actually, I do. I really love books. For years, when someone said,

Stever, there's this great book you have to read. I dropped everything, ran to the bookstore, and bought

it. On my way home, I'd pass a stranger who would see me with my new book. They'd say,

if you like that book, you'll love this other book. I'd turn around, run back to the store and

buy the other book too. On my way home, if the stranger looked ready to recommend a third book,

I'd look them straight in the eye and say, excuse me, can you spare some change? I just spent my last

dime on a book. They'd usually back off pretty quickly. Once home, my two new acquaintances would go

lovingly at the end of my backlog, a backlog that would be empty sometime in the mid-22nd century if I

kept on adding to it at my current pace. And by the way, my sincere intention was to read these

books, to learn, to use the knowledge. It wasn't just about being able to say my book backlog is

bigger than yours, although that does feel kind of nice. So I found a better way to deal

with books. Come join me in my quest to read with these five quick and dirty tips. Tip number one

is create a books to read list. When someone suggests a book to you, don't run right out and buy it,

and don't go straight to your favorite online bookseller

either. Instead, create a books to read list and add their recommendations to the list. This

introduces a little delay in the process. You may also want to note who gave you the recommendation.

That way you can punish them later if they have bad taste. When you want to buy a new book,

scan your books to read list.

I mean, scan it with your eyes. Don't scan it into your computer. Scan it with your eyes. And you'll

find that once the heat of the moment has passed, you can be more thoughtful about what you want

to read. You'll also see the recommendations side by side with the other books you're thinking

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