One of My Secret Weapons

That changed when I married Jenny, and we went on vacation with her family to the beach. It is a true vacation. They sit at the beach and read…all…day…long. It’s great! But, I was at a loss as to what I liked to read. I mean, I can read Where The Wild Things Are in no time, so what else was there.

Non-fiction. I know, weird, and most people read a good novel at the beach. But, as a young entrepreneur, I found there were way too many things in the world to learn. So, that’s where I gravitated. I read books about business, science, psychology, or whatever else grabbed my attention.

The only problem now is that there are so many books I want to read. And, I can’t stay on the beach all day every day!

Enter Blinkist.

Blinkist is an app that offers summaries of the best non-fiction books around. As I’ve become busier, it’s become my secret time-saving weapon.

If a book seems interesting, I add it to my library and read away. It takes about 15 minutes to read an entire book (presented as “blinks”). Since I’ve started using the app about 4 weeks ago, I’ve read 44 books.

These blinks provide the main points of each book. So, when I have just a few minutes to spare (waiting at the doctor’s office, waiting at the airport, waiting for kids to get ready for school…I do a lot of waiting), I can pull up a blink I’m interested in and learn something new!

Not only can you read it, but there is also an option to listen to the blinks. I’ve found this to be perfect while I’m driving or working on something around the house.

I also use the blinks as a way to discover great books. You can find books by category. Some of my favorites include science, productivity, motivation, and entrepreneurship. I often browse through the categories and find books that I hadn’t heard about before. And it only takes 15 minutes to read!!!

Blinkist also helps me find books that I want to have on my shelf. The blinks are great at giving the main points, but there are times when the subject is so compelling that you know you need the book itself. As a matter of fact, there are some books that I’ve found through Blinkist, I will buy to have at our office.

The app is subscription based and costs about $70 for a year. Well worth it in my opinion. And there are currently over 2,000 bestselling non-fiction titles to choose from.

So, I highly recommend Blinkist. It’s my new obsession. Please don’t tell my kids about it though. I make them read the book!