There's no question that you have a great deal to read - and it's easy to become overwhelmed with the sheer quantity.
Here are some ideas to help you overcome your reading overwhelm - by using your brain and your time prudently.

1. If you start reading a book and it doesn't "grab" you, close it and move on.
   Regardless of whether you bought it, borrowed it, or checked it out from the library, you don't have to finish a book if it's not interesting, fun, worthwhile, moving, or somehow compelling.
   There are thousands and thousands of books published every year (and hundreds of thousands available from past years) so you need not spend your time or your guilt on slogging through something that isn't worth it.
   I promise.
   This, of course, also holds true with magazine articles, journal articles, on-line resources, etc.
   There's no lack of reading material available.
   Be choosy about what you spend your precious time reading.
   
2. "Skim & Rip" (for later, more efficient reading).
   If you decide to go zooming through a pile of magazines or journals in a given time period, then set it up to be a "skim & rip" session.
   Just go right through the magazine, keeping focused on the articles you want to read and not looking at the advertisements.
   This takes a fair amount of discipline, but you will make short work of the pile if you do this.
   As you finish a section of the magazine, just tear if off and put it in the recycling bin.
   Then, even if you finish your allotted time for skimming and ripping, you will know what is completed and what you have left.
   The pile is much smaller to go back to the next time and you don't trek through what you've already read.
   
3. Start a "Read" folder and only allow it to become a certain size.
   Get a 3 ½ or 5-inch expandable file folder that you put in a drawer near where you sort your mail and do your work.
   Whenever you come to something that you want to read but it's not urgent and important that you read it now, put it in the folder.
   If (i.
   e.
   , when!) the folder is full, then you've reached your limit.
   Remove some of the items from the front (if you've been dropping new items into the back) and just immediately deposit them in the recycle bin.
   Having a folder of a designated size keeps you from have mountains of "to read" piles all over your office.
   
4. Take your "Read" folder with you.
   Get in the habit of grabbing either the whole folder or a few items out of the folder any time you are heading out the door to a meeting, an appointment, or on a trip.
   Use the minutes (or hours) waiting for colleagues, standing in line, sitting at a child's soccer practice, or traveling on an airplane to read through what you've collected in your folder.
   You'll travel back to your home or office much lighter than when you left! And it's not just a physical lightness!There are many times that I know it must be getting time for me to take a plane trip because my folder is full!Other times, I know I'm traveling too much because there's nothing in the folder!

Choose one of these 4 ideas to put into practice this week - or even right now.
And then access more ideas to support your quest for productivity.