There’s about 5 – 10+ hours every week in your schedule you are WASTING just scrolling social media or staring into space.
Think about it:
- How long are you waiting in line on an average day running errands?
- How many hours do you spend in a daily commute or transport? Even showering and exercising are missed opportunities!
Imagine how much wiser you would be if you read 1 – 2 books every single week?
By simply replacing monotonous and wasted batches of time with either listening to an audio book or opening the reading app on your phone, you can easily turn those 5 – 10+ hours into educational time instead.
This educational time will enhance your online work skills, motivation, income potential, creativity and just overall help your career!
To help you get started, here’s what you must do to get properly set up and maximize your time every day; once you’re set up, you can check out my top 10 recommended books below…
How to Set Up iBooks to Read Books on Your iPhone
- Open the App Store on your iPhone
- Find & download the iBooks app
- Connect your iBooks app to your iTunes/Credit card (don’t worry, there’s plenty of free books, too!)
- Go into the iBooks app and search for the books I go into below, buy the one you want to read the most but add the rest to your “Want to Read” list and just go through them. Every time you see a book recommended, add it to that list!
How to Set Up Kindle to Read Books on Your Android or iPhone
- Download the Kindle app and log into your Amazon account
- Consider Kindle Unlimited which is a $9.99/mo subscription that gets you millions of free books + discounts on paid books. (Check that the titles you want are included before doing this!) More about this program HERE.
- When you buy a book on Amazon, be sure that KINDLE is selected and that the DELIVER TO is to whatever your phone’s name is.
- Open the Kindle app and it’ll show up but you’ll need to download it to the phone. Be sure to do this while you’re still connected to WiFi before taking your device offline. You can also connect this app to Good Reads so you can keep track of books you want to read there.
Note: for iPhone users, Apple wants you to buy books via their iBooks app so they actually block you from being able to buy them via the Kindle or Amazon apps! You can try from the Safari browser via the Amazon site or just buy from a laptop and it’ll still sync with the Kindle app on your phone.
Using Audible to Read Books
Audible is connected to Amazon, so often, you can get the book in both eBook AND audiobook formats and switch between the two if you prefer, OR get a discount when you buy both at the same time.
Audible is a separate app and works pretty much the same as Kindle. I will note below which books work really well on Audiobook and which do NOT.
What about Podcasts?
We looooove podcasts here on Team VAI, and we have a stock of podcasts we adore.
Check out our list of favorite podcasts HERE.
Want to hear the best news? You can easily download some of these episodes for free via the podcast app native on your phone!
The trick is to change your overall habits and to have a stock of both audio and reading resources ready to go so there’s never a missed moment.
And without further ado…
My Top 10 Books for Getting Started with Online Work
1. Gift of Imperfections & 2. Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
I am a HUGE Brené fan and for good reason, too. She inspired me to believe that I was worthy of finding a career that lit me up and to continue to pursue it even when I wanted to give up.
My recommendation? Start with Gifts of Imperfection (it’s short and sweet!) and then move on to Daring Greatly to keep you moving along or when the going gets tough.
Good For Audible? No, both are meaty!
3. Big Magic
Creativity is a BIG DEAL, and sadly, our childhood education doesn’t give it enough credit. We aren’t taught the importance of creativity in order to do really well at our work and to make more money.
We are taught to listen, regurgitate and repeat. Consider this the big lessons you’ve been missing. THIS IS FOR EVERYONE even if you aren’t in a “creative” role or don’t consider yourself “artsy”.
Good For Audible? YES.
4. Do Less
This is for my mommas who care about living intentionally beyond the HUSTLE hype and is super helpful with prioritizing and time management.
It’s short and sweet so there’s no reason not to give it a read!
Good For Audible? YES.
5. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
Working by yourself and the amount of self direction required gets us really down on ourselves. If a business owner or employee treats us badly, we take it so personally, and sometimes, we have a hard time seeing beyond current circumstances.
When I’m not around to give you a pep talk and you feel like giving up, this is an amazing resource to have in your back pocket. It’ll help replace negative thought patterns with new ones, too.
Good For Audible? I think so! It’s not as intense as Brené’s work.
- Get You Are a Badass HERE!
My Top Books for Entrepreneurs & Business Owners in the Online Space
6. Profit First
Money made me want to puke, too, but PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE! I give you permission to simultaneously be reading a “fun” book but this is a must-read.
I didn’t read it until 6 years into my business and lost so much money. Trust me when I say, addressing your fears head-on is the best way through them. I was afraid of the numbers, didn’t think I could do it, always have been bad at math, etc.
This book is so easy to understand and just like the MBA you wish you had. It’s practical and perfect for the beginning of your business aspirations (or years in, like me).
Good for Audible? NO.
7. The Road Back to You
Understanding your personality type and how it best works on tasks, with other employees, clients, team members, your spouse and family is imperative in order to be successful on this journey.
You must know the parts of you that shine so you can set up your business accordingly. Also, you need to know the crap parts so you can be aware of them and make a plan to outsource them so they don’t ruin your entire business.
This book will help you identify your unique enneagram number and both the positives and areas to watch out for with each.
Good for Audible? After you know your number then yes because then you can just read those relevant chapters.
8. She Means Business
I’ve been a big fan of Carrie Green and her Female Entrepreneur Association for years, and I actually used to be a member so I know she is a pro at everything she does.
This book was amazing! It really broke everything down and was like an “online business for girl boss” textbook that we all sorely need.
Good for Audible? Nope! TONS of content and action items.
- Get She Means Business HERE!
9. E-Myth Revisited & 10. The War of Art
Admittedly still on my list!
BUT they’ve been the top recommended books to me by my mentors, so I can’t not list them here. Plus they are next up on my list to read!
Both books have die-hard fans because of how they show the flip side of the mainstream entrepreneur journey.
By looking for formerly wasted time, you can easily add in 5 – 10+ hours a week of educational time back into your schedule.
Now, of course we can’t always be doing something; some car rides you can still sing along and some evenings you can still watch TV… but if overall you can make this major change in schedule then you’ll find yourself flying through books faster than ever before.
And as your knowledge increases… guess what else increases? That’s right, your skills, business and online career’s income!
If you are struggling with how to launch your online career then I’d love to gift you a free ticket to our Work From Anywhere Virtual Summit!
It includes 13 legit online jobs + 10 classes to help you launch an online career you LOVE. (This could perhaps be something else to listen to on your daily commute?!)
What are you waiting for? Grab your free ticket via Facebook messenger HERE!
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