I am a lazy guy. And some time ago it was very difficult for me to brace up and read a good thick technical book from cover to cover.
For example, "Code Complete, 2nd Edition" is 960 pages thick. I knew, that this one was a "must read" for every developer. I had been trying to read it for a year or something. But its thickness was awesome. And each time I thought "well, I'll better continue tomorrow....". And the "tomorrow" came rather seldom.

But the day has come, when I found a way to fix this problem - Microsoft Office Project. So, I took "Code Complete" and split the remaining 660 pages into 33 groups of 20 pages each, and then I assigned a business day to each of the groups. According to the plan, I should have read the rest of the book in about 1,5 months. The last day has become tangible - I knew the exact date, when the book would be read. More then that, I promised myself, that I would burn a 100 DKK bill (about 20 USD) whenever I spend an evening without reading the planned 20 pages. The plan was printed and put onto the wall. I crossed one small blue "task" rectangle with a green marker every time I was done with another bunch of pages.

And, you know, I have burnt no money. Instead, the Day has come, when I read the last sentense and closed the book. I can't describe what I felt at the moment. It was a mixture of two feelings - impression by the book and impression by the fact. The plan has done its job, and I have become a better developer!

Several other books have been read since then, mostly recommended by Steve McConnell for a developer "reading plan". Each book was split and planned. 20 pages a day. Very little daily effort, but huge yearly improvement. It is not a big deal to read 2 books in parallel, 20+20 pages a day, but one book is still fine.

The funny thing is, that my wife has also decided to use this approach while preparing for her last Danish exam: she is reading 2 pages of grammar and processes 2 pages of exercises, every day. She did not promise to herself that she would burn anything if the plan is not followed, still she follows it since the beginning. Our plans hang on the wall - side by side.

There is definitely a sort of magic in a printed Gannt chart. No doubt about that. Try it out.