How long does it take to read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?
Stephen R. Covey
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People takes 8 hours 6 minutes to read. The unabridged audiobook runs 13 hours at 1x, or 8h 43m at 1.5x.
Stephen Covey's book is longer than most self-help: about eight hours at an average pace. Its structure suits slow reading, one habit at a time, with a week or so between each.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the book:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: audiobook estimate. Estimated from the original unabridged audiobook read by Stephen R. Covey (13:04) at 155 words a minute. The 30th-anniversary edition adds material and runs 15:07, so it isn't used here.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked November 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log it in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?
About 8h 6m at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 10 hours at 200 and 6h 45m at 300.
How many words are in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?
About 121,520 words. That's estimated from the unabridged audiobook at a narration pace of 155 words a minute, so treat it as close, not exact.
How many pages a day to finish The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in a month?
About 15 pages a day, or 17m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 442 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
How long does it take to read one habit a week?
Seven weeks, at about 70 minutes of reading a week at an average pace.
How long is The 7 Habits audiobook?
13 hours 4 minutes for the original recording, read by Stephen R. Covey. The 30th-anniversary edition runs 15 hours 7 minutes.