If you’re anything like me, then to read more books is always one of your new year’s resolutions. And like many goals you set to achieve, it’ll usually start off well, but then becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with after the first month.
I totally get it.
Despite having been an avid reader all my life, I found it extremely hard to return to the habit after falling off when high school exams got too busy. This was a problem for years, until I finally found a set of solutions and truly committed myself to reading more at the end of last year. This year, I have been the most consistent with reading than I have been in the past few years. So today, I’m really happy and excited to share with you everything I learned to cultivate a consistent reading routine so that you too, can also finally stick with your goal of reading more this year!
Table of Contents
1. Digital Books!! (iPad, Kindle..)
My first tip would be to start taking advantage of the technology you have in front of you! Honestly, I used to never understand people who read ebooks instead of actual physical books, but now I am one of them and this is probably the most important advice I can give when it comes to reading more books.
No matter if you have a kindle or just an iPad that you take notes with for school, utilize it!! Carrying a kindle or an iPad around saves you so much space, and this is really important if you already have a lot of stuff to bring with you to school or work. And if you’re student reading this, then you’re probably already bringing your iPad around with you throughout the day anyway, so you might as well read with it!
Digitial books allow you to highlight your book in different colors as well as tracks your progress, which honestly makes reading a lot more fun. Since I’ve started reading digital books, I’ve been checking off a bunch of books off of my to-read list super fast. I obviously still love my paperback books, but digital books are a great alternative that can help you check off an extra few books each year.
2. Audiobooks
Audiobooks are also something that I never thought I would get into. I’ve always had a habit of listening to podcasts, but trying out audiobooks honestly just never crossed my mind. Audiobooks are amazing for when you want to do some passive reading, like when you’re at the gym or on a long train ride but don’t want to get nauseous from reading. To be honest, I don’t even know if this is legal, but there are a plethora of audiobooks that you can find on Youtube and Spotify. Other than that, I’m actually not sure where else you could find audiobooks. Let me know in the comments down below if you have a good source of audiobooks with plenty of book selections!
3. Drop Books You Don’t Like (Read For Enjoyment)
Repeat. After. Me.
You are not obligated to finish every book that you start!!
One of the main reasons that hold people back from reading more is because they often feel the need to finish a book before moving on to the next one even if they don’t like it!
Honestly, if a book isn’t capturing your interest and you’re not enjoying it, then why do you feel the need to get through it? It is completely okay to put it down, set it aside, and move on to something else- not every book is meant to be! One day you might come back to this particularly book and love it, but if right now you’re not loving it, then you don’t have to force yourself to finish it.
Reading should be entertaining, it should not feel like a chore you have to finish. Explore different genres and find books that genuinely interests you and strive to make reading a pleasurable activity!
4. Use Your Spare Time to Read More Books
How long did you spend mindlessly scrolling through social media today? Probably longer than you’d like to admit. Imagine how many books you could finish if you spent just a fraction of your spare time to read through a few pages everyday.
This sounds really brainless and not very helpful, but I think this is something that everyone should remind themselves of. The best time to apply this tip is during times that you get bored easily, such as waiting in line, waiting for your food or bus to arrive, or during your 2 hour train ride. If you start using these times to read more books, you’d really be impressed by how many you’ll end up reading a year.
One of my most productive reading times is during my morning meetings everyday the hospital when I get bored. So next time when you find yourself in a queue or if you’re waiting for something for a short period of time, try getting your kindle out instead of scrolling mindlessly on your phone!
5. Non-fiction in the Morning, Fiction at Night
One concept that I’ve been implementing into my reading routine is to read non-fiction in the morning and fiction at night. I find that reading non-fiction in the morning really sets the tone for the day and gets your brain ready to work. Depending on what you’re reading, it might even make you feel motivated to live out the rest of your day intentionally. For non-fiction, I am currently reading 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna West, and it’s a very reflective morning read.
Leaving fiction books to read at night helps your brain to unwind and truly relax after a long day. Right before bedtime is truly the perfect time to wander off into an imaginary world to help you ease into your sleep. I’ve been reading The Idea of You by Robinne Lee; I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, but I’ll let you guys know when I finish!
6. Switching Up Genres
Switching the genre up really keeps things fresh and helps me to stay motivated to read more books. While I tend to gravitate more towards non-fiction and self help books, reading consecutive books with similar concepts can get boring pretty quickly, therefore I always make a point switch things up when deciding which book to read next.
If you also get bored really easily, make sure that you’re not always reading the same type of books. Delve into some books in a genre that you’ve never tried before- historical fiction, fantasy, romance, comics…there are so many out there to be explored! By doing so, not only do you expand your horizon on a variety of topics, and it’s also an amazing way to keep the act of reading fresh and exciting.
7. Don’t Read Too Many Books At Once
My last tip is to not read too many books at once. I usually keep my currently reading list to two books at a time because I find that if I’m reading too many books at once, I get distracted really easily and I end up finishing none.
The human brain can only focus on so many things at once; if you’re always wondering what’s going to happen next in all 5 of the books your reading, then your brain will constantly be jumping from one to another. Why not just focus on one at a time and then move on to the next when you’re done?
Remember, it’s the quality of your reading time that matters, not the quantity of books you read!
Reading is truly such an important habit that I think everyone should cultivate. It can transport you to a whole different world and allows you to learn in fun and relaxing ways.
These are all of my tips to help you read more books, feel free to share with me your tips for reading more! And let me know your current reads and book recommendations as well in the comments down below ⋆˙⟡♡
Until next time,
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