How To Build a Reading Habit — Begginer’s Most Effective Guide
The guide which helped me read 18 books in 2022.
Does this sound familiar?
You enter a library, get all excited, buy at least 1 book, come home, read one chapter from it and promise to yourself that from now on, reading is your new habit, new me, new life. However, the next day, you decorate your bookshelf with yet another book that you will never open again.
Look, the problem is not in buying the book, but what book you bought that day.
The first step when it comes to building a reading habit is:
Step #1: Read what you enjoy
I read 3 Harry Potter books for 2 months before switching to something else.
Pick up a book that feels like cheating, something that it’s too good to be true. Something that would get you excited to read every day. Our mission is to fall in love with the process of reading.
I want you to understand that reading, in itself, is a different kind of fun. Just like watching a movie or a YouTube video.
So, start with fantasy, mystery, romance, or anything that gets you excited.
Step #2: Slow but steady, consistency is key
Rome wasn’t built in one day.
Start by reading 5 pages a day. The goal here is to get the momentum going, every day, as little as you can. Read 5 pages every day until you naturally want to increase the number of pages. This can be the very next day or week, you just don’t have to push it.
No one is pointing a gun at your head. It’s not a race. Be patient.
Sooner than later you will be reading 60 minutes a day, 2–3 books a month.
Step #3: Read more books at a time
I’ll be honest, if I had to read 1 book at a time, I’d go insane and never return to books again.
After you get the momentum going and you finally enjoy the process of reading, start by reading 2 books at a time. No, you won’t forget the plot of the other book and no, you won’t confuse the plots between books.
Moreover, by reading 2–3 books at a time, you create an ongoing excitement. You want to return to every book.
Step #4: Read different genres
You will eventually get tired of the same genre, or worse, start hating it.
I recommend reading science, philosophy, skill related literature in the first part of the day when you are most alert and full of energy. You will both learn and remember better.
Stick to reading lighter, more enjoyable literature, like fantasy, before sleep. This will calm you down and help you forget any work-related responsibilities that haunt us daily.
Reading should be used both for enjoyment and learning.
Step #5: Put reading in your timetable
You have to take reading seriously.
Like any other habit, in order to make it stick, you have to add it to your timetable, this means every day.
Arguments such as “not having time” are not acceptable. You definitely have time to scroll through social media before sleep and first thing in the morning. Try switching that with reading a book, it will do wonders for your mental health.
I personally read 30–40 minutes before work and another 30–40 minutes before sleep.
Everyone’s schedule is different, there is always time to read, take it seriously.
Hey guys, I’m back!
I started writing and posting on Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram. If you want to learn more about Habits, Productivity & Self-Growth, follow me there.
It would mean the world to me!
Thanks for reading :)
