These 3 tips helped me to go from a dumb-ass student who hadn’t yet read a book from cover to cover, to someone who consistently reads 4 books a month.
Read 10 pages a day.
Schedule Reading just like any other habit.
Make Reading a default-habit (Buy a Kindle).
1: Build Momentum 10 Pages at a Time.
Ten pages a day is the fastest route to thirty books a year.
Reading everyday builds momentum—i.e. the best way to build your new routine.
Reading 10 pages a day seems too low, but the likelihood of momentum taking over increases each day. This is especially helpful at the beginning, since 10 pages takes less than 15 minutes to complete—eventually, you’ll read past 10 pages easily.
As you get more advanced, you’re page-limit will increase, but you’ll still benefit from having one.
2: When Planning, Schedule Reading Like You Would Anything Else.
We waste our free-time due to a lack of planning—not because we’re lazy. Without a plan, we’ll follow the path of least resistance (usually, involving entertainment through a glowing-rectangle).
When planning your day, week, etc., set aside time for reading (This one is very simple, but difficult to execute in practice).
Many things can go wrong here: You don’t have a plan, your plan is chaotic, or it goes out the window by 10am each day. In any case, having a plan of what you’re going to read, and when, will help you to build momentum.
3: Make Reading a Default-Habit.
Most likely, your default-habits involve distracting yourself through a glowing-rectangle. At the instance of boredom, we check Instagram, listen to music, or check-out boobtube.
Having books around can counter this learned-habit of entertaining yourself online. Instead of reaching for your phone as soon as you’re bored, train yourself to grab your book (This is the difficult step).
Owning a Kindle makes this far easier—the Kindle is portable, and easy to have around at all times.
Intentional leisure time helped me re-direct my time—time that used to slip away into screens—towards reading 20+ books as of June 2024.