How To Develop A Reading Habit In 7 Steps
Building a reading habit can be quite a challenging task. Avid readers might disagree with this statement, but ask someone who doesn’t read much and they’ll tell you about it. Most people cite lack of time as the reason for not being able to read books. While I agree that book reading might seem a time-consuming task, especially when everything is so fast-paced today, it’s not all that difficult if you are committed and a bit disciplined.
If you want to cultivate a reading habit, you first need to realize the importance of books. If you think of it as a tasking activity and make half-hearted attempts, you’re never going to like reading books. Think of reading as a fun and enjoyable activity that has a great impact on your life.
By having the right attitude, you will be able to develop a consistent reading habit without having to put hours and hours of effort. Here are some handy tips that will help you along your journey:
Set Reading Times:
Set aside some time of your day and dedicate it to reading. It could be just after waking up, before going to bed, or even during lunchtime. Start with a short duration and gradually increase the time as you start adjusting to it. Make sure you stick to the routine every day as much as possible. Doing this will enable you to incorporate reading into your schedule and you will have an interesting activity that you can look forward to every day.
Get a Reading Partner or Community:
A reading partner could help you a great deal in achieving your reading goals. It can be your friend, your partner, a reading club, or anyone in your circle who likes reading. It will create a healthy competitive environment and motivate you when you’re feeling low.
You can talk about the books you read, give recommendations to each other, or even start reading books together and discuss them as you go through them. It will help you put a check on your progress and be aligned with your goals. It also brings in an accountability factor that is necessary when trying to build a habit.
Set Targets:
Set targets for yourself to read a specific number of books every year or every month. Then divide that target into smaller parts and keep working towards them day by day. You could read as little as 10 pages, or as much as a chapter a day, it’s totally up to you. Do your best to meet your targets and try to make up for any lacking by reading more on your free days.
Find a Quiet And Suitable Place:
Remember, active reading requires a lot of focus and attention, and for that, you need a suitable place where you can read peacefully. If you have a lot of noise and disturbance around then you’re not gonna be able to read attentively which will make it difficult for you to develop a habit of reading.
You need to select a quiet place and get rid of any distractions like your smartphone or computer. If you don’t have one near you, you can go to the library.
Always Carry a Book With You:
We all have little time pockets during the day when we feel bored. You can use this time to read a book. Always carry a book with you when you leave home. When you don’t have anything to do and are getting bored, take out that book and start reading.
Choose Books According To Your Interests:
When selecting a book, keep in mind your interests and choose a book accordingly. Don’t just pick any random book based on appearance or popularity. Always read the first few pages to find out whether you like it or not. If you like it, continue reading. Otherwise, drop that book and pick up a new one.
Don’t force yourself through a book you don’t like just for the sake of completing it. It will feel like a burden and you will most likely not benefit from it. On the other hand, if you read a book that interests you like, you are more likely to enjoy the process of reading and to learn from it.
Keep a Reading Journal:
You can keep a reading journal to track your progress. List down the books that you’ve read, write down your thoughts about them and what you learned from them, and note down the books that you want to read in the future.
You can also do this digitally with the help of book tracking websites such as Goodreads. It’s a very useful website that helps you search for books and keep a list of the books that you want to read.
Conclusion:
Nobody can deny the fact that reading is a habit with benefits beyond imagination. Even if you don’t see any substantial benefit, books help you develop the growth mindset that is required to achieve success. Do you know what’s common in a lot of successful people? They read a lot!
Books teach you valuable lessons that help shape you into a better version of yourself. They let you experience the world through multiple lenses and give you the exposure you can’t gain elsewhere. As George R.R. Martin famously said: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
I hope that these tips will help you build a consistent reading habit. Got any tips of your own? Share them in the comments!