5 Proven Tips to Cultivate a Reading Habit
I don’t know if I’ve talked about this before, but when I was working on the first project for Rode & Ankor, it was easy for me to get sidetracked all the time. All these other projects, tasks, and mountains of to-do lists kept competing for my attention. But I had to remind myself that:
It is easy to look busy.
What is hard to actually cut through the noise and do work of value for projects that matter and that can make a difference. Don’t fall in the trap of meaningless multi-tasking.
Years ago, I read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. And this book is honestly worth the time you put into reading it from beginning to end.
I recently re-read it and thought I’d share some quick and dirty, stream-of-consciousness thoughts that came to mind.
I realized that a lot of people out there have trouble finding time to read a book once, let alone two times. So, I decided to focus this Q&D on things you need to work on if you really want to get into the habit of reading and make progress on your reading queue.
1. Avoid distractions.
To really get into the habit of reading you need to be as free from distractions as possible. You don’t need to be in solitude or in the middle of a cave, but if you can, choose a room without TV or computers as your reading room.
2. Read with intention.
If you are like me and have a lot of physical books on various topics on your bookshelf, it is easy to get tempted to read a bit of each one. The problem with this is that you are prone to starting a bunch of books and finishing none. I created a “queue” of books I want to read, and arranged them in that order, either on my bookshelf or on a separate, smaller bookshelf near my reading chair. This way I can focus on the first book and I won’t touch the next one in queue until I am done with it.
3. You don’t have time. You make time.
There is no sugar-coating it: you have to make time to read. When you are starting, I would recommend 30 minutes to 1 hour. Heck, if that’s too long, you can start with just 1 chapter per day. Depending on the book, this may be enough time for you to make a dent in the book without making reading feel like a chore. By starting with smaller windows of reading time, you can still go back to binge-watching your favorite show, after getting in a few pages. Believe it or not, your ratio of binge-watching to reading will eventually shift and balance. Once you get a hold of some great books, it will become physically difficult to put them down.
4. DON’T leave the best for last.
Start your new reading habit with the best book you can find. By best book, I mean whichever book you feel the most excited about. Whether that’s a novel, a murder mystery, true crime, etc., choose a book that excites and that makes it easier to stick to your scheduled reading time. Anything you can do to set yourself up for success in the beginning will be worth it. If you like thrillers, I recently read The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and it is great — I devoured it in two days. It is entertaining and keeps you hooked the entire time. A similar one is The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter. Once you pick up a reading habit, you can start looking into other genres that may be more “boring” to you, if you want to. For me, that included more “technical” books on investing, writing, and habit creating. With those books, I can read 1 or 2 chapters every day with ease, make some quick notes, and get the most out of them.
5. Start reading today.
Just grab a book and start. Reading — an inherently boring task, if you are not used to it — will cause your body to literally try to discourage you. You will start yawning and your brain will remind you that your cellphone is a few steps away…full of wonderful and shiny distractions. Believe me, I’ve been there. Resist this as much as you reasonably can. With time, your body will get used to this new practice and you will start looking forward to picking up where you left off. I’ve also been there and I love it.
I hope you found at least some of these tips helpful. As with anything in life, take what nurtures you and let everything else go.
Click here if you want to check out the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
See you next time.
Let’s do this.
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