I love books. It’s probably pretty obvious considering I talk about books, I write books, and I enthuse about books every chance I get. So, as a person who loves books and reading, you’d naturally think that I’d be devouring book after book, binge reading on my days off and having to scoure my bookshelves for something that I haven’t yet read. However, the unfortunate reality is, no matter how much I love books, sometimes I find it hard to actually sit down and read. It always seems to slip further and further down my list of priorities, behind all the more pressing concerns of life and work. As a bookworm, that makes me sad. Reading relaxes me and distracts my brain from the real world for a while. I love diving into a book and going on a wild adventure for a while, and when I haven’t read anything for a while, I begin to miss the escape that it gives me.
In an attempt to combat this problem, and as part of trying to build a more robust reading habit, I’ve started adding reading into my daily schedule in a much more official way. For example, I add the task ‘Read X Book’ onto my to-do list every day, because the things that I’m adding onto the list are the things that I’ve deemed important. Doing this tells my anxious brain, which likes to mark anything fun and relaxing as unimportant and a waste of time, that reading is as important as writing, or showing up for my shift at the cafe, and that I need to make sure it gets done as well.
I’ve also started tracking my daily reading in a physical notebook. I’ve got a couple of different habits that I’m tracking at the moment. It’s just a simple series of boxes, which either get a cross for a successful day, or a line for a day missed. Filling in the box every day is such a small action, but it has a huge impact. Part of the motivation is the reminder that I have to fill in the box for reading every day, which means that I’m actively thinking about the fact that reading is an act I need to do. Plus, I have the visual representation of how well I’m actually doing. It’s easy to fool myself into thinking I’m reading more than I really am. But to see my streak laid out on the page means I can’t hide. And also it makes me more determined to keep that nice line of crosses going for as long as I can.The third thing I’m doing to remind myself to read more is scheduling a specific time of day when I’ll sit down and read, every day. Having a time of day dedicated to reading in makes it more likely that I’m going to actually pick a book up, rather than just trusting that I will remember to read something at some point. My brain is like a sieve. I can’t trust it to remind me what I ate for breakfast, let alone whether or not I’ve done my reading for the day. But if I’m sitting down at the same time every day, it takes much less brain power and decision making to make sure the job gets done.
I’ve also been making sure that my book is always highly visible. It sits on the edge of my desk, right next to my bed, or travels along with my computer if I move to sit in another room. If it’s always in sight, it’s a constant reminder to me that I should pick it up occasionally and read a page or two. It’s easy to read just a page here and there, even if I don’t have the time or the energy to read a few chapters. Sometimes it’s just making the task that little bit easier that makes all the difference.
The last thing I’m doing to help myself read more is to make sure that I always have a pile of great books to pick from as soon as I finish the one I’m reading. It doesn’t matter what genre I feel like reading, or what mood I’m in, I’m sure to have a great new book to dive into. My reading stack including books like The Way Of Kings, The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue, The Night Circus, Aurora Burning, and so many more. How could I fail to want to read books of the calibre of these ones?
Life gets busy and sometimes it can be really hard to prioritise fun things, like reading, when there are so many more useful things I could be doing with my time. My brain is an anxious little creature that always worries I’m not doing enough work, and doesn’t like taking time off to rest and relax, which means that reading can easily get pushed to one side. Scheduling reading time and labelling it as an important task lets me know that it’s ok to sit and enjoy myself for a while, and helps me make it easier to be sure that I will sit down and read something every day. Hopefully, building some better reading habits will also remind me that it’s ok to slow down and do something that is purely for enjoyment occasionally too.
So that’s how I’m working on my reading habits, but I’d love to hear from you. What do you do to make sure that you read regularly? Do you ever have trouble reading consistently? What books get you excited about reading at the moment? Let’s chat down in the comments!
As an added bonus, I found this great video on a similar subject, and sharing Ray Bradbury’s advice on reading, which is very much worth a watch if you have five minutes to spare. I highly recommend you give it a watch!
Looking for a fun new book to keep yourself reading? Why not give my new book Frost Hands a try? It’s an awesome YA sci-fi about teens with mutant abilities, dysfunctional teams, and a mutant uprising. It’s available now in both print and ebook. Order yourself a copy today!
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
