How to Read More

“I don’t have time to read!” “I’m too busy!” or my personal favorite, “Wow. Look at the hours of wasted time sitting in your hands.” Thanks for that, Dad.

Whether you’re an avid reader or you rarely pick up a book, you’re probably trying to figure out how you make more time to read. Or maybe you aren’t. I don’t know why you would have clicked on this post if that’s the case, but hey, thanks for the traffic! I’m not sure this post will interest you too much but feel free to like and comment.

Also I want to put a disclaimer right now that it doesn’t matter how long it takes you to read a book. Some of my favorite books of all time have taken me a couple of weeks to read; However, as someone who’s TBR is a mile long, I’ve found some tricks to get myself to read more often and finish books faster.

Listen to Audiobooks

You can debate all you want whether or not listening to audiobooks counts as reading, but at the end of the day, it’s still a way to experience literature. I listen to audiobooks all the time—when I’m working out, doing cross stitch, scrolling on Instagram—basically anything I don’t have to pay too much attention to.

Sometimes when I’m having trouble focusing when reading, I’ll listen to the audiobook while reading the physical book to help with concentration. It really helps and you can get way more reading done if you listen to audiobooks while you’re doing mindless activities you would be doing anyways.

Have a Specific Reading Time

I read before bed every night. The amount of time depends on how busy I am. Sometimes I read for fifteen minutes. Sometimes I read for two hours. It just depends. But I always do it and it’s become a part of my nightly routine. I would recommend reading before bed because I find it very relaxing but any time you are consistently free can work.

The main factor is consistency and accountability. Like building any habit, holding yourself accountable is key. That being said, if you really aren’t in the right headspace to read, don’t force yourself to because it’ll just make you hate it. Just be honest with yourself though but stand firm enough that you build up a habit. Like obviously you can’t skip every time your supposed to read, because then it’ll never happen, but you know yourself best. If it’s just not gonna happen one day, that’s not the end of the world!

Find a Bookish Community

Most of my friends don’t read in their free time and it seriously drives me crazy. Like, hello? There’s a whole other world in my head that you’re totally missing out on but I digress. It’s not for everybody, but it is a popular hobby. Personally, I think reading is way more fun when you know other people who read. You can recommend books to each other and rant about the last book you loved or hated. Plus, talking to other people who are passionate to read can inspire you too.

There’s tons of ways you can become a part of a bookish community. You could go the old fashioned route and join a book club. Buddy reading books with other people is great encouragement to read and also just a lot of fun. Or you could use social media: Booktok, Bookstagram, Booktube, and so on. There are so many great options to meet other readers. You could also join Goodreads if you haven’t already. It has features where you can become friends with other users (you can even be friends with really cool people like me!) and join Groups that have chat features. These are all great ways to create online communities to encourage others and yourself to read more.

Keep a Book On Hand

I cannot stress this point enough. Do you know the amount of times I’ve been somewhere and wished I had a book on me? From riding the bus to having just ten minutes of free time in class, there are so many lulls in your day that you don’t really notice. Well, unless you’re me. Then you get bored out of your mind cause you have ADHD but that’s a story for another time.

Anyways, these small chunks of time really add up and you could get a lot of reading done. Personally, I don’t like carrying a physical book with me since I don’t usually carry a purse or anything to put it in. However, you can also read eBooks and they’re super convenient when you’re on the go. I don’t know about you, but I always have my phone on me so I don’t even have to carry anything extra!

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Well, I hope this post was helpful or something. I know this post was a little more brief than others but when this post goes up I will be on a bus on my way to Florida. In fact, I’ll be like 12 hours into the 30 hour trip so wish me luck cause that’s gonna suck. But hey, I’ll have plenty of time to read! (If you don’t know what trip I’m talking about, then you’re really lame cause you clearly didn’t read my February Wrap Up from last week. Make sure to check it out so you can be cool like me [I am the epitome of cool obvi.].). As always, I hope you’re having a great day and this post finds you well!