When people ask me how I can read so many books, I usually blow them off.
“Oh, I don’t have much of a life,” I tell them with a laugh.
And, in a sense, that’s true. I don’t keep a very full social calendar due to being an introvert and needing tons of alone time. I’m not in a relationship and I don’t have kids. It leads to having lots of time to read. And it’s my favorite hobby, so I make the time for it. It’s something I can’t imagine not doing, so reading is something I make time for every single day.
I have a lot of friends who want to read more. I don’t really think anyone needs to read as much as I do. If you’re reading at least 1-2 books per month, you’re doing fine. But if you’re looking for tips on how to read more, well then, I’ve got you covered:
1) Listen to audiobooks.
Do you have a long commute? Do you spend a lot of time by yourself cooking or cleaning? Do you like to take long walks? All of these activities lend themselves to prime audiobook time. I listen to a lot of podcasts, which means I don’t really listen to a ton of audiobooks, though I’ve been trying to listen to more this year. I love to listen to audiobooks when I’m driving (I never listen to the radio anymore, instead opting for a podcast or my audiobook in the car), when I’m cooking, when I’m cleaning, when I’m taking Dutch on walks. Sometimes, I can even listen when I’m working, depending on the task I’m doing. You could easily knock out 1-2 books per month simply by listening to audiobooks.
2) Read before bed.
I read before bed every single night. Sometimes, I can only manage a chapter before my eyes are too tired to focus and sometimes, I get in bed so early that I can read for 45 minutes or more. This is when I get the majority of my reading done. It’s such a habit for me that I feel weird if I go to bed without reading, even if it’s just a few pages. If you find that those hours right before you go to sleep are spent scrolling through Instagram or reading terrible news stories on Twitter, instead plug in your phone, set your alarm, and put it on Do Not Disturb. Then snuggle into bed with your book and read until you get sleepy. It’s the perfect end-of-the-day activity!
3) Read on your lunch break.
One of my favorite things to do is read during my lunch break. It really allows me to break up my day when I know I have at least 30 minutes (or more) set aside to dive into my current read. I used to feel embarrassed about reading at work, but I’ve been outed as a major bookworm, so now I have no qualms about it (and a good portion of my office reads on their lunch breaks, too!) If you’re looking for a pocket of time to get some reading in, your lunch break is the perfect time to do that. (And if you work from home, this works for you, too! I know too many of us tend to work through our lunch and, this way, you can physically set your computer aside and take an actual lunch break, complete with your latest book.)
4) Read in spurts.
I do a lot of my reading in spurts – 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there. It’s something that was apparent when I logged my reading for a week, as there were only four instances in the space of an entire week where I read for longer than 30 minutes. The majority of the time, I snuck reading in 5, 10, or 15-minute spurts. And that’s still my M.O. today – lots of reading in spurts. There are a lot of little times during the day when you can probably sneak in some reading. Get to your doctor’s appointment early? Reading time. Have 10 minutes before you have to leave for work? Reading time. Need to use the bathroom? Reading time. (Ha.) You’ll be amazed at how much reading you can knock out in these little spurts of time!
5) Give something up.
The real truth of how to read more is that you have to give something up. You can’t just expect to read more without changing your life in some way, whether that’s less TV or less social media. Think about it: if you told yourself that when you got home from work, you weren’t going to open up social media for the rest of the night, you’d be able to spend oodles of time reading. (This article explains it better.) But the truth of the matter is that I don’t watch much TV (it took me four months to watch one season of Gilmore Girls and that is not a joke) and I don’t have a full, active social calendar. In order to read more, you have to open up space in your life and that usually means giving something up. But in doing so, you will gain so much more than bingeing on a Netflix series or scrolling endlessly through Facebook. Social media and TV have nothing on a good book, in my opinion.
Have any tips to add on how to read more? Let me know in the comments!
Same! Also: Buy a Kindle &/or download the Kindle app. Now that I can read on the go, I read when I’m waiting in line or doing any sort of waiting around. That really helps with the reading-in-spurts thing!
Yes to #5…. as you know, I recently converted from a 10 books/year reader to being on book 29 for this year! This has only happened because I made reading a priority again and gave up (some) TV and other activities on weekends and evenings.
What has also helped me: having the overdrive app on my phone and being able to have my book with me at all times. I started reading on lunch breaks and in situations where I am waiting in line somewhere, when I would usually scroll social media. It has really made a difference (and I love it!).
I recently commented on San’s post about people recommending tv shows. I said that one of my biggest pet peeves is when people say, “gosh I wish I had as much time to read as you do” and then in the next sentence they might recommend that I watch Homeland…. Uh, that’s a choice. You can choose to watch tv. You can choose to read. There is no right or wrong choice unless you feel you are not doing something as often as you’d like to do. I choose to read as I rarely watch tv. I honestly think that is probably the #1 way to make more time to read. But for some people, tv provides comfort. So I think the thing to consider is whether you want to read more or whether you think you should read more. If you truly want to read more then this list is great. But if you think you should read more but don’t actually want to say no to other things, then you should try to accept what you fill your free time with. Granted, if you have kids or care for a family member then that certainly changes the amount of free time you have and it might change how you want to use that free time (i.e. you brain might be too shot from caring for a child to read a book so tv might be more appealing as your happy place).
A couple other things I’d add to the list! 1. Always have a book in your purse! I read on the bus, at doctor’s appointments, while waiting for an oil change, etc. 2. Stay off your phone! When I do social media purges, it shows me how much time I spend on my phone when I could be reading. Combining 1 & 2 will really result in more reading because when you have 10 minutes down time while waiting for your doctor, for example, if you had a book in your purse and resist the urge to get on your phone, you will add lots of little blocks of reading time to your life!
Hope this comment didn’t come off as harsh! But I am super sensitive to people telling me they wish they had more time to read, because we all have 24 hours in a day! I thought I would read less once I was in a relationship but I still read just as much. It helps that Phil is also a reader so we both read before going to bed. But there are many nights when he watches something on tv that I have no interest in so I choose to go read a book!
Fantastic tips! I ALWAYS read before bed, and yep, sometimes I’m really tired and only manage a few pages, but that’s fine!
I really want to give up a lot of my phone / social media time and give it back to reading. I’m trying but I get sucked in!
I know I could make time to read more, but for me, reading has felt a lot more like work and has become less enjoyable over the years, so I don’t make the time like I used to. It’s harder for books to capture my attention, and it just feels like it takes a lot more concentration compared to watching TV or just surfing the Internet. I wish I found it more relaxing, but it’s really few and far between that I find a book that makes me look forward to finding out what’s next. And I feel the same way about TV shows, I actually don’t watch that many TV shows either. I’m always zoning in and out! I have the attention span of a gnat.
I might have to try the reading in spurts thing. I did so. much. reading for grad school that when I withdrew for the semester I thought maybe I’d finally use all this free time to read for pleasure. Nope. Hasn’t been the case. I need to slowly get myself back in the habit, and that might be a good way.
Great list! I also love Lisa’s comment above as it’s so true. We ALL have 24 hours in a day. I too love reading and I am always reading a book. During my social media break in March I found that I read way way more than normal, and I’ve managed to mostly keep that habit up since going back on social media. I always have my kindle in my purse as you just never know when you will snag a few extra moments to spend reading!