5 Tips to Read More

Hello and welcome!

Something that has become a big part of my life is reading. I find it relaxing and I love that it's a way to unwind away from a screen. I never have been a huge reader. When I was a teenager I might read some during the summer but never did during the school year with all the various activities I was involved in.

My grandmother always was a huge advocate for reading. I believe she probably read every book in our local library (you know, in the section she read out of). When I would stay with her during the summer, she would loan me books that she thought I would like and I loved that. It felt nice to have that to do with her and while I wasn't a big reader, I'm now so thankful she planted that seed. She would read a book a day sometimes maybe even more. She was elderly and lived alone, now that I'm an adult, I understand why she did it. A chronic worrier like myself understands what an escape reading is. So I would read a few books here and there over the years from the time I was young but never really developed the want to read more really until my eldest son was born. Which is weird. I feel like that's when I should've had no time to read. But, I exclusively breastfed so that gave me a lot of time to just sit so I did take up reading then.

Since then my love has just grown and I've consistently read more each year since he was born, even as life has gotten significantly busier. With that being said, today I'd like to share with you some of the ways I started and continue to read more every day.

1. Find what motivates you

I think when you want to start any habit or hobby, the first thing to do is find your "why". That may sound a little cliché but it's true. If you don't know why you want to do something, chances are, you aren't going to stick with it. For me, I'm very motivated to read because of the benefits I get from it. I find my anxiety is lessened, I'm more creative, my thoughts don't feel so jumbled and it also helps me to stay away from my phone and inappropriate TV shows which plague our screens today. I also am motivated to read because it sets a good example for my children. I want my kids to have a love for reading as well and it's always best to lead by example. According to our pediatrician, it's working. When asked about my son's interests at check-ups and I mention his love for reading, the question in response is "do you all read a lot?". Kids watch everything we do. I'd much rather my kids see me relax with a book when I have downtime than scroll on my phone or turn on a TV show that makes me feel dirty after watching it.

2. Utilize different forms of books

The next thing that is going to help you read more is by utilizing different forms of texts. We live in a technical world where so much is available to us. We no longer have to sit with a physical book to read. We can do it almost any time and anywhere. Services like Audible are available where you can listen to books anytime. I do a lot of cleaning and I find popping in my AirPods and turning on an audiobook while doing housework is so fun for me. I'm not only just reading, but I've also just turned that chore time into "me time". You don't have to subscribe to any services to have audiobooks, I think most libraries offer online audiobooks you can check out (at least our library does this). Another form of reading is eBooks. Personally, I have a Kindle and this is how I read my eBooks. I really like this form of reading because you can take it with you anywhere. Especially if you utilize the Kindle app on your phone. Waiting in the doctor's office? Get some reading in! It's so handy because you don't have to carry around a bulky book yet reading is still at your fingertips. Just like the audiobooks, our local library offers a program where you can check out eBooks. Basically, if you have a smartphone, you can be reading eBooks or listening to audiobooks. It doesn't take any fancy equipment or lots of money to enjoy these forms of reading.

3. Don't tie yourself down to one book

This next tip might be a little controversial, or at least at a point it was something I thought was a bad idea, but hear me out. Don't just read one book at a time. I'm sure this isn't going to be for everyone, I was convinced it wasn't for me for years, but give it a shot. I literally remember saying one time "I could never read more than one book at once, the storylines would get confusing." I've actually found that that's not actually true for me. Currently, I am reading four books. Yes, four. And yes I read all four books consistently. Generally, I never read more than three at once but there was a physical book I was specifically excited about so I wanted to go ahead and start reading that as well. This area is where taking advantage of the different forms of books comes in handy. I am normally reading a physical book, a book on my Kindle, and listening to an audiobook on Audible. The storylines don't get confusing because they are all drastically different books. It's not like I'm reading the exact same genre of book. I do this because it makes me more likely to read. Sometimes we get into reading slumps. Sometimes the book we are reading isn't as interesting as we thought, so we just choose to not read at all. When you are reading more than one book at a time then you have options. If maybe today the biography you're reading isn't that exciting, pick up your mystery that you're also reading.

You may be wondering how I read all these books consistently. I have a pretty simple plan in place for that. My physical book is normally my "downstairs book" which I keep downstairs and will read throughout the day. I like my kids to see me physically reading books so this helps with that. Also, there is plenty of light during the daytime, which brings me to my Kindle. I keep my Kindle on my nightstand and read an eBook when I am in bed. I love the Kindle because it doesn't require a bright reading light which always bothered my husband before when I read in bed. And for my audiobook, I simply pop in my Airpods while I am in my working block of the day. This is when my son is doing quiet time and it's the time I get the bulk of my housework done, I put in my Airpods and turn on a book and get cleaning! I also sometimes bring my Kindle downstairs and read it throughout the day too. The way I read both the eBook and physical books throughout the day (or in my case now read two physical books at once throughout the day) is I will sit down and set a timer. Normally about 10-15 minutes and I will alternate between the two books. So when the 15 minutes is up, I switch to the other book and read another 15 minutes. I love to alternate books like this on the weekends when things are a bit more relaxed and I have the most time to read. I use an app called Forest to do this (you grow little plants as you do focus time, I use this for other things in my life too as it encourages me to stay off my phone) but you can definitely use a normal timer for this. This is honestly my favorite tip. I didn't think it possible for me to read multiple books at once but it has really upped my reading game!

4. Hold yourself accountable

Like with any habit, in order to read more, you have to hold yourself accountable. To do this, I love to utilize the website Goodreads. If you don't know what Goodreads is, it's basically Facebook but for books. You can follow friends on there as well as authors. You can follow different genres and it will provide trending books in those genres every week. My absolute favorite part about it is that you can track the books that you are reading. You can update how far you are in a book (I generally update mine daily) and it will show the percentage of the book you read. I know that sounds like a really small thing but I really feel motivated by that. They also host a reading challenge every year where you set your own goal and it will keep track of it for you as you log the books you read. I don't follow loads of people on Goodreads but I do follow a few. My sister and I follow each other and I find it so encouraging to see other people reading as well. It also gives us something to chat about too knowing what each other is reading at the moment. You can follow me on Goodreads here!

Another way to hold yourself accountable is to actually put reading on your to-do list. This gives you something to physically remind you to do it and you get the satisfaction of marking that off your list. I personally don't need to do this anymore but I do keep a daily habit tracker in my bullet journal and reading is on it. My goal is to read at least 10 minutes every day. That's all. Spoiler: I definitely end up reading more than 10 minutes a day. Making sure we set obtainable goals is vital for making sure we grow our habits. Maybe your goal is to read one page a day. That works! Chances are if you read one page, you're going to keep going and that habit is slowly going to grow to a place where you are reading more consistently.

5. Prioritize entertainment

My last tip for reading more is to prioritize. Another person in my life who is an avid reader is my mother-in-law. Once I remember talking with my husband about how she found the time to read when he was still a child at home and their schedules were very busy. He simply said, "she just didn't turn on the TV". Everything we do is a choice, even the way we unwind after a busy day. When you finally have a minute to yourself, you have a choice. Do I turn on the TV? Do I watch YouTube videos? Do I scroll through various social media apps mindlessly? The bottom line is if you want to create a habit but you say you don't have time for it yet you have can look at your day and see you have time for these other things I've mentioned, you are lying to yourself. You do have the time it's all just a matter of choice. Instead of watching Youtube videos during the day when I have a minute of downtime, I pick up a book. Instead of watching TV in bed, I read a book. It's all a matter of prioritizing what is important to you. This takes discipline, of course, but if you want it, you can do it! I never thought I could be a person that read so much but by making the choice that this is the habit I want to make over watching TV or scrolling social media, I have been able to become an avid reader myself.

That is all for today's posts. I hope you found these tips helpful and that they can help improve your reading life as well.

Happy reading!

Until next time.

*all images from Unsplash.com