I absolutely love reading, but life gets in the way and finding time to read is something people have a hard time keeping up with. If you're looking to start reading or up the quantity of books you're reading follow these tips and tricks that help me reach my reading goals!
1. Embrace all the platforms! I used to be that person that would be like "No, I want the physical copy in my hands, I want to feel and smell the pages" Turns out that's not efficient and a book is a book no matter the platform.
- Audiobooks With the Libby app I can borrow books straight onto my phone/device from the library for FREE! No late fees and an unlimited realm of ebooks and audiobooks! I now always have at least 3 audiobooks on my app, and get through about 1 a week IF I listen to it everyday. Trying listening during your commute, walks, grocery shopping, etc. I also got to the point where the reading pace was too slow for me...so I started to listen to them at 1.25x speed and incrementally went higher. I'm now at 2x speed. I'm also able to have the app across multiple devices, and access multiple libraries!
- eBooks
- Books
I got a little too into the audiobooks for a while that I forgot about actually reading..oops! Luckily, I came across a few books that were just terrible to listen to and definitely needed to be read. This is where my kindle became my favorite device. By having the kindle on me at all times, and the kindle app on my phone synced to my current page I can get even ten minutes worth of reading in while waiting on a friend. I love that I can borrow books from the library on the kindle through the Libby app, it makes things really easy.
Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the physical books. Because my kindle has become my go to, physical books only make an appearance in my life when A. the library doesn't have the book. B. The wait for the ebook is exponentially longer than the physical copy.
2. Make a queue! Most of the time people want to read but don't actually know what they should/want to read. I also don't want to spend time thinking of what to read next, nor do I want to go weeks without a book because I have no clue what to read, haven't been inspired/motivated to read something, or haven't made it to a book store to browse books. That's where my love of Goodreads comes in! I can search and add any book at anytime in my 'want to read' shelf. I can follow an author I love. They give me recommendations on what to read. I can follow and challenge friends. I can even scan covers of books I walk by at the store that I find interesting and add to my To-Read shelf. It's perfect! When I need a book to read I go through the list of books I've compiled. I also love lists so obviously the fact that it keeps track of books I've read and love is an extra bonus!
3. Compete! I'm a competitive person, against myself and against my friends. Goodreads satisfies this perfectly with their yearly reading challenge. I set my goal and every time I finish a book it updates my progress. I'm able to see my friend's challenges and at the end of the year they send me summary data of my year in books! I love it! My bestie and I have also started a book club together where we pick books we're both interested in and then discuss them a bit.
3. Compete! I'm a competitive person, against myself and against my friends. Goodreads satisfies this perfectly with their yearly reading challenge. I set my goal and every time I finish a book it updates my progress. I'm able to see my friend's challenges and at the end of the year they send me summary data of my year in books! I love it! My bestie and I have also started a book club together where we pick books we're both interested in and then discuss them a bit.
4. The Power of Habit: Building and keeping a routine here is key. The best way to begin is low expectations. I will listen to an audiobook for 10 minutes a day. Incrementally increase. I will read one page of a book a day. Incrementally increase. I will dedicate 5 minutes a day to reading. Incrementally increase. I will read on my lunch hour. I will listen while waiting for the bus/train. I will read the first 5 minutes I wake up. I will listen while brushing my teeth. Etc. Start small, start with a time of day that works. Try different times of the day. You will find what time of day, what types of books, what platform etc works for you. Keep at it and before you know it, you'll have developed a habit of reading.
5. Make it easy! I have 3 different platforms to get through books now, and I have to spend extremely little time looking for books to read next. The only thing I have to do now is find the time in my day for this. Like I've said above, I'm able to fit in about 2 hours of audiobooks a day due to my morning walks or really any driving time, that time no longer feels wasted! I try to get some e/book reading in either in the morning first thing when I wake up, or at night right before falling asleep! Don't have a commute? Listen while working out! While getting ready in the morning! While folding your laundry! While cooking!
Hope I was able to inspire you today!
-A
Purchase some of the items I mentioned here:
Purchase some of the items I mentioned here:
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