How to read more

When the pandemic hit in 2020, I had just graduated, and I was still looking for a job. I had all this extra time being at home between lockdowns. So, I started looking into interests and hobbies I had in the past. Reading was one of them. I hadn’t read more than a few books in the past years, and they were mostly books I had to read for school. But in 2020 I started reading again and finished 45 books. In 2021, I read even more and finished 62 books.

I realized I love reading. And I couldn’t believe I hadn’t read for fun, not for school, in so long! So, I decided to make more time for it and that resulted in a record amount of read books. Do you want to prioritize reading as well and actually read more books? Here are my tips:

1. Make it a habit

Plan your reading. Make time for it. If you block out time for it, you’ll less likely skip it. Otherwise, making excuses is just too easy. I like reading before I go to sleep, so I can relax and stay off my phone. I also like to read in the morning on my days off from work. Starting and ending the day with a little reading has been a great way to start and end the day with some for me.

2. Set a goal

Goal setting is a great way to motivate yourself. I like to set a few reading goals on different aspects of reading. These are my 2022 reading goals:

Read 50 books
Read at least 6 nonfiction books
Try a new reading challenge

There are so many options on what your goals can be! Books read, pages read, reading 10 different genres, reading 30 minutes every day, … the option are endless. So, you can choose ones that motivate you and make you feel excited to read more.

3. Create monthly TBR’s

Monthly to-be-read piles are a great way to minimize decision fatigue if you have an huge amount of books you want to read. My list of books I still want to read is currently at 327, and it never seems to go down. By picking a few books to read each month, I only have to pick from 4 books instead of 327 that month. It’s also a great way to plan your books and read according to the season. You can pick romance books in February, horror or thriller in October, or a winter-themed book in December. There are endless possibilities.

How do you know how many books you should add to your monthly TBR? That’s up to you! I want to read at least 1 book a week, so each month I select 4 books. But if you like more options, you can make a larger list. Or if you read slower, you can of course make your TBR smaller.

4. Try a reading challenge

I love reading challenges! They definitely got me out of my reading slump in 2020, and they also minimize decision fatigue. There are so many fun reading challenges, all with their own intentions. This year, I’m participating in ‘The 2022 Diversify Your Reading Challenge‘ and ‘The Alphabet Challenge’.

Want some more reading challenge inspiration? Discover the challenges I participated in last year.

5. Keep a reading journal

A reading journal is a great way to remember or track what you read. You can keep a physical one and be very creative with it. Or you can keep a digital one, like me, to keep it more low maintenance. A reading journal can be anything. From keeping track of reading stats to creating collages inspired by the books you read, everything is possible. Which is what makes it so fun!

I love stats and keeping track of what I read, and that’s why I love the StoryGraph as a digital reading journal/tracker. And they recently added Buddy Reads, which is a great way to read more. You can read together with a friend and keep each other accountable.

There are so many ways you can read more books, but remember quality over quantity. It’s more important to love what you read, than how many books you read. What are your tips to read more?

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