My 4 Tips to Read More

Hello Everyone!

Today I am going to be sharing my tips for one of the age old questions in the bookish community: “How do I read more?” Every reader has asked this question at some point and I myself have watched many videos and read many posts on it, some of which were more helpful than others. Today I wanted to share my top 4 tips to read more than I’ve found have worked for me over the years.

Everyone is different and for some these might not be attainable, so just remember that these are what have worked for me and they won’t necessarily work for everyone, so don’t worry if you they don’t. I encourage you to do your research on the topic like every other reader and eventually you will find what works for you.

Read Everyday

My number one tip for reading more is to commit to reading every day. I did this in 2018 and the amount of books I read a year went from about 20 to almost 80! The only rule I set for myself was that I had to pick up a book and read at least 1 sentence. If I did that, then I’d succeeded. Occasionally, I was having a bad day and would only read the one sentence, but 9 times out of 10 I’d pick it up expecting to only read a sentence and actually end up reading at least a chapter if not more.

Reading every day meant I was making active progress in whatever I was reading at a constant rate, which helped me finish books so much faster because I wasn’t abandoning them for days at a time. I used to struggle to read more because I ‘wasn’t in the mood’ or I was ‘too tired’ and yes sometimes those things were true and those were the times I read a sentence and put the book down, but most of the time I realised that I actually did want to read and I just couldn’t find the energy to start. Committing to reading that one sentence gave me the motivation to pick the book up and more often than not that sentence hooked me in and I ended up reading quite a lot.

I know reading everyday might seem like a big commitment at first, but it isn’t as hard as you think it will be, especially if you stick with my rule of at least 1 sentence and it still counts. I also found it drastically improved my mood and mental health when I was actively prioritising doing something I loved everyday, so give it a try and see how many more books you can read!

Bring a book with you everywhere

This is probably the most common tip on this list, but it is a good one. Sometimes life happens and you’ll find yourself with a free period, stuck in traffic or any other number of situations that will give you time to read and there’s nothing worse than realising you have a free hour and wanting to read, but not having your book on you. So bring it everywhere and you’ll never find yourself in that situation.

Use it to quit a bad habit

Something I used have heard a lot online is the idea of replacing using your phone with reading a book. This usually comes from people who are (in my opinion) a little to obsessed with the idea that social media is bad and we should all stop using our phones so much, which I don’t agree with, but I do like the idea. The basic idea is that you replace a ‘bad habit’ with reading until it becomes the new habit. I used to use this at school during lunch and break times to stop myself from snacking so much. I’m a bit of an emotional eater and school made me very stressed, so i would often eat a lot at school when I wasn’t actively distracted, so I started reading instead, which helped me kick the habit.

You can replace any habit you like with reading. It could be whenever you mindlessly reach for your phone, procrastinating doing homework (at least your then doing something productive) or even something more serious like smoking. Ingraining the habit of reading everyday is really going to help you read more like I mentioned in the first tip and replacing it with a bad habit is a quicker and more effective way to do that.

Read what you want to read

My fourth tip is to just read what you want to read. Forcing yourself to read books that you aren’t super hyped about it a waste of your time (unless it’s for school or work in which case tough luck I’m afraid), so don’t bother to keep reading something your not enjoying and don’t be ashamed to re-read your favourite series for the 10th time if that’s what you want to do. You’ll find your motivation to read new books eventually, so in the mean time just keep reading and don’t worry about what other people think.

So those are my 4 biggest tips for trying to read more! At the end of the day, everyone reads at a different rate, so don’t compare your reading progress to other people’s. Challenging yourself to read more for the sake of yourself is a great idea and if you’re anything like me then it will probably make you feel better on a day to day basis too. Making time for yourself is really important and I think a lot of us bookworms find reading to be one of our number one self care tips, so make time for reading everyday like you make time for yourself everyday!

I hope my short list of tips helped someone in one way or another and I wish you all luck with incorporating more reading into your life! Feel free to tell me how you’re getting on either down below or over on my Instagram where I’m always happy to talk: @theoriginalbookdragon

Goodbye for now!

Over and Out