1. 🤔Why?
Why do you want to read books anyway these days?
Is it because you want to learn a specific skill like cooking? Then don’t feel guilty about not being able to make time for other books.
Is it because you want to get lost in a fantasy world and escape real life for a bit? Then don’t feel guilty about not reading the other “smart” books yet.
Is it because you want to learn things helpful to real life? Then don’t feel guilty for dropping a book without completing it as long as you learn at least one useful thing from it that improves your life.
🔍 If you are searching for a reason to read books, then let me suggest one:
There’s a multitude of things you can learn about real life from reading good literature that you will just not learn from your formal education, even if you were to earn a Ph.D.
From learning about relationships, to leadership, to the art of communication, to the mindset that really helps you succeed in life, to the history of ancient civilizations, to amazing engineering feats, reading good books will open up your mind in a way no formal degree could replicate.
Many people feel guilty about not reading enough books. Just start where you have the most fun, or with books where you feel the most engaged. See if your “why” for reading books aligns with other life goals of yours.
This “why” can always change. You’re the explorer of this reading journey, you decide.
2. 🧠Watch Your Current Capacity
Start reading according to your current capacity. Maybe you’re in a busy phase of your life. You might not have the brainpower to sit down to read a complicated text in your free time.
Maybe you just want to look at the pictures. Maybe you just want to chill. You could pick up books that use easier language. Leave the other books for when you can make more time in your schedule or more brainpower.
If you want, by reading easier books you can at least set up a reading habit for yourself right now.
3. 👎Drop Books You Don’t Like
If you don’t like a book you’re reading, especially after you’ve read ~100 pages, feel free to drop it. It’s the author’s job to keep you engaged. Life is too short to waste time reading books you don’t like or find valuable (unless it’s your Organic Chemistry textbook that you HAVE to read to pass the class 😔 then good luck with that my friend🤞)
Maybe you’ll be interested in that book in another phase of your life. Or maybe, never at all.
4. 📃Make a List
When you pick up a book to read, add it to your “started this book” list. And have another list where you can check off completed books. That can help you stay motivated. It can also serve as a reminder of what lessons you took away from reading these books this year.
Remember, just because you didn’t finish a book, doesn’t mean you didn’t take away anything useful from it. If you want to take this a step further, you could write in a few sentences of your review of that book, or key lessons you learned. It can help you actually use the book to improve your life.
How to do it easy. When it comes to maintaining things, it helps to find the laziest, easiest way possible. If you use your phone a lot, just make a list in your Notes app that you can update easily. Or have a page or two in your journal if you journal regularly.
5. 🦢”Do Your Thang”
Hey hey hey!! Don’t compare yourself to the YouTubers who read 52 to 200 books every year okay?
You can read 500 books on productivity and still not make any significant changes in your life. So remember your “why”, and start reading according to your current capacity. See what you like, and how much you like reading in a day or month anyway.
Sometimes I take breaks from reading because I want to see what I can learn from my real-life experiences. If I read a few books but take my time to make changes in real life by practicing some lessons I learned from those books, then I’m happy because it matches with my current “why”.
So think back to your own reason why you’re into reading and as bts likes to say, just “do your thang” 🦢
P.S. get an e-reader. It’s easier to pick up whenever and read whatever. You’ll get much more reading done easily.
Faiza 