How To Read So MUCH More This Year

In an increasingly digital age I think it’s getting harder for people to take the time to read because of the hundreds of readily accessible options for entertainment. There is just always something to do on your phone that is inherently easier than picking up a book and reading, whether you like it or not.

Recently I started tracking my entertainment consumption (including books, tv shows and movies) on Notion (my favourite productivity app) and I realised that I hardly read any books compared to the amount of visual entertainment I consume. So I have realised to read more books I need to get rid of the ‘I don’t have time’ excuse and start reading because believe me if I can watch that many hours of tv I could totally read that much too.

The 6 Best Tips To Read So Much More

1) Treat Books Like Internet Articles Or Videos (i.e. Don’t Feel Guilty About Not Finishing A Book)

How many blog posts or YouTube videos do you start reading or watching and give the ditch in the first few minutes because they are boring?

A lot right?

So why do we all start books, find them extremely boring and let them collect dust on our bookshelves while we tell ourselves that we will finish it, reading maybe half a page a week and then putting the book away again? 3 months later you still haven’t read a full book and haven’t started another story because you can only read one book at a time!

Stop feeling guilty about not finishing a boring book. After reading a few pages or chapters and you’re not feeling it, put the book down and start another one. No one will know that you put down the classic for a cheap romance novel. Read things that you enjoy! 🙂

2) Make Reading Goals And Track Your Reading Progress

I think the second most important thing after trying lots of book to find a good one is to make goals for your reading and track your progress. This could be either on paper or done digitally.

On Paper

You can get a printable reading journal and book review planner to help you get goals and track your reading progress. I created a printable like this which you can find in my Etsy shop here.

In this planner you can set reading goals, record books you want to read, record your reading in a reading log, make a book wish list, give a rating out of five stars to books, track library books you have borrowed and returned, write short or full page book reviews, write book summaries, track your reading habits over a year, challenge yourself to the 52 week reading challenge where you read a new book each week, record your favourite quotes, record your favourite books and record the books you have abandoned so you can move forward from that book and optionally come back to it later.

Digitally With Goodreads

Another option is to track your progress with Goodreads. You can almost call Goodreads a social media platform except it’s for reading. It lets users make reading challenges, find good books and rate and review books you have read. It’s a great app to track what books you have read in a year and if your friends use Goodreads as well you can see the books they are reading and how they’re reviewing them which can act as advice for your next book to read.

3) Have books available and accessible everywhere

This means having the book you are currently reading in physical book, e-book and potentially even audiobook form. Or you can just carry your book around everywhere, whatever works best for you.

Personally I like to have my book in physical form that I leave at home and I also like to have it in e-book form to read while I’m out of the house.

You might be thinking, well that’s expensive buying two copies of the same book. You can get around this setback.

My local library has an ebook library app which has thousands of books on it. I highly recommend you check if your library offers a similar service because then you can read books for free without no stepping a foot outside the house. I also really like having my book on my phone because sometimes you can feel self conscious whipping out a thick book on public transport or it’s awkward standing and reading so e-books are a fantastic alternative.

4) Ditch the mindset that you have to read ‘quality’ books e.g. classics

Some classic books are honestly quite boring. They can be thick and their storyline’s can be extremely slow. I suggest finding books that you truly want to read or that interest you rather than books that have been critically acclaimed for the past 50 years. If you want to read classics that’s totally fine, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read them but rather that you should be reading books that interest you instead of these books that are considered to be of high quality that you might not enjoy. Just remember rule one, stop reading a book if it gets boring and don’t feel guilty about it.

5) It’s ok to skim read

If you want to read more it’s ok to skim read some parts. For example if you are reading a fiction book and there are sections of long winded description and you really get the idea you can quickly scan through it and continue reading where it gets interesting again. It’s the same for non-fiction. If you are reading a non-fiction book and there’s a chapter on a topic you are not interested in just skip it! You will get the most out of your reading, finish books quicker and ultimately read more.

6) Make reading apart of your daily routine

You are more likely to read more if you make reading a part of your daily routine and make a habit of it. Personally I find allocating time to reading for half an hour to an hour before bed is the best. I suggest putting away your phone either outside your room or as far away from your bed as possible (this will also force you to get out if bed to turn of your alarm in the morning) to minimise the urge to scroll through your phone.

You can also use a Habit Tracker to help you form your reading habits. I also have a printable habit tracker available which you can check out here. And if you are interested in tracking more habits than just your reading you can check out this article I wrote about 61 Habits To Track In Your Bullet Journal.

Printable Reading Journal & Book Review Planner

Includes one PDF with 14 pages

USE THIS PRINTABLE TO:

• Record All The Books You Read For The Year
• Write Books Reviews & Summaries
• Set Reading Goals
• Track Reading Progress
• Make Book Wishlists
• Track Library Book Loans
• & much more

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

14 pages

• Reading Goals
• Books To Read
• Reading Log
• Book Wishlist
• Book Review Log
• Library Book Tracker
• Quick Book Reviews
• Book Reviews (Full Page)
• Book Summary
• Reading Tracker
• 52-Week Reading Challenge
• Favourite Quotes
• My Favourite Books
• Abandoned Books