Don’t you love books? Love to read them, look at them lined up on a bookshelf, and talk about them? A book feels wonderful in your hands, too. But for all of our loving, we don’t read as much as we want to. Would you say the same? You want to read more. You want your kids to read more. With this in mind, our first blog series falls under the topic of #readmore. In this post, we’re delving into some practical steps to stack up reading time and finish more books.
Where do you find the time?
It may be difficult to devote hours to sit and read, but you don’t need a large chunk of time to increase your reading. Life can be hectic in different seasons. If you can’t carve out 90 minutes of reading time in one sitting, grab a few minutes here and there.
- Set aside 15 minutes before you start your day
- Take 20 minutes at lunch
- Turn the TV off at night and read instead
Stack up your minutes during the day. Here are a few tips we found to help develop a better reading habit.
1. Set a Goal
The saying goes, what gets measured gets improved. We do want to read more. But sometimes wanting is merely wishing. I wish I had time to read. I wish I read faster. I wish, I wish, I wish. But BPL’s Diamond Club has given us a gift. That gift is A GOAL – Read 75 books this year. And whether you reach that lofty goal or not, simply striving for it will no doubt increase the number of books you’ll read this year.
2. Borrow a Book
Borrowed books must be returned. There is a time limit built into a borrow. The due date acts as a motivator. Sure, we can buy books and add them to our To-Be-Read (TBR) list. But when we borrow, the book isn’t just TBR. It’s TBR by a specific date. It’s TBR today, not tomorrow. Borrow. Read. Return. Repeat. Borrowing is a motivator to read even more. Borrow a book from your library. They’ll have audio books and ebooks too. You can even load ebooks on your own Kindle or reading device.
3. Put a Book on Your Pillow
This tip comes from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. When you get up and make your bed in the morning, put a book on your pillow. (You can do this with your kids, too. Let your child pick out a bedtime book in the morning and put it on their pillow.) This will be a visual reminder to get in some reading time every night—a treat to look forward to. 1) Make bed 2) Put book on pillow It’s a simple action. But how many extra reading minutes would this simple action create? Try it out and let us know! By taking a few small steps you can increase your reading time this year. Build a lifetime habit that will enrich, inspire, and inform.