- Select books that you are actually interested in reading – not what you see others post about or that one book that you are never getting to. Actually pick a book you know you will read.
- Set a duration for how long you will read – yes, I know it’s easy to say I will read until I am tired … yeah that will mean that you wont really challenge yourself to reach that reading goal or maybe you will not push yourself to take in as much information as you can. Setting a duration will help you have a target that you can aim for so that you actually make progress as you read.
- Set a time for when you will read – we fool ourselves when we make statements like ‘I will read at some point today’. The fact that there isn’t a set time is problematic and prone to allowing us to have an ‘out’ – I just couldn’t find the time today! So to ensure that we aren’t setting ourselves up for failure, pick a time when you will actually read!
- Create the environment – yes, if you read best when there is jazz playing in the background (see my playlist here) then ensure you have your playlist ready. If you need snacks around, then do so – go get em and have em ready so you don’t have to interrupt your reading.
- Track your reading – there are apps like Goodreads that do a great job tracking the page that you are currently on and when you complete a book. The app even keeps track of the books that you have read this year. Oh and its a free app! SO there really isn’t a reason why you wouldn’t track your reading.
- Have a dictionary close – listen, there is nothing more frustrating than encountering a word that you don’t know that causes you to lose context on what the author is talking about. Not having a reference like a dictionary or a phone lookup handy will slow down your reading and enjoyment of your reading time.
- Get an accountability partner – this could be an actual person or an app like Streaks (see post here on how to use Streaks). This is an important step as many times we don’t share our goals so when we stop pursuing them we tend to let ourselves off easy. We tend to forget why we set the goals in the first place so its important to have someone check in on us to ensure that we are not only on track but can remind us why we are pursuing said goal.
- If you find an author you like, take a peek at what else they have written and get into more! I love the Heath brothers: Chip and Dan. Their books on change and habits are some of the most practical and easiest to follow so when I completed their book Made To Stick, I kept going and read their next book Stick and will soon be reading their third book The Power of Moments. The key is to find a topic or author or writing style that speaks to you and keep going.
