Six Rules for Improving Your Reading Practice
Reading is a practice, in just the same way journaling or playing music is. After making a conscious effort to read more this year, I’ve created a few rules that I follow to keep on track. I think you’ll find them helpful too.
1. Schedule reading time every day
Making time daily is essential, even if it’s only for 15-30 minutes. I write about the value of incremental growth because It has worked well for me. Making small daily gains is an effective way to accomplish your goals.
2. Remove the progress and clock from reading apps
If you read on the Kindle app on a tablet or phone, it can be helpful to declutter the screen by removing the progress info and the clock from the page view. I wrote about how to toggle that data here.
3. If you aren’t captivated, quit
Don’t finish a book that doesn’t work for you. Your time is precious; respect that, and know it is okay to put a book down that doesn’t inspire you.
4. Buy books you want to read
Keep a list of books you want to read or buy a few you plan to read. I know this can be a trap for some people with lots of bookshelf space they want to fill,, so do what works best for you. I usually have a few new books waiting to be read on my desk or on Kindle. This allows me some readily available choices if I want to dig into something different.
5. Use Focus Mode for iOS and iPadOS devices
If you are reading on an iOS or iPadOS device, create a Focus Mode that disables notifications when you open your preferred reading apps. It’s the ideal way to read and focus on a device that is otherwise a firehose of information.
6. Share what you are reading
Tell those around you about what you are reading. You don’t need to offer a full book report, but if there’s a neat fact or insightful anecdote, it’s worth sharing in the proper context. This is a great way to connect with the people around you, and maybe you’ll help someone else pick up their next book!
If you use only one of these rules, pick number 1. Sure, it seems obvious, yet how often have you wanted to do something and never really started doing it or didn’t dedicate regular time to accomplishing the goal? You need to commit resources to succeed at something, and If you make time every day for the things you want to achieve, you will be successful, even if it takes a while.
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