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Like me, did you set yourself a goal or new year resolution to read more in 2022? Maybe you’ve set yourself a target to read 50 books this year or maybe it’s just to read one book a month – either way, it can be tricky to fit this in especially in this age of technology and sitting down to read can sometimes take a backseat alongside work and our social lives. Here are my top tips on how to read more books this year…
1. Always have a book on the go
This one might sound kind of obvious but honestly that limbo between finishing one book and starting another could very well be your downfall and the thing that throws you off the wagon as such. Try to get into the habit of literally picking up and beginning one page or one chapter of another book as soon as you finish your last.
This way you’ll ride the wave of momentum and won’t be stuck in book-limbo where you might procrastinate about picking up your book and reading it for days, weeks or even months.
2. Give audiobooks a go – even if you’re doubtful…
I’ve always definitely been a hardcore hard-copy kinda gal and it’s taken me years to finally give in and give audiobooks a go, with my Amazon prime subscription though I ended up trialing Audible and damn, did it came in handy!
During the pandemic I started to walk a lot and it was only then that I started listening to podcasts and audiobooks because it was convenient, I could go for a 45-60 minute walk during my lunch break and gegt through multiple chapters of a new book whilst getting my steps in – multitasking!
3. Try to read more than one book at a time
This tip ties in a little with the last tip. I’ve never been good at reading two or more physical copies of something at the same time but I know a lot of people who are, so if that’s you then I would definitely recommend this to help you read more this year. What I’d suggest is picking books that are very different in genre and theme, so perhaps a romantic novel or chick lit, a non-fiction and maybe a thriller so you won’t get any of the books confused and muddled in your head.
Alternatively, what I do is listen to an audiobook and read a physical copy of a book at the same time, the audiobooks I listen to are always non-fiction as I find this a lot easier to listen to whilst I’m doing another activity such as walking or cooking and then I like to sit down and immerse myself in fiction with a hard-copy. Find whatever works for you and roll with it.
4. Choose your books mindfully
What does choosing a book mindfully mean? Well, to me it means actually engaging my brain, thinking about the book and it’s theme, author and style and asking myself if I really want to read it.
I’ve been guilty of just grabbing a lot of books at the charity shop without even properly looking at them or asking myself if I really want to read them, I then end up with a to-be-read stack of books I know very little about and some that I do not enjoy at all.
This year I made a conscious and mindful effort to research the books I wanted to read or choose books from authors I know I love because this has ultimately made me look forward to tackling my stack because I’m excited to read them!
5. Join GoodReads to track your progress
Accountability always helps and GoodReads is a great app for tracking the books you’re reading and curating a list of books you really want to read. You can also add your book-loving friends on there, set yourself a reading challenge (how many books you want to read) and submit and read reviews on millions of books.
6. Make sure you’re enjoying it
This is the most important tip by far, make sure that you’re not forcing yourself to read when you don’t want. It’s the same as anything else in our lives, if we’re not enjoying it we’re not going to want to do it.
If you’re super busy at work and the thought of making time to read is only adding more stress to your day then postpone your read until the weekend and maybe read a little more to make up for the lost time.
Take the time to fully immerse yourself in whatever you’re reading, absorb every word and enjoy the process!
