Become an Avid Reader: 5-Steps to Develop a Reading Habit
It is not unknown to anyone that reading is a great habit and everyone should read more to lead a healthy life, both mentally and physically. Yet, many individuals struggle to embark on their reading journey even if they want to. With this highly busy lifestyle and the increased influence of digital entertainment, it takes a little more effort to read a book than just thinking about it.
There are a handful of benefits of reading and that is why you should read even more. If you are still not aware of the beneficial sides, here are a few that can motivate you.
• Helps to upgrade your brain and mind
• Improves personal skills and makes you more interesting
• Opens the doors of other worlds with knowledge and creativity
• Helps to improve memory, focus, and concentration
• Helps to fight against stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues
Feeling motivated enough? Well, motivation alone can not help you develop a reading habit. Therefore, here are 6 effective strategies that can help with it.
1. 25 pages per day
Clearly, in order to develop a regular reading habit; you have to read a book every single day. Sounds quite simple right? Well, only a few manage to do it. It is not reading but consistency that matters the most when developing a habit. Reading books must become a daily priority. If you think professionally, most people get paid for using their brain and knowledge and book helps to upgrade that. So, it offers the best ROI for investing your time in reading.
For starters, try to read at least 25 pages per day which takes around an hour on average. So, this is the minimum limit, not the maximum. You can slowly increase the number of pages once you get used to it. It is a simple enough target to keep track of and develop your habit without going too hard.
Check this out too: Reader Persona vs Buyer Persona
2. Read at the same time every day
When you repeat an activity at the same time every day, it gets easier to develop the habit and reading is no exception. Go ahead and opt for a suitable time to read and use that time to read every day. It can be the nighttime before bed or the early morning hours before start your day for work. The latter is highly recommended for beginners as reading after waking offers a good boost for the rest of the day and the essence remains for long. You can also try to change your bad habits with a good habit of reading that offers additional time. For example, people spend hours scrolling through social media platforms. You can change that by simply reading a book in your spare time.
3. The Habit Sandwich
The habit sandwich is referred to the process where something new gets familiar by keeping it in between two already familiar elements. For example, “Hey Ya!” by OutKast became a hit number after it was played multiple times between two “familiar” songs by the Radio Stations. This sandwich technique can also help in reading if you do it between your two familiar activities or already existing hobbies. For example, if every morning you do your breakfast and take a shower; you can easily sneak a little time for reading in between which makes it a part of the routine.
4. Push Reading into a well-established routine
If you already have an established routine for every day, you would have to push reading into it by switching to one task or another hobby. You can also multi-task in some cases just add reading into it. Here are some clever ways to do it.
• Read while listening to music
• Read while daily commuting to work
• Read whenever you sit with a meal alone
• Instead of watching more series every day, take an off from digital timing and read more when you get back home. It can help to reduce your stress a lot.
5. As a Default to Boredom
Read, whenever you get bored. Whether it is your bus going to arrive in 5 mins or you are waiting at the doctor’s clinic; read a book whenever you get time or feel a little bored. Always carry a book and it will eventually improve your habit.
Bottom Line
Modern-day reading habits are changing with technological advancement. So, it does not matter what medium you are reading in. If it suits you, just go for it whether it is a hardcover, paperback, or an e-book on Kindle or iPad. Keep reading and see the change!
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