Five Tips to Reach Your 2024 Reading Goal
Reading can be challenging.
Life throws a lot at people. A lot. Sometimes work is more mentally exhausting than we think it is, or we get sick, or we have family issues. Sometimes your doctor forgets to put the refill in for your medicine and you can’t concentrate enough to read (I’m struggling to write this post because of that very reason.) The point is, life is unpredictable.
It’s easy to look at the people who are reading hundreds of books a year and want to be them. It’s impressive. Beyond impressive. Reading more than one book a week? That’s insane.
I have no idea how they’re reading so much. Well… I have some idea, but it’s not realistic for me to pursue the same goal. I know it isn’t feasible for me.
All I can do is put the following five tips into practice and embrace what comes of it.
- Listen to audiobooks
I work at Starbucks. I get free Spotify premium. This means I get free audiobooks, too. And I am taking advantage of it.
Listen to audiobooks when you clean, when you cook, when you walk, when you brush your teeth, or when you drive. If I’m up moving around, doing something, I have my headphones on and a book playing in my ears. I’ve also picked up crocheting (I’m sitting here with little crocheted leaves on my headphones.) and I listen to audiobooks when I crochet. I’m having a lot of fun with it.
Thanks to audiobooks, I’ve read an additional two books this month. Two. I know that may not seem like a lot to some people, but it makes me happy. And that’s what matters.
To those of you who don’t believe audiobooks count as reading, at least respect that it’s the only way some people ever get to experience books.
2. Read ebooks
You do not need a Kindle or an ereader to read ebooks. Your phone works, too.
Carry whatever you read your ebooks on with you everywhere you go. Put it in your purse or bag, and carry it with you to work, to the store, or to social events. You never know when the opportunity to read might arise. Maybe you show up early to dinner and you have a few minutes you can spare to read a few more pages of your book. Read on your breaks at work. Read while you’re waiting to checkout at the store.
If reading whenever you can doesn’t sound that appealing to you, another reason to read ebooks is that they’re easier to hold. Significantly easier. They’re also lit so you can read in the dark or late at night when you’re in bed and should be asleep.
3. Have a designated reading spot
This tip is a little less feasible for most people. I don’t have a designated reading spot because I don’t have the space to have my own reading chair (It is a life goal though, trust me.) nor my own reading room.
However, if you have the space, designate a spot for your reading. That way, if your head is feeling funky and your concentration is lacking, you can sit in that spot and it will come easier. It won’t exactly work this way at first. You need time for the spot to become paired with reading, but with time your brain will start to associate that spot with reading and it will come more naturally.
In addition to this, you can also fill this spot with cozy things such as candles, snacks, tea, etc. Anything you feel would add to your reading vibes. This would also give you something else to look forward to while you read.
4. Habit stack
If you’ve tried listening to audiobooks and they just aren’t your jam, if you found reading in Walmart to be odd, and if you don’t have a spot, try habit stacking. Habit stacking is when you take a habit that’s already formed and link it with the habit you want to form. This, in turn, makes it easier to establish the new habit. It naturally becomes part of your routine.
For example, if you shower every evening, read after your shower. Over time, the habit of showering that’s been established will become strongly associated with reading, the desired habit. When you shower, you’ll feel the urge to read and it will become enmeshed in your routine. Over time, you’ll read more.
Look at your daily routine. What do you do everyday? When can you put reading into your day? If you are the type of person who likes to set page goals or read for a certain period of time, start with a small goal such as ten to fifteen pages or ten minutes of reading. It becomes more feasible if the goal is smaller.
That being said…
5. Set a realistic reading goal
Look. I get it.
I want to be impressive, too. I want to read a lot, too. I’d love to read a hundred to a hundred and fifty books a year.
But I know myself.
Setting a lofty goal like that is setting myself up for disappointment. And I do too much, manage too much, balance too much to be disappointed in myself over something as silly as how much I read. I do not have a lot of free time and I won’t waste that time feeling bad because I couldn’t finish a six-hundred page book in a day and a half.
Be gentle with yourself. Look at your schedule, look at how your life is going to evolve over the next few months and align your reading goal with it.
For example, I’m moving out of my parent’s house this year. I started a second job that actually uses my degree. I’m transferring stores at work. I’m working through trauma I just realized I had.
I will not be reading as much. I will not be writing as much.
And that is perfectly okay.
It is not a competition. Reading is meant to be a source of comfort, not a source of pride.
Read what you can, when you can, how you can, and be happy with what you’re doing. Whatever you can do is more than enough.
That being said, I am more than confident that all of you will reach your goal this year. We all will. And if we don’t, that’s okay, too. We’re still going to read a few good books.
How many books do you plan on reading this year? I set my goal as forty, I believe, and I’m comfortable with that number.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think!