A lot of us have a stack of books — some real, some digital — that we’ve paid for, but haven’t found time to finish. If you’re trying to read more every day, creating a system of triggers can help you stay on top of your reading list.
Picture: Pedro Ribeiro Simoes/Flickr
Reading, just like exercise, is a habit that needs to be developed over time. When you skip a day, you lose out on building a rhythm that fits into your routine. To help himself read more, Leo Babauta at Zen Habits created reading triggers:
Tie your new reading habit to different triggers throughout your day. For me, that has been 1) reading after I stretch and meditate, first thing in the morning, 2) reading when I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and 3) reading as I go to bed. That’s five triggers a day, and at four pages per session (or so), that’s about 20 pages per day.
Are you finishing a book every day? No, but even just 20 pages a day from your triggers gets you moving forward at a good pace. So create triggers that work for you. If you commute or spend your lunch break alone, get off the phone and pick up a book instead. Pick books you know you’ll want to read and you’ll build a good reading habit in no time.
The Delightfully Short Guide to Reading More Books [Zen Habits]
Comments
One response to “Read More Every Day By Creating Reading Triggers”
I read on the bus too and from work. I polish off a novel about once every one or two weeks.
I find reading much more satisfying than watching a show or movie.