The gist: coming from someone who used to read hundreds of books a year, this is the easiest, simplest way to spend more time reading.
I talk to a lot of people who say they want to read more.
And I'm always here for that kind of aspiration!
I also know a few ways to find more time to read.
Some work better than others, but the method I share in this post is by far what made the most difference.
About My Reading Habit
When I was at the height of my reading habit in 2014-2015, I read more than 400 books in one year (including novellas and shorter nonfiction books).
That is because outside of work, both paid work and unpaid work like commuting for work, personal care (showering, etc.) and house care (cleaning, etc.), pretty much all of my waking hours were spent reading.
And that's only until I tried audiobooks, and found ways to read during those times too. 🙃
Now, I don't necessarily recommend spending ALL your time reading. I had nothing else going on in my life at the time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
BUT that experience gave me infinite wisdom into how to read more...
When to read more...
How to read more...
And today I want to share my easiest tip for anyone trying to read more:
Read on Your Phone in "In Between Moments"
It's not fancy or ~~intellectual~~, but it works.
This is the easiest way to read more in a world where we're all addicted to our smartphones already.
Make sure you have an ebook app on your phone, and make it your go-to app through habit hacking.
Think about how you currently use other apps, like in which situations. Things like in line at a store, waiting for another person to show up to a Zoom call, and how you can get yourself to open an ereader app instead.
For me, the trick was to switch it on my homescreen with wherever my most-used social media app was.
I'd unlock my phone and muscle memory would kick in, immediately tapping a certain area of the glass. It'd open Kindle instead of Twitter, and I'd end up reading an essay from an anthology instead of scrolling political misery.
That's right, when you do this, you're going to be reading more and doomscrolling less at the same time.
You're welcome. 😀
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It's Not Fancy, But That's WHY It Works
I know people have romantic notions about reading when they decide to read more.
They imagine holding a hardcover on the deck of a log cabin in the woods. Even if they don't have a log cabin and don't like the woods. ¯\(ツ)/¯
They don't necessarily knocking out a page or two at a time on their phone screen while waiting in line at the grocery store.
But it's the time that's there to read, and probably time not spent doing anything else with your brain.
You're probably just scrolling social media. So scroll something better instead.
Just using this tactic, you can get through multiple books per month just from entertaining yourself in awkward waiting times in line, before meetings, and more.
If you're looking for books to fill this new time with, check out some of our favorites here.