Most of my readers and many of friends, always ask me on how they can be a more avid reader, what type of books should they read and if I have to sum up all this- Where exactly to start to build up the habit of reading? While this question is quite subjective, I’ll try my best to provide an answer that’s not just words, but a practical solution 🙂

To start, ask yourself a question- Why do I want to cultivate the habit of reading? An answer to this question will actually help you in understanding if you should continue or not. If as an answer to this question, you are able to jot down even one reason that fascinates you about reading, then -Welcome to the Gang! You should work on building this new habit and i can assure you, you wont regret it.

Reading is a habbit that can be easily acquired, with the right time management skills and selection of books. Here I am going to share, how I built on my habit of reading, and I hope this is helpful to you too.

Set up a reading time. I started by following the basic rule which is to spend at least 15-30 minutes, everyday reading any book that you love. It is said, that if you are able to perform an activity for consecutive 30 days it will turn out as an habit. I dont know if this is true, but it really worked for me and I am sure it will work for you too. Take out some time everyday to read your favourite books. The time that you want to freeze for reading completely depend s on you.. If you feel that you cant read more than 10 minutes, then keep it 10 minutes. 10 minutes of reading everyday and with time just increase this slot from 10 to 20 minutes and so on.

Choosing books for reading. You are a budding reader, so when you are just initiating the process, make sure that you don’t get overwhelmed by the genres of books. Select a book that you really want to read. I started with Harry Potter 🙂 Similarly if you feel drawn to a specific kind of content, then read that types of books in these 30 days. Another point here is selecting short books. While selecting these books make sure that the length of the pages don’t exceed 350 or 400. Keep it short and it will be easy for you to complete those books.

Reduce distractions like phone or televisions. Televisions and Phone could be a big distraction if you are building up on a reading habit. Always make sure that you build your own reading nook, which is calm, has good light, airy and that motivates you to read, and indulge in that story. You can put some soft music in the background, I’ve heard that works for many readers, but for me Music is a big No- No, I get distracted easily, i might sleep listening to music.

Create an account on Goodreads. If you want to be a reader, surround yourself with other readers, see what they are reading, when they share a review of a book, read that, it will help you in understanding if you should/or not read a book. Also listening to other readers, helps in understanding their perspective on a book, which just widens your thought process, and help you appreciate others perspectives too.

Goodreads is an amazing platform for book lovers where you can bucket your books under three major headings: Read, Currently reading and Want to read. The best part of this app is that it can be linked to Amazon and you can easily buy it from there. This app will also help you in keeping a track of how much you’ve read. Add daily updates and check your progress.

Finally push yourself everyday to read a sentence extra!