Benefits of Reading

How Make Your Reading a Habit

Reading is an incredible way to spend your time. Not only is it deeply fulfilling, it also can have to a reader’s mental, physical, and emotional health. However, with today’s fast-paced world, many often have a hard time making reading a habit on a consistent basis. If you struggle to maintain reading as a part of your daily routine, try a few of these tricks to help commit yourself to regularly reading:

Embrace The Audiobook

If you have a long commute each morning or simply focus better on audio-based material, check out audiobooks! Not only is it a great way to pack more reading into your day, it’s also beneficial in nearly every way that reading traditional books is. If you’re driving to work or doing the dishes, you can cram more reading into your day by listening to an audiobook while you do!

 

Have a Reading Hour or Reading Day

To ensure that you have time in your day to spend with a book, carve out some time in your schedule for reading. This might be 30 minutes to an hour spent at the end of each workday, or several hours of marathon reading on the weekend. Whatever it is, mark that time in your calendar or planner as designated reading time, then stick to it. After a few blocks of reading time, you’ll find that it’s easier and easier to stick to.

 

Get A Book Buddy

Creating habits is always easier when you have a friend to keep you accountable. Plus, reading can be lots more fun when you have someone to discuss your latest read with! Whether it be a book club or just a friend to read along with, finding someone to be your book buddy doesn’t just make reading more enjoyable, it also will hold you accountable to your reading goals and keep you in line.

how to make reading a habit

Credit @Victoria_Borodinova

Use a Reading Tracker

Keeping track of your reading is a great way to motivate yourself to read more and stay excited about your reading endeavors. Apps like StoryGraph or Goodreads are great for tracking which books you’ve read, and can even include features like setting and tracking your reading goals, writing reviews for the books you’ve finished, and recommend you future reads based on your past likes and dislikes.

 

Always Have A Book On Hand

Sometimes it can be hard to build a designated chunk of time into your day to read. However, if you’ve always got a book on hand, finding time to read is easy! Whether you find yourself stuck waiting at the doctor’s office or sitting in a restaurant waiting for a friend to arrive, you’d be surprised by how many minutes of the day you could be spending reading. Keep a book in your bag at all times and get used to reaching for it whenever you have a minute. The time you spend reading will quickly add up!

 

Read Fun and Compelling Books

A common error many beginning readers run into is trying to force themselves to read the “right” books – the most intellectual, most critically acclaimed, or most difficult reads. However, forcing yourself to read books that don’t truly interest you is the quickest way to burn yourself out on reading and lose interest. Choose books based solely on what truly interests you and gets you to keep reading, whether that be action-packed adventure novels, thrilling romance novels, or suspenseful mystery novels.

 

Make It Pleasurable

Finding time each day to read is an act of self-care, so make it a fun time! Give yourself a comfortable place to read, settle in with some comfortable clothes, and make yourself a warm drink. Treat your reading time as a special, treasured time. After all, it’s probably one of the few times in your day that you get to spend completely by yourself, doing something for you! Treat it as your end-of-the-day reward or early morning quiet time and look forward to it each day.

 

Raising children with a regular habit of reading daily is a great way to ensure they have a great start in life reaping the benefits of reading. You can foster a love of reading for your child by providing them reading material in an engaging, accessible way with a Tidy Books bookcase and help them reap these benefits through their childhood and the rest of their lives.

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About Géraldine Grandidier

Géraldine is Tidy Books’ founder, designer and CEO, as well as mum to Adele and Emile. She started Tidy Books in her violin workshop because she couldn’t find a good bookcase for her kids. Now her Tidy Books bookcases and storage designs are encouraging independence and a love of reading in kids all over the world.

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