How to make Habit of reading Books daily? 5 Steps

There is a saying that goes- “Readers are leaders” and it seems to be so true.

Let’s check the facts.

Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft, reads more than 50 books per year, that is, roughly 1 book every week.

Elon Musk, when once got asked that how he learned to make Rockets without going to college, he said- “by reading books.”

Reading is hard, but only for those, who don’t have a regular habit of it. So how to develop one, let’s know.

1. Push Yourself

You remember exam times in school? I know you have not forgotten all those one-night-before-exam nights in college when you did not want to study but we all had to.

So what was the one thing that we all used to do on those nights- it was nothing but “Push Ourselves ahead.”

“Just getting started is tough work” and pushing ourselves ahead helps us in getting started.

So, just get the book and start reading it. And you are done with the first step. Congrats!

 

2. Buy/Borrow books of your interest

If you read a book just for the sake of reading, it is never gonna be a regular habit. So, to develop a regular reading habit, we want to read books that we really want to.

If you love reading fiction, read it.
If you love History, get a book on world war history.

In the beginning, it doesn’t matter what you study, what really matters is ”how much you study.” So don’t care about what you are gonna get out of the book, just read it.

3. Set Minimum Daily Target

So far you have pushed yourself, and have selected your favorite book as well. Now it is the time to ‘set targets.’

Setting daily targets is an essential part of developing a daily reading habit. So if you are a person who has hated books throughout his life, then you can start with a daily target like “one page each day.” If you have already read some books then you can set a daily target like ”10 pages a day.” Targets vary according to the type of book you are reading. Some are easy while others are tough.

Remember it doesn’t matter much how much you read, what matters more is that ”you read daily.” So be consistent.

 

4. Choose Specific Time(s)

There are certain times when it becomes very easy for us to completely focus on reading. Following times can help you in developing your daily reading habit.

a. when you go off to bed- some people (including me) really love to read books at night when they are off to bed. This time it is very easy to focus on reading. This time is perfect to read novels and biographies.

b. As soon as you wake up – In the morning, our focus is really good. If you are free in the morning, you can keep a book beside your pillow at night and can read that when you wake up in the morning. It is really good practice.

c. While traveling- I have seen some people who love reading in cars, buses or trains. You can try this one.

5. Listen to Audiobooks

In this digital world, it is not easy to focus on reading books, when there are notifications popping up every 2 minutes on your phone and your boss may call you anytime.

A good and time-saving alternative to this problem is Audiobooks. You can buy audiobooks on Amazon Audible and tune into them anytime you want (without having any distractions).

 

Following are some things that you want to avoid in your Developing-reading-habit journey.

1. Avoid reading books with hard vocabulary when you are just starting out.
2. Avoid books of genre you don’t like, in beginning.
3. Don’t buy too many books. It kills mood of reading. Just one is enough. Finish that one first and then consider buying next.
4. Buy less, borrow more!

 

Just 20 days and I believe you will do it. Good luck mate!