Although retirement grants you more time to enjoy your favorite hobbies, you might still find it difficult to achieve your reading goals. Do you have an always-growing to-read list of classic literature, innovative new novels, absorbing biographies, and fact-filled nonfiction? If you want to tackle them all, you may need to learn how to read more! Scroll down for some helpful tips.
How to Read More
Don’t set overly lofty reading goals.
Goals are great, but only if they’re achievable. If you set impossible goals, you’ll inevitably fail to reach them, which may leave you feeling depressed about reading and less likely to pick up a book. Instead, try to set small goals that you can happily cross off your list (such as reading one book per month). This will leave you feeling proud, accomplished, and ready to read more.
If you don’t like a book, quit it!
Life is too short to read books you don’t like! If you’re struggling to get into a book, don’t force yourself to read it. Set it aside, and find another book you enjoy. Although it may feel like quitting at first, you’ll actually be freeing up more time to read great books. Also, don’t be afraid to skim! If you find a chapter boring, breeze through it to get to the more exciting sections. Remember that this isn’t a school assignment – you can read however much (or however little) you want!
Don’t be afraid to indulge in your preferred genre.
Many readers have a tendency to pick up books that they feel they ought to like, not the books they actually enjoy. Maybe you’ve always thought you should read Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. Maybe your friend keeps pushing you to read biographies of former presidents. Maybe you’ve always wished you were a person who read poetry. Whatever the case may be, try to distinguish between the books you want to read and the books you think you ought to read. And don’t be afraid to indulge in whatever you like best, whether that’s imaginative fantasies, thrilling mysteries, adorable romances, or heart-wrenching memoirs.
Always have a book handy.
If you want to take advantage of the extra time in your day, you need to always have a book on hand. Consider carrying a book or e-reader in your purse. Whether you’re in a doctor’s waiting room or sitting on the couch watching commercials, you can pull out your book and squeeze in another few pages.
Find the time in your day.
When people say that they’re too busy to read, they typically mean that they don’t prioritize reading. If you want to read, you can undoubtedly find time for it in your day. Look at your typical daily schedule and figure out where you could spare an hour or so. For many Americans, the simplest solution is to reduce the amount of TV that they watch each day. Or maybe you could sacrifice time spent playing games on your phone? Or maybe you could read a book while sipping your morning coffee? You may have to make a small sacrifice in order to read more.
Make it part of your routine.
If you want to read more in the long term, we highly encourage you to create a reading habit. Dedicate a particular portion of your day to reading, and try not to stray from it. Reading before bed is a common choice because it may also help you fall asleep, but you could also try reading over breakfast, after lunch, or at any other time that works well for you.
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Now that you’ve learned how to read more, it’s time to head to your favorite local bookstore or library! Armed with these tips, you can finally tackle those books on your bucket list!
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