“Oh, yes!” the woman bubbled. “I just finished, and I didn’t want to stop reading!” We chatted briefly through the remaining descent, and when we got off and she turned toward the library and we turned to the outside door to go for a walk, my husband said, “30 seconds and you found a kindred spirit.”
A friend recently asked me how I make time to read, and what I’d recommend for more effective reading. What a great question! Since I couldn’t conceive of a way to whittle my answer down to a Facebook reply, I promised her a blog. Here it is.
I make time to read because I love to read. I love to read both for the experience of the books themselves and also for the community of other readers that shares that experience. The tribe of people who recommend books, discuss books, and take my recommendations. So if you want to grow your love of reading, be on the lookout for other people who love reading—people in your life or online. Get recommendations, talk about books, recommend books.
Find a book you enjoy. The recommendations are important because they will help you find a book you enjoy. Everything is easier if you enjoy it, and harder if it’s a grit-your-teeth duty. If you want to develop a reading habit, find a book you enjoy. Brain exercise is like physical exercise—if running doesn’t work for you, try biking or Pilates. Don’t feel like you have to read Moby Dick or Anna Karenina. Get recommendations from friends, librarians, booksellers, and online resources. Feel free to abandon books that don’t capture your attention. I used to feel a moral obligation to the author to finish every book I started. But with gray hair has come the wisdom that there are too many good books available to bog down in one that is slowly suffocating my desire to read.
Because I love to read, I naturally gravitate to reading. Still, in the busyness of today’s world, habits and intentionality protect and increase time to read. My go-to for free time is a book—hard copy or Kindle. I carry one with me to read during wait-times: in the doctor’s office, before the concert starts, waiting for the bus, during commercials while watching with Jeopardy with my parents-in-law. (Audio books also count, but I don’t have a significant car commute, and I can’t seem to focus on pure audio input—but I know people who listen while they clean house or cook.) Being an empty nester, I deeply appreciate that without children’s homework and bedtime routines to supervise, I can look forward to reading in the evening after supper as well as on weekends and vacations.
Some people advocate setting a time for starting habits: I will read for 15 minutes during my lunch. (Again, like exercise.) My husband went through a period of setting a clock alarm for 7:30 p.m., and when it went off, it was time to set aside the computer and pick up a book. Once the habit was well established, he no longer needed the alarm.
Another way reading is like exercise is that stamina is built over time. You don’t go from couch potato to marathoner over night. In the same way, even with a book you enjoy, don’t expect to read for 2 hours on Saturday if you haven’t read a book in the past year. But also, if you lose concentration after 10 minutes, don’t give up. Ten minutes is better than nothing, and 10 minutes a day adds up over the year. And after a week of 10 minutes a day, try edging it up to 15 minutes. If you get up to 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week, that’s nearly 87 hours per year, or more than 10 books that you wouldn’t have read otherwise.
Remember the book Pachinko that started this whole ramble? I loved Pachinko because as a long-time resident of Japan, I know a bit about Japan, but this book helped me understand the family history of many of the Korean friends and students I have known in Japan. And then it sparked this elevator connection. And then later that same day the friend to whom I’d given my copy of Pachinko when I left Japan last month messaged me. She had just finished the book and wanted to share her excitement. The following day, I had lunch with another friend, and she said, “I’ve heard a lot about this book Pachinko. Should I read it?”
This is my tribe. I love them. Join us.
P.S. Need more motivation? Try this article: “10 Benefits of Reading: Why you should read every day.” Lana Winter-Hebert. Lifehack. 4 June 2019.
P.P.S. Need more specific ideas for carving out time? Try this article: “8 Ways to Read the Books You Wish You Had Time For.” Neil Pasricha, Harvard Business Review. 10 April 2019.
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