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How to catch up with your reading goals
Here’s how to catch up with your reading goals.
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Every reader began the year with much optimism: pledging to read 48 books on average in the Goodreads' annual Reading Challenge. (Shutterstock/-)
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span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#222222;background-color:#ffffff;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Every reader began the year with much optimism: pledging to read 48 books on average in the Goodreads' annual Reading Challenge. In February, many have abandoned their reading goals for other more important activities. And by June, the pledge has been mostly forgotten.
Worry not, the year is only half done. Here’s how to catch up with your reading goals:
Carry them everywhere
Bring at least one book wherever you go. Better yet, a Kindle. This book serves as a reminder, or to haunt you and invoke guilt if you don’t read.
No phones while waiting
These days, if you are in a waiting room without being glued to a phone, you are the weird one. People automatically look at their phone while waiting for anything. Extract the phone and add a book, and you’ll make progress with your reading every day.
E-reading
Install book-readers on your phone or laptops. This way, you can read books in your free time rather than scrolling up and down on every social media app you have. You actually spend much of your time reading: clickbait articles, mindlessly browsing reddit or streaming news on Facebook. Might as well use that time to read books.
Adaptation
Read the book version of a movie you like. Or better yet, a TV series. You can choose a lot of reading materials: from "Me Before You" to the gigantic "A Song of Ice and Fire" from which the "Game of Thrones" was adapted. Watching the film/TV series will familiarize you with the characters and the story, making it easier for you to jump into pages.
Allocate special reading time
The key with reading is to make it a habit. Allocate an hour minimum in your daily schedule for reading. Once you’re into the book, you will not realize that midnight has just passed. Sleeping can always wait for one more chapter.
Motivation
Reward yourself every time you finish one book (of course, for book readers, the reward is always new books). Or for book hoarders, ban yourself from buying new books before you finish those piles of unread books at home.
Track your reading
Path allows you to share what you are currently reading. Or better yet, take a picture of your good-looking book to be posted on your Instagram. You are a reader, and you should be proud of it. Plus, you will be ashamed if you don’t finish what you have already shared.
