Americans read an average of 12 books in the past year, a new Gallup survey reveals.
Reading can enrich your life in a myriad of ways, including, reduced stress, better sleep, improved memory, concentration, and focus.
It also activates the imagination and makes you more creative. So, if you’re looking to read more books this year, a number of simple habits can help you easily fit more reading into your schedule.
Make a Habit of Reading Morning and Night
If you want to read more, you need to start dedicating more time to reading. So, make reading a part of your morning and evening routines.
Start waking up a little earlier (at least ten minutes or even half an hour earlier), and enjoy a book while you drink your coffee.
And, in the evening, reading is a great time to unwind before bed. So, put down your phone and pick up a good book instead.
In fact, looking at screens for up to two hours before bed can negatively impact production of melatonin, a vital sleep hormone.
And, devices are also typically stimulating, which is counterproductive to relaxing and getting ready for sleep.
Books, on the other hand, can give your eyes a break from screens and help your body relax naturally. Once you start doing this often enough, it’ll become a part of your regular routine.
Try New Genres
After finishing a good book, it’s common for the book hangover to kick in – the mourning period during which you can’t stop thinking about the fictional world you’ve just left.
It can then be hard to find the motivation to move onto the next book. A great book hangover cure is to regularly switch up your genres.
So, for example, if you just finished a fantastic true crime series, dive into romance next. Or, if you’re still immersed in a fantasy world, make your next choice a comical memoir.
Switching up genres is a simple yet effective way to maintain your reading pace without book hangovers killing your vibe.
Jonathan Franzen’s popular books, for example, span multiple genres, including literary fiction and non-fiction. The Discomfort Zone, in particular, is a poignant, engaging memoir that documents Franzen’s adolescence.
Read an Excerpt Before Committing
Perhaps you’ve been attracted to a certain book due to a pretty cover or engaging synopsis, only for you to read a few pages before giving up on it. It happens to everyone.
But, if you find yourself picking up flops too often, it can easily kill your drive for reading. Fortunately, by allowing yourself to first check out an excerpt, you’ll know whether or not you want to commit to buying a book.
LitHub, for example, posts new excerpts from novels every day; it’s a great way to whet your appetite and discover new gems.
Fitting more reading into your schedule doesn’t have to be difficult. By making a habit of reading, trying new genres, and reading excerpts, you’ll be successfully able to read more books this year.
