If you are following me on social media or here on my blog, you will know I love to read books. My love for books started at a very young age. I could stay up for hours to read a book. I had a library card and read so many books as a kid. Then I lost my interest in books because of high school. They force you to read certain books and suddenly I did not like reading books anymore. But the moment I went to University, I started reading again and I still do it (almost every single day). Maybe you are reading this because you want to start reading (again) or you just want to know how to read more books. We have our busy lives and sometimes we forget to make time for ourselves and to read. But don’t worry, even with a busy life, there are ways to read more books.
How To Read More Books
Read before bed
Reading before you go to sleep has many benefits in my opinion. The moment I started doing this, I noticed how fast I fell asleep every night and I also slept deeper and better in general. Reading in the evening makes me sleepy which is perfect if you want to fall asleep fast. It also lowers your stress levels and if you read every night for an hour (or longer) you can many books every single year.
Bring a book or e-reader with you
When I was a student at University, I had to travel for 30-60 minutes to school and 30-60 minutes back home. I travel by bus so I could take my e-reader with me and this way I could read a lot. These days I go to work by bike, I can’t do it anymore. But if you take the train or bus to work, this is the perfect way to read a little bit. I would recommend bringing a small book or your e-reader with you. Bringing a 700-page book with you is not ideal. I tried that one day.
Read instead of watching television
Another way to read more is to skip television time. When I go home from work (between 7 and 8 PM) I see people in every single house watching television and there is nothing wrong with it. As long as you enjoy it obviously. But if you don’t love the program on TV, you can easily turn the TV off and read a book instead. If you watch TV for two hours every single night, imagine how many pages you can read in those two hours. This way you can read a lot of more books.
Embrace Audiobooks
People love it or hate it. I have to be honest, audiobooks aren’t for me. Right now, I still prefer to read from my e-reader. But if you like Audio Books, this might be the way for you to read more books. You can listen to audiobooks everywhere. You can listen to it on the train/bus, while you are cooking dinner, or when you go out for a walk. The options are suddenly endless and this way you can definitely ‘read’ tons of books.
Read the books you love
If you go on social media, and you follow people who are also into reading, you might see them recommending books. But it totally possible that you won’t like those books. Everyone is different and has a different taste in books. I like to read tons of romance because it makes me happy. But other people like fantasy or crime. Find out what your thing is and stick to those books. The reason is that it will take you less time to read a book that you actually enjoy. There was one time I read a book I did not like and it took me a month to finish it.
Make time to read books
This is something I like to do on the weekends, especially on a Sunday. I love Sundays because I have time for myself, the stores are closed in the morning, so I can’t do my grocery shopping and Sunday mornings are just perfect to make time to read. Make a cup of tea (or coffee), and sit down on your couch with a cozy blanket. And just enjoy reading your book.
Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash
