My favourite reading hacks

In case you missed the 800 times I have mentioned it, this year has not been the greatest for my reading, especially over summer and being in quarantine. However there are some things that have made keeping up with reading just a little easier and I really wanted to let you guys know!

Priorities

I think this one goes without saying but instead of just repeating myself I would share how I make reading a priority. I have the best husband who allows me to have the time and space to read whenever I say I need to, however in the world of TV and Netflix reading can take a back seat. To counter this I make sure to set aside a time for reading and ensure that I use it, giving myself a target number of pages and don’t stop until I reach that amount.

Rewards

I use reading as a reward, which sounds really stupid but when I have a massively busy day where I know I’m going to struggle I make a deal with myself that if I hit a certain target I’ll allow myself the time to read 100 or so pages. It doesn’t seem to be the perfect solution but it adds something to the book making books seems to be more precious that they necessarily would be if they weren’t a reward.

DNF’ng

I used to be the reader who would never give up on a book, who would power through to the end because I felt like I needed to. BUT, all that would happen is that I would end up writing a negative review and it would put me in a slump rather than make me excited about reading the next one. So now I make the decision to put down a book that doesn’t excite me or make me excited about reading. It’s made a huge amount of difference and although I still feel an inkling of guilt when I put the book away but it has made for a better reading life in general.

Reading challenges

I have chosen to do a number of challenges this year to try to up my reading and not only that but push me out of my comfort zone which has been a really great motivator this year. Not only that but it has also helped me clear some of my back list and get rid of some of the books that have been sat on my TBR for a really long time!

Kindle and Audiobooks

The last one is more of a personal choice and preference but for some reason, I feel like I read a lot quicker on my Kindle than in physical copies. I think it’s the fact that I can change the way the book looks on my Kindle and I can see how long it’s actually taking to read the book. Plus I have a little bit of a commute for work at the moment so I have started to listen to books in the car which has been a great time saver.

What are some of your favourite reading hacks? Let me know.