How I maintain a reading habit

A few posts ago, I spoke about how I was a reader at some point, but now can’t read as fast or as much as I used to. I also compared myself to a ceiling fan because I am very poetic like that. I want to subject you to a Freudian deep-dive into why I struggle to read like I used to, but I’ll save that for another post.

Today, I’ll just talk about how I am getting back to reading. My focus is not on how to read more books or how to read faster. I am focusing on how to read – how to develop a habit of reading and stick to it.

I started with compiling different techniques from different sources. Some worked for me and some didn’t; I’ll go through both below. And in case these techniques do help me read faster or more, I’ll let you know.

Set aside time

I sit to read at the same time every day – 6:15pm. Initially, I started reading for 15 minutes a day. I would set a reminder on my phone and make sure to keep reading till the alarm goes off. Now, I easily read for 45 minutes, without an alarm.

So, I guess, we can say this technique worked. Multiple celebrities on my Instagram feed talk about how they set aside time to read every day. The Office actress, Jenna Fischer, does this first thing in the morning for 15 minutes and then journals for another 15. So yes, this method has worked for many people.

But, I think, only those who love a fixed schedule to their day can actually benefit from this. I personally like schedules, but if I am going through a slump where I am procrastinating more than usual, I tend to push the time I start reading, and sometimes don't read anything at all. I can see how reading is something you’d like to do whenever you feel like it and not on a schedule. 

Annotate

I have a special place in my heart for books that have notes left on it by people. It is as if I have a piece of their life to keep for myself. I like to imagine that if I ever lose my book in a train journey, and someone finds it, they feel the same way about my notes. And so, every time a thought pops up in my head while I read, I write it down.

If I feel ‘behooves’ looks like the Monopoly guy with comically small specks on, I make sure to note it down. Sometimes, in a horror book, the group decides to split up and I write Idiots! Sometimes, I’ll go a step further and write Watch a Ramsey Brothers’ movie for the devil’s sake! I also write brainy stuff like Male Gaze 101 or Karl Marx would be so unhappy if he saw how his Marxist theory is being butchered. You know, intellectual stuff.

 Here, I crack a dad joke about the media asking Soha Ali Khan if she wants 'Saifeena' to have a boy or a girl.

  

I quote our Existentialist boi, Jean Paul Sartre.

Some people hate writing on their books. But this has made reading so much more fun. Instead of looking at my brain chatter as a hindrance, I now look at it as an entertaining running commentary – maybe even a creative outlet.

 

Trace Lines

This one might come across a bit strange. I use my pointer finger to trace the line I am reading, like a first grader.

You know how when you get really excited about what’s going to happen in the story, and your eyes just skip forward to the end of the page? Tracing the line helps me stick to the word I am reading and avoid the temptation to jump ahead. It’s one word at a time, remember?

Dog-Ear

I used to be among the bookmark people. My friends told me that it’s downright disrespectful to fold the edge of a page and I just bought into it. Now, I allow myself to just fold the edges. (And you thought annotating was controversial.) I still use bookmarks, but I no longer understand the fascination with keeping the book in the exact condition it was in when I bought it. I think there is beauty in a worn-out book.

Sometimes there is entire chapter that just blows me away; or maybe it’s a quote I want to return to. And I keep track of it by folding over the edge. I write why I have folded the edge, on the fold itself – even something as simple as ‘quote’. 

Check out the number of Dog-Ears I have made on Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

I spoke about struggling with uncertainty in my previous post. I need to know the meaning of every single sentence, all the time. When I mark something or dog ear a page, I am telling my brain, ‘It’s okay if you don’t get this right now. We have marked it and we can get back to it.’

Create an Armour

Niemann Christoph said in his featured episode of the Netflix show, Abstract: The Art of Design, about Inspiration:

 “(…) It’s just about showing up and getting started, and something amazing happens, or it doesn’t happen. All that matters is you enable the chance for something to happen. You just have to do, and hope for the best. Just create an armour of craft around you.”

My friends are going to be rolling their eyes because I have quoted this line many times to them. But I always go back to it (I might quote it again, right here on this blog). Today, the reason is the final sentence – Creating an armour of craft around myself.

Part of the reason I gave up on reading was I wasn’t exposed to books as much as I was before. In school we had a library class, which meant point number 1 was covered – there was a set time to read. During my 3 years in college, even though I was an English Literature student, I stopped reading for pleasure. I read because I was expected to (Classics, I’m looking at you), and I had deadlines to meet.

I am now focusing on crafting an armour of books and reading around me. Following BookTubers and Bookstagramers is one way. For those who don’t know, BookTube is the side of YouTube where youtubers give book recommendations, review and critically analyse books. They each have a quirky style of their own, and often do things like review a T.V. show version of a book or try adopting the suggestions given by self-help books. Jack Edwards, Cindy Pham and Carley Thorne are my current favourites. Most of these people are also on Instagram.

I have also started my own Goodreads account. This website really feeds into the side of me that likes to go book shopping even though I have many unread ones lying around.

I subscribe to multiple monthly newsletters. The Written Circle has some good short stories on theirs. How I met your Mother actor, Josh Radnor, also writes newsletters (or Museletters, as he calls it) from time to time, with musings about life and many external links to interesting articles. 

These help as a daily reminder of why I had fallen in love with books in the first place. I’m falling in love with them once again.

 

Are there any techniques I missed? What techniques do you use to maintain a reading habit? Leave me a comment and let me know.