How I became an avid reader

September 18, 2021 . 2 minutes read

Read 5mins a day. That’s it. Nothing more nothing less.

At first, it might look like an easier task to accomplish, but trust me it is not. I have missed many days to read at least for 5mins and it took me a while to build it as a habit.

The basic rule of thumb for building a habit is to make it obvious i.e, easy to do/perform. So, I created a simple one.

Every morning I will open the iBooks app on my iPhone and read for 5mins during my tea time.

This simple change made a huge difference in my goodreads reading challenge. My goal was to complete 10 books this year, and I’m already in my 14th book. And truth be told, even though I set out to read 5mins per day, sometimes I get carried away and read more than half an hour to 1 hour. And that’s fine for me. It’s a good side effect. Also at times, I deliberately put the effort in the late evenings to complete a book if I have fewer pages so that I can start a new book the following day.

“Success is the product of daily habits not once in a life time transformations.” - James Clear

To conclude, the secret to become an avid book reader is to start with 5mins a day and be consistent with it. There is no magic pill.

Some like to read a physical book and others like the epub/pdf version. For me, I’m comfortable with both. As long as I’m making progress it doesn't matter where I read.

Choose what works best for you and build your habit. Your habits shape your identity.

Stay happy. Stay healthy.