The Problem With Reading Goals
Every January, people set reading goals. "I'll read 24 books this year" — that's two a month, entirely achievable in theory. By March, the list is abandoned. The problem isn't ambition; it's that a number-based goal doesn't tell you anything about how to build the habit. Knowing you want to read 24 books doesn't tell you when, where, or what to read.
This guide is less about goals and more about systems — practical changes to your environment and habits that make reading easier and more likely to happen.
Find the Hidden Time
Most people say they don't have time to read. But consider how much time is spent in small pockets throughout the day: waiting for appointments, commuting, eating lunch alone, winding down before sleep. These fragments add up. Twenty minutes a day is roughly 120 hours a year — enough for a significant number of books, depending on length and reading speed.
The trick is to designate these moments rather than let them default to scrolling. A book on your phone's reading app is always with you. A physical book on your nightstand is a cue to read before sleep.
Set Up Your Environment for Reading
- Keep a book visible and within reach. If a book is on the shelf in another room, you won't reach for it. Put it on your desk, your bedside table, your kitchen counter. Visibility creates opportunities.
- Use your phone's downtime. Replace a social media app on your home screen with a reading app like Kindle or Libby (which connects to your local library for free ebooks and audiobooks).
- Have multiple books on the go. A different book for different moods — something light, something educational, something fictional — means you're never without a book that fits how you feel right now.
Quit Books You're Not Enjoying
This is underrated advice. Many people stall on reading because they're stuck in a book they don't actually want to read but feel obligated to finish. Guilt about abandoning a book keeps them from picking up one they'd love.
Give a book 50 pages. If it's not working for you, put it down. Life is too short and your reading list is too long. Quitting a bad book isn't failure — it's efficiency.
Try Audiobooks and Don't Feel Guilty About It
Audiobooks are books. Listening to a well-narrated novel or non-fiction work while commuting, cooking, or exercising is a completely legitimate way to engage with books. If you've been snobbish about this, reconsider. The goal is to encounter good ideas and stories — the format is secondary.
Reduce Friction, Not Willpower
| High Friction Approach | Low Friction Approach |
|---|---|
| Reading only when you have a long, quiet hour | Reading in 10–20 minute pockets throughout the day |
| Keeping books in a separate room | Keeping a book on your nightstand and desk |
| Finishing every book you start | Quitting books that aren't working for you |
| Rigid reading goals by number | A daily reading habit, however brief |
Start Smaller Than You Think You Need To
If you currently read very little, don't aim for an hour a day. Aim for five minutes. That sounds almost insultingly small, but five minutes of daily reading builds the habit, the cue, the identity of being a reader. From there, you naturally extend. Habits grow best when they start easy enough to be guaranteed.
The best reading habit is one you actually have — however modest — rather than an ambitious one you abandon by February.