How to build a reading habit that lasts
Want to read more but never find the time? Eight small, realistic ideas for a reading habit that lasts, drawing on research into how habits form.
· 3 min read
In short
- Habits form through repetition in the same situation. In one well-known study it took about two months on average, with big differences between people.
- Tie reading to something you already do every day, and start smaller than feels worthwhile.
- Keep books closer than your phone, and let yourself abandon books you don't enjoy.
On this page (10)
- Why “finding time” doesn't work
- How long a habit takes to form
- 1. Anchor it to something you already do
- 2. Start smaller than feels worthwhile
- 3. Keep a book closer than your phone
- 4. Let yourself abandon books
- 5. Read what you actually enjoy
- 6. Keep a light record
- 7. Read with other people
- 8. Let your books come back to you
Almost everyone would like to read more. Few people lack the will; what they lack is a place for reading in their day. The evening fills up, the book stays on the nightstand, the phone is closer. The good news is that a reading habit doesn't need discipline so much as a few small changes to your surroundings and routine.
Why “finding time” doesn't work
Free time doesn't appear on its own; it gets filled by whatever is easiest. Habits work differently: they are triggered by a situation, not by a decision. You don't decide to brush your teeth each evening, you do it because it is bedtime. The aim is to give reading the same kind of trigger.
How long a habit takes to form
In a study led by Phillippa Lally, volunteers picked a small daily behaviour and reported how automatic it felt. On average it took about 66 days to reach a plateau, with a range from 18 to more than 250 days. Missing a day now and then made little difference.
So expect a couple of months, don't worry about a missed evening, and keep the habit small enough to survive both.
1. Anchor it to something you already do
Choose a moment that happens every day anyway and attach reading to it: “After I pour my morning coffee, I read.” “When I get into bed, I read before I touch my phone.” The existing routine becomes the trigger, and you no longer have to remember.
2. Start smaller than feels worthwhile
Ten pages, or ten minutes. Small enough that you can't talk yourself out of it on a tired evening. Most days you will read on anyway; on the others, ten pages still keep the habit alive.
3. Keep a book closer than your phone
Habits follow friction. Put the book where the phone usually lies: on the nightstand, by the coffee machine, in the bag. Charge the phone in another room overnight. A Kindle helps here, because one device holds the whole stack and fits in any pocket.
4. Let yourself abandon books
Nothing kills a reading habit faster than a book you dread. The librarian Nancy Pearl suggests giving a book fifty pages: if it hasn't won you over by then, put it down without guilt. There are more good books than you will ever have time for.
5. Read what you actually enjoy
A habit grows on reward. If you look forward to the book, you will look forward to the moment. Thrillers, essays, comics and cookbooks all count. Mix in the books you feel you should read once the habit is strong enough to carry them.
6. Keep a light record
A simple list of finished books, with a line on each, is motivating without turning reading into a target. Ambitious yearly goals tend to backfire: they reward short books and punish the long ones you would have loved.
7. Read with other people
A book club, a friend reading the same book or a partner who reads in the evenings too: other people make the habit visible and give it a reason. Telling someone about a book is also one of the best ways to remember it.
8. Let your books come back to you
The reward of reading doesn't end with the last page. Meeting a passage you loved months later is a reminder of why you read at all, and it makes the next book more tempting. Our guide to what to do with your Kindle highlights has a few ways to make that happen.
