Reading meaningfully..

I was not an avid reader growing up. I always had phases where I read a ton of books. And I had stages (much longer than the reading phase) where I read ZERO books.

All this changed in the past year. I read 20+ books. And started my content creation journey around.. reading books. Not bad for someone who didn’t grow up reading.

So what did I do right this time around? A lot. These 5 tips helped me read in a meaningful way.

  1. Stuck to a routine– I tried to read for 30 mins in the morning every weekday. And read stuff on my kindle when I found it difficult to sleep. This way I averaged 45 mins of reading every weekday. It was a grind when I started and slowly it became an integral part of my day.

  2. Read For Curiosity– Instead of looking for the bestsellers, or trending stuff, I picked up books on subjects I’m curious about. Decision-making, Behavioral economics, and company cultures are a few things I explored this year. I let go of the FOMO of reading THE book to feel included. And being off-social media helped in a big way.

  3. Read For Cure– I read books around subjects I needed the most help with. I was trying to find cure through books. At the start of the year, I realized I needed to stay calmer and be more mindful about how I go about things. I read a ton about mindfulness (and starting to read a bit of philosophy now).

  4. Read for Fun– This is a philosophy I employ in every aspect of life. Are you having fun reading books? If not, what is that you can do to make it fun? Fiction? Classics? Audiobooks? Shorter books? Whatever floats your boat. As long you’re reading.

  5. Quit more books- If there’s one tip I want you to take away from this post, it’s this. Quit books that don’t hold your attention. Quit books that don’t interest you anymore. Quit books that feel draggy. Quit reading if you’re not enjoying it.

Start treating books like blog posts. You don’t feel the guilt when you don’t finish a blog post. Then why put up with a draggy book? You’re not obligated to focus on the book. It’s the book’s responsibility to hold your attention :).

By quitting boring books, you’re increasing your chances of finding interesting reads.

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash