When I was younger, I was an avid reader, but fell into a huge reading slump after entering high school. Upon arriving at college, though, I decided I wanted to feel the passion I had for reading again. However, I found it difficult to get started again. In the following article, I’ve listed some of the actions I have used to bring me out of that slump!
- Break It Down
Sometimes books look really big: 300-500 pages can sound like a lot! I’ve found that when that happens, breaking the book up into smaller, more achievable chunks sometimes helps me. Say you have a book with thirty chapters–you can easily break that into 3 chapters per day for 10 days, or even one chapter a day for thirty days! Reading three chapters per day for ten days sounds a lot more manageable than reading thirty chapters “eventually”.
- Make It Part of Your Routine
Set a time aside each day to read for 15-20 minutes (or some other duration of your choice). It might also help to “habit stack” by doing stuff like reading while you do your daily commute, or listening to an audiobook while you exercise. Setting a routine can help to slowly pull you back into reading.
- Use Alternative Reading
Who says you need to read with a physical book? I’ve found that I tend to get more reading done if I allow myself some flexibility with the medium in which I read. One of my favorite ways to read is to listen to audiobooks while doing chores and working on art projects, and I’ve also read on a Kindle, or even on my phone. Some reading forms are easier for people to use than others, and can help get you back in the groove of reading.
- Gamify It
Turn reading into a game. In my case, I used the Goodreads yearly reading challenge as a start, but you can use other apps, like Storygraph, or even a game method of your own creation to do this. If you are doing a reading challenge, make sure to set a reasonable and doable goal–otherwise, you may be overwhelmed as it makes reading more daunting, and therefore counterproductive. For other games, you could make a gameboard with different books that you own or genres on each tile (maybe transform tiles on a game you already have and know the rules too) or even do a reading challenge with your friends where you compete to see who can finish the most books, or who can find the most five star books–which leads me to my next point.
- Read With Friends
Turn reading into a social activity. Have a reading party with friends where you have drinks, food, music, and activities to do during breaks. You could also do “buddy reading”, where you read the same book simultaneously with another person, or make a pseudo-book club where you buddy read with a group. Sometimes it feels easier if you create external pressure by utilizing others. If you don’t feel like you could do it with your friends, see if there are any local or online book clubs that you could do it with.
- Set the Mood
Make a space that encourages reading. Just like you would set up a space that would encourage focus for studying, create a space that gets you in the mood to read. Get a comfy blanket and a good pillow and put them on your favorite chair. Prepare some snacks and your favorite drink–maybe something cozy like hot chocolate or tea for a cozy mood, or a drink like lemonade or Italian Soda for a light feel. If you like to have music playing in the background while you read, prepare a playlist that you like, and if you want, dim the lights a little (though not so much that you can’t read) and light a candle. Do whatever you need to to create the space you imagine yourself reading in.
- Reacquaint Yourself With Your TBR
If you have an old TBR–a collection of books “to be read”–and want to start making your way through it, transform it to be like a book fair or library. Lay out any physical copies you have and simply look at the covers, read the blurbs on the back, and maybe talk to your friends about them. See if any books catch your eye and use that as your next reading material. If you see books that you don’t think you’ll ever get around to, get rid of them because they will just clog up your journey.
- Get/Borrow a New Book
Sometimes the best way to re-start a hobby is to actually spark interest in it. I know that I often struggle with actually starting to read because I worry about trying to read the oldest books on my TBR instead of reading the one that piques my interest. When you are first pulling yourself out of a reading slump, it can be a challenge to get yourself interested in reading. The best way I’ve found to get back into it when none of your books sound interesting (and if the previous recommendations haven’t worked) is to find a book that does. Go to the library or a local bookstore and skim the shelves. Find one book that piques your interest, get it, and then immediately read it–you’re into it at that moment, after all. This step isn’t meant to tell you to buy 700 books in one go: just find one book to help kickstart your reading journey and then you can take your next steps accordingly afterwards.