How to Make Time to Read
If you identify as a book lover but haven’t read a book in a year, something has gone wrong
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Laura Vanderkam, the time management expert who wrote Off the Clock and Juliet’s School of Possibilities, is here to answer your schedule questions. Check back every week for more advice, and send your own productivity problems to asklaura@medium.com. (Your name will not be used.)
I used to read all the time. I was an English major in college! But between work and the kids and their activities, the hours slip away from me, and I haven’t read a book in a year. How can I get back in the habit?
When I ask people what they’d like to spend more time doing, certain activities come up again and again. Exercise. Volunteering. And of course, reading. We know that all these things would make life more enjoyable, and probably more meaningful, too. But since they rarely have to happen, we shove them to the bottom of the list.
But I’m confident that you do in fact have time to read. How do I know? Well, right now you’re reading Medium, which consists of words strung together to tell stories and share information. These words may not be physically bound into volumes, but you’re still reading. So if you’d like to start reading books, the easiest approach is just to redirect your existing reading time to that medium.
Let’s first consider why you are reading Medium. Online material is easy to access: It’s usually just as far away as the pocket or bag where you stash your phone, or the computer screen you’re already staring at. Posts and articles can be read in bits and pieces; you grab time in the grocery store line or while waiting for a bus. And finally — let’s be honest here — looking at your phone or computer screen looks like you’re doing something “productive,” whereas pulling out a paperback or e-reader looks like leisure.
Make books as accessible as online content. This is easy to do: Load the Kindle app, or another e-reader, onto your phone. Start downloading books to the device. You’ll find many e-books in the public domain for a pittance (e.g. 99 cents); you can borrow e-books from your local library for free if it participates in a service such as Libby.
