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

Laura Vanderkam
Forge

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Illustration: Michael Rubin

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?

WWhen 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…

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