How to Create Time to Read
One can never over-emphasize how important reading is to the improvement of our minds. Reading improves your creativity, helps you understand complex problems and stretches your world view. But when you have an 8-5 job and also a family to take care of, how can you create time to read?
Here are some ideas:
- Utilize your bedtime: When you wake and before you go to bed are good times to read. You can set your alarm a good 30 minutes before your regular wake up time in the mornings to create some reading time. However, because you are just waking up, you do not need to do any heavy reading. This is a good time for devotionals, journaling, and the kind of literature that will start you on a positive note. Reading just before you retire for the night is another great time. You can pick up a novel or some other relaxing text as you unwind after a long day’s work.
- Always have something to read: Thanks to technology, you can have hundreds of books on your mobile device with just a few taps on your screen. But if you still belong to the old school hard paper group, then decide never to leave the house without a book in hand or bag. It can be a novel or a newspaper. Truth is, sometimes we are not as busy as we claim we are. Many times, we are busy doing nothing or simply chatting and wasting time on social media. These little pockets of time can be filled with some reading.
- Take your time but read daily: You do not have to put yourself under pressure. Take your time and start small. Read one article a day or one chapter a day. Just make sure you read something every day.
- Read what you love: Do you like Politics? Economics? Do you like fiction? What kind of fiction do you like? You need to have an interest in it for you to have the zeal to read it in the first place so that even when you are busy, you simply cannot wait to get back to that piece of literature. You might also want to read how reading can make you a better person
- Goals help: After you have made it a habit to read at least one chapter or one article a day, the next thing to do is to take it a step further and set goals. Are you comfortable with one chapter? Stick to it. Do you want to increase it to two or three? But try to set your goals in microforms instead of macro. For instance, it is easier to accomplish a goal of one chapter a day than it is to achieve a goal of one book a month.
- Take advantage of your commute. You don’t have to spend those hours when you are on your way to the office or stuck in that annoying traffic simply staring out the window. Except you are driving, you should take out a book to read. It is always better to read novels that will help you relax.
- Book Clubs: Sometimes, you need discipline and book clubs to give you just that. Join a book club and get involved. Finding people to talk about the books you read increases your commitment and improves your understanding of the text.
Note that the busiest people are some of the most avid readers in the world today. You do not have any excuse not to read a book or two in the next month. Follow these simple steps and you will be amazed at what you have accomplished in a short while.
Culled from The Ready Writers Consult
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