I finished 3 books in 18 days by applying these tricks!
The scenario would be: pick up my book —> after 3 minutes —> pick up my phone —> surf the web or watch videos for hours —> too late to resume my reading session.
Does it sound familiar to you? If the phone is within my reach, 100% my hand would automatically grasp it before I would even realize. So let’s imagine we have 2 guys in our head, guy no.1 just wanna have fun, guy no.2 is smart but lazy. Our job is to kick no.1 out of the room and get the no.2 to work.
If we share the same problem, I hope my solution will also be helpful to you. By applying these adjustments, I can at least read 1 hour per day and thus able to finish a book within 10 days. I was surprised that in 18 days, I managed to finish three books that had waited in my Kindle for years (check my book reviews).
Choose undisturbed hours: Choose the hours you can read in peace without worrying about important issues. That’s why I don’t usually read during the daytime. Setting the phone in Silent mode, I might ignore urgent calls/emails/messages. Reading with an unease mind is exhausted and might result in lack of information retaining. We don’t want it!
Choose the place to read in solitude: Distracting is the enemy of focus! Unlike the assumption that we can immediately get back to what we left off, we forget the most recent information and need to retrace back to remember where we dropped. That’s why TV series always has a brief recap of the previous last scene in the beginning of each episode. If you live with your family, retreat in your working room and let your family members acknowledge your private reading time.
Do not keep your phone/laptop around: the Internet is the greatest enemy of focus. Out of sight, out of mind! If you use the phone to set the reading timer, set the timer then put your phone away from your reach. As a lazy person, I set my phone on the other side of my room which I’d be too lazy to roll to it while reading.
Set a reading duration: Set a daily reading goal! I prefer to stay focus and reading in one hour straight instead of small chunk sessions. Reading non-stop in a period helps you to better retain the information and easier to focus. Some people prefer 25 or 35-minute session, I prefer one hour because, in the first 15 minutes, my mind still floats around while my eyes trailing the text >”< One simple truth, during the reading session, I bet that the just-wanna-have-fun guy will keep knocking on the back of your head but you must stay to the “NOW”. Tracing the lines with your finger/a pen will help you to focus easier and read faster.
Stop after you finished a chapter: As I mentioned, we tend to forget the information where we left off. So if we resume reading with a new chapter, we don’t have to try to remember that last piece of the information and can start the new session right away. Even if your timer is up before you can finish the chapter, keep reading until you’re done.
Create a lovely reading environment (opt): I love relaxing scents, the lovely dancing light in a wicked candle, and a table free of mess. Normally, I would read with a notebook and a pen closed by to write down pop-up ideas. Reading session and showering are two times my mind becomes most creative. Don’t note on your laptop or phone! Handwriting assists your information retaining better than typing.
Dress comfortably and nicely: I mean, why not wrapping yourself with a nice outfit? Studies proved that dressing nicely would boost up your creativity.
Hope that these tips can help you to devour more books and shine like a genius!!!
Lucid Realms 