Three Tips to Improve your Reading Habits
This is a post by J. Ramanand, co-founder of CTQ
Reading is a ‘complex habit’. There are multiple decisions involved, such as what to read, how much, when etc. Sustaining a reading habit is difficult for those to whom this doesn’t come naturally.
Here’s what has worked for me and for people I have helped build this habit:
Shape your environment first: get on to a reading treadmill that keeps you going. Surround yourself with reading material, whether online or offline. Hang out with readers. Join a group dedicated to this purpose (which is why our Reading Compound system is built around reading cohorts).
Celebrate after you read: This may sound odd, but it is rooted in the work of Prof. B.J.Fogg who says “emotion creates habits”. If you don’t enjoy reading, then after you are done a round of reading, celebrate: pump your fists, treat yourself to a piece of chocolate, or just wave your hands. It’ll seem weird at first, but you are hacking your brain to enjoy reading.
Start small: Most people stumble by thinking of reading = books. No. You can read 1000 words, a joke, a single op-ed, and so on. In our Reading Compound, we carefully curate top-notch non-fiction articles which are between 1000–3000 words. This takes only 15 mins to read and is ‘just right’ for our readers to finish each day. It also takes out the biggest stumbling block for most people: “what to read today”?
There are other ideas from the habit literature such as piggybacking, habit pacts, social proof etc. which can be applied to sustaining a serious reading habit. (We’ve had great success implementing them in our Compounds). Get started with the above three and once you have some success, explore other ideas to keep it going.
Want to build habits of reading, writing for professional visibility, and being future relevant, check out our habit-building compounds.