The new year has barely started, and you probably already believe you’ll have no time for reading over the next months. Who can blame you? Between your job, your friends, and the time sinkhole that is the Internet, it’s no surprise that many of us sacrifice reading time for other activities.
However, with these seven top reading techniques, you’ll be devouring the books you love in no time flat.
Keep up the variety
Health experts advise us to eat different colorful foods to stay healthy. Eat your greens (spinach and kale), your reds (berries), and your oranges (carrots, oranges and squash) in order to get the most benefit and avoid being bored by your food. The same rule applies to reading.
You might think that because you have enjoyed reading biographies in the past, that’s what you should read in the future. While any category of literature has its good points, varying your reading primes you for new literary possibilities and helps keep boredom at bay. Why not read a book on Digital Marketing after you zip through all five Game of Thrones books?
It’s easy to be someone who reads a lot. The trick is to be someone who reads a lot because they love what they’re reading.
Be a smart reader
Why force yourself to wade through a sluggish plot or yawn over one-dimensional characters? If a book doesn’t turn out to be the page-turner you expected it to, move on to the next book in your stack.
There’s no reason why you should experience the ordeal of a badly-written story, or something that you truly are not enjoying.
Build a reading habit
Some people like to spend an entire weekend reading. Other people only read while they’re commuting on the train. Whichever type of reader you are, you need to find what works best for you and stick to that pattern. If it’s only 25 minutes a day of reading before you go to sleep, that’s fine. Just stick to it!
Assigning a day and time to your reading instantly makes it important. As a result, you’ll find it harder to give up, and that will help develop a good reading habit.
Your reading, your way
Reading lists are so high school. When you’re an active reader, you can choose what you read. While this seems like simple common sense, we often force ourselves to read books just because others have recommended them, or because they’ve gotten a good word from a newspaper critic.
Read what interests you. That way, you won’t be looking for an excuse to postpone picking up the book.
Read with your ears
Who says you have to use your eyes to read a book? Audiobooks are popular choices for commuters, second language learners, busy moms, and anyone else who would rather listen to an audiobook while attending to another task.
Audiobooks bring characters and plot to life, and add color and zing to every chapter. Using this option allow you to multitask while enjoying a story as it’s being told by a marvelous storyteller.
Improve your reading speed
Some people are discouraged from reading more because they read slowly or in the wrong way. You can improve your reading skills by learning the techniques used in speed reading. It will help you read more efficiently and make the whole process more enjoyable.
Read with others
If you’re not part of a book group, why not join one? You’ll have a chance to discover new books from ones recommended by the other group members, and then you’ll have fun talking about the books in your weekly or monthly meetings. Book groups are also a great way to stay with your newfound reading practice – you won’t want to show up being the only person who hasn’t read the exciting final chapter, after all!
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