HOW TO READ MORE

Hello everyone, today I'm going to be discussing some ways to help read more. This is a video that has been highly requested by you guys, so I thought it was about time that I share some tips and ways that really do help me include more reading into my schedule. And a bit of a disclaimer beforehand, this isn't going to include any ways to improve your reading speed, that's a totally different matter and one that I don't really have any experience with or advice to share with you guys. Another thing that I think that is important to remember is that reading is an activity that is very personal. There are so many factors that go into how much or how fast an individual can read, so comparing one reader against another, it just, it's pointless. So please don't feel discouraged if you read slower than or less than other people. Alright, so moving on to my five tips on how to read more. Bring a book with you everywhere. You have no idea how many opportunities there will be during the day to read, so keep a book on you at all times. If you carry a bag and one that's big enough to fit a physical book or an e-reader in it, do that. If you don't, you still have some more options. You can download an e-reader application on your smartphone to read a book on the go. This is something that I do for if I forget to bring my physical book with me. So if you don't mind reading multiple books at once, you can have some backup books available on your phone ready for when you're on the go. Listen to audiobooks. I absolutely love listening to audiobooks and again, if you don't mind reading multiple books at once, this is a wonderful option. They are so great for multitasking. When you're doing an activity such as driving, walking, although I still read physical books when I walk, but you're more likely to bump into things. Or even when you're cleaning, doing chores around the house, listening to an audiobook is a great way to not only take your mind off of any of the mundane tasks that you're doing, but you're getting some more reading done. Prioritise. This is one that involves a little mental strength. Make the conscious decision to read instead of say, watch some Netflix or play a game. You don't have to completely stop doing the other things that you enjoy, but if you do spend a lot of time on these activities and you want to get more reading done, you're going to have to sacrifice some of that time and dedicate it to reading. Make a schedule. Take a look at your schedule and figure out a time that you can dedicate reading. Whether this be the first thing in the morning once you wake up or maybe half an hour or an hour before bed, make a time slot in your daily schedule that is solely dedicated to reading. You'd be surprised how much time you do have available for reading, especially if you're someone like me who just aimlessly searches through the internet, scrolling through social media feeds and not really doing much of anything. You could be using that kind of time for reading. Participate in readathons. Now this isn't something that works for everybody. I've had people tell me that they just cannot do readathons. Some people find readathons to be kind of stressful, but others find it as a great motivator to read and I am one of those people. So if you haven't tried out any readathons and you're curious, it's worth a try to see if it is something that works for you and if it is then great you can get some more reading done. If you are interested in trying some readathons, I have a couple of videos that might be helpful to you. First of all, I did a how-to readathon video that includes some tips and tricks on making the most out of readathons and ways to stay motivated during the length of it and I created a video with a list of readathons happening in 2016. For a more up-to-date and comprehensive list of all the readathons that I'm aware of, I have a calendar on my blog which I frequently update. So if you are interested in doing some readathons but don't know when any are, you can take a look at that and see if any works with your schedule. So those are my tips for how to increase your reading. If any of you have some advice as well, I would absolutely love to hear it. If I come across some advice that I think is particularly handy, I think I might even do a follow-up how-to-read video that includes your personal advice. I would of course credit you. It would be your advice that I'm passing along. So yeah, that's about all that I have for this video. Thank you guys so, so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed it and I guess I'll see you next time.