While building a reading habit may seem difficult, it is actually…not easy. 

I say this not lightly and not to tease at all, but actually getting out of a reading slump is no joke. 

So I can imagine how daunting it is to start the reading practice from scratch.

Most people approach it totally in the wrong way: Ah yes you’ve decided to read more, and what do you pick thinking yourself an intellectual? A classic or a non-fiction. 500 pages long. So predictable. 

But actually the trick is to start from either something short like a poem collection or graphic novel or a genre that you really like, like romance or literary fiction. 

And mind you, this same method is adopted to get out of a slump.

Another common mistake is dedicating specific slots of the day for reading, but the truth is you should squeeze it in whenever you can: having coffee at breakfast, 10 minutes at lunch time, 15 minutes on the train back from school or work, 5 minutes before sleeping. 

And just like this, magically, we easily get to read circa 20 minutes a day.

Another underestimated medium are audiobooks: they can be listened to in the car if you have a long drive or for immersive reading (reading dictionary: slang for reading the book while also listening to it). 

As if someone were personally reading it to you, and with you. 

Also try starting multiple books at the same time: this seems counterintuitive at first but in this way you don’t get stuck on a book you don’t like for months on end. You can simply continue with the one you like best. 

Trying any of this will absolutely guarantee some kind of result in the positive, 

The important thing is to adopt books as companions of reflection, in which you want to repeatedly immerge and lose yourself, to almost dialogue with it in your mind. 

Remember to also abandon your prejudices about genres: if a genre is entertaining and you like it, grab onto it. 

When  you’ve read 5 / 6 works of the same nature, you will automatically want to diversify, then the real fun kicks in, because you explore and find out about books you never knew about. All because you started reading with joy, instead of as a command. 

Then you will alternate between “lighter” and “heavier” books. And enter the supreme flow of reading. 

Until you hit another brick wall of reading slump!

Anyway, just pick up the damn book that you want and don’t think about it too much. 

You read for yourself, not for others.