Are you already a book lover but want to develop better reading habits? Or are you looking to start reading and wondering what are the best reading habits to develop? If you want to reap all the benefits of reading, then it’s time to start building good reading habits. Here are the best ways to develop good reading habits, with examples to help you as well!
What are Good Reading Habits?
Reading habits are the small decisions you make and actions you take regarding reading in your every day life. Whether you’re wanting to start becoming a bookworm or simply read more (or better!) than you already do, it’s important to take a look at good reading habits that can help you achieve your goals.
It’s also important to note that there are both good and bad reading habits. If you’re not focusing on making good reading habits, you might accidentally be creating bad reading habits! So let’s look at some examples of good reading habits to help you get and stay on the right track.
9 Best Reading Habits for Good Readers
What are the best reading habits? They’re the ones that help you read well, stay focused, and enjoy your reading experience too! Good reading habits can vary some from person to person, but some basic principles still apply so here are ___ ways to help you start developing good reading habits for yourself.
1. Set Aside Time to Read
If you want to read more or become a good reader, then first of all you need to make actually reading a priority. It’s so easy for other things to creep in (hello, Netflix!) and take away from the time you meant to spend reading.
So if you want to be serious about building good reading habits, it can be a good idea to set aside specific time to read. Whether that’s reading in the morning, reading at lunchtime on your lunch break, reading before bed, or any other time that works for you. If you know that’s “sacred reading time”—aka time you’re not allowed to have your phone or other distractions nearby—you’re much more likely to follow through with actually reading.
2. Set Reading Goals for Yourself
In looking to create good habits in reading, another basic principle you need to make a habit is to set reading goals for yourself.
There are lots of different reading goals you can choose to set for yourself, but the mere fact of having a goal to aim at will help you in your quest to become a better reader. Even better if the goal you set is specific and measurable, because then you can actively see yourself making progress!
3. Read Every Day
Similarly to setting aside specific reading time and setting reading goals for yourself, one of the best reading habits you can develop is to read every day. This doesn’t mean you have to read a TON every day, but simply that you actually need to follow through with reading something every day.
In your journey to becoming a reader or becoming a better reader, you’ll discover that routine helps make sure that you actually do read. If you start by making sure you read at least a little every day, you’re much less likely to realize 6 months down the road that you still call yourself a “reader” but can’t actually remember the last time you read something…
4. Track Your Reading
In developing excellent reading habits, another habit that can help you stick with reading long-term is tracking your reading and the progress you’re making.
There are lots of different ways to track your reading, from community reading platforms like Goodreads, to physical journaling in an actual journal, to spreadsheets like the one I created and use for myself, and more. It’s important to find a method that works well for you and that you’ll enjoy using, as well as one that makes it easy for you to see actual progress you’re making by sticking to good reading habits.
I like my spreadsheet because I enjoy adding in new books when I’ve finished reading them and seeing my list of books grow, as well as enjoying being able to see my notes, stats, etc. about the books I read all in one place. I also enjoy Goodreads, specifically because they have a fun annual reading challenge where you can set how many books you want to read in a year and then celebrate as you make progress toward reaching that goal!
There’s no one specific “right” answer in how to track your reading, but the main thing is that you do track it and track it in a way that makes sense to you.
5. Keep a TBR List
Next up in your new or improved reading habits ideas is to keep a TBR list. TBR stands for “To Be Read”, so essentially a TBR list means creating a list of books you want to read next.
I talk more in depth about what a TBR list is, the pros and cons of having one, and how to create one here, but for our purposes today a TBR list can be very handy to have because it lets you curate a list of books that you’re excited about reading.
If you have lots going on in your life, you might find you see a book that piques your interest but you think you’ll remember it later when it’s time to choose a new book to read…only to find out that you forgot the title of the book or the name of the author when that time comes around. If you instead kept a TBR list—an actual physical or digital list—then when the time comes to choose a new book you’ll know the exact titles that sounded interesting to you before.
This means you’re less likely to waste time looking for your next read, or worse—*gasp*—use it as an excuse to put off reading because you “don’t know what to read next”. 😉
Creating and maintaining a TBR list might take a little effort, but it will pay off dividends in keeping you consistent with your reading and making sure you have a whole host of books to choose from that actually interest you.
6. Have a Book With You All the Time
While keeping a TBR List helps you have a readily available list of titles to read next, another way of reducing barriers to reading is to keep a book with you at all times. Because if you always have a book with you, then you can read whenever you have a few spare minutes here or there—no more mindless scrolling on your phone in the empty moments of your life!
When I say it’s a good idea to keep a book with you at all times, that could mean keeping a physical, print book with you. If you love reading print books and want to carry one with you everywhere, then that’s awesome! I do this sometimes and like to keep my book in a book sleeve to keep it from getting damaged on the go.
However, it could also mean having an ebook on your phone that you read in the moments of “waiting” in your life (waiting for a friend to show up to brunch, waiting for your takeout to be ready, waiting in a doctor’s office, etc.). It could also mean investing in a Kindle or tablet so you can read more easily on a larger device, while still not having to tote around one or more physical books.
These days, I often keep my Kindle with me when on the go as it’s so easily portable and allows me to have multiple books with me (in case I finish one while I’m out!). But whichever method you decide to try, having a book at hand to read whenever you have a moment is a great way to build better reading habits and incorporate reading more into your life.
Learn more about Kindles here to see if one is a good option for you!
7. Take Notes While You Read
If you want to improve your reading comprehension and retention, another great reading habit you can build is to take notes while you read.
There are several ways to do this. Some people prefer to take notes in the margins of their books, and that’s great for those who are comfortable writing in their books! If you don’t want to leave pen or pencil marks in your book, however, you could also write on clear sticky notes and place those inside your pages. Or, you could take notes in a reading journal instead (I have a free printable reading journal you can get here!)
Whichever method you choose, by taking note of your thoughts while reading you will likely remember more of what you read and will also be able to look back on your thoughts on different books even long after you have finished reading them.
8. Find Community With Other Readers
When wondering how to develop reading habits, having a community around you that also likes reading can be a good motivator. When you know other book lovers and participate in a bookish community, that can help spark new love of reading in you as you discuss books, share reading recommendations, and more.
One way to get involved with a bookish community is to join or create a book club! There are lots of benefits to being part of a book club, but one big benefit for building good reading habits is that you have some accountability built into your reading experience.
But if you don’t know many people in real life who like to read, there’s also a huge online community of readers that you can join, learn from, and enjoy being a part of. If you check out #BookTok on TikTok or #Bookstagram on Instagram, you’ll likely find lots of likeminded readers to engage with (If you want, you can also follow me on Instagram here and TikTok here!).
9. Switch It Up
Lastly, when setting good reading habits, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and switch it up every now and then!
What do I mean by that? Well, it can be easy to get into a reading rut where you find yourself just reading the same things over and over again…same plots, same genres, etc. It’s great to have genres and authors you love, and that can be so fun! But somethings that can also get boring and lead you to falling into a reading slump.
If you find yourself not being motivated to read much anymore and feeling like you’re failing at keeping the good reading habits you set in place, then it might be time to switch it up.
This could look like reading a wider variety of material—try reading something new (new genre, new author, etc.) that you never have before!
It could also look like challenging yourself. Maybe you don’t normally read non-fiction, so maybe it’s time to pick up a non-fiction book and learn something new about a subject or discover new complexity in the world. Or maybe you like reading non-fiction, so it’s time to pick up a novel! Either way, trying something out of the ordinary for you can help spark your reading life. Our brains like variety and novelty, after all!
Or maybe, just maybe, that means you need to switch it up and remember what it means to read for the joy of it. Maybe you’ve been focused on reading the “right” books and doing the whole reading thing so correctly that you’ve forgotten what it means to enjoy reading. If that’s the case, switch it up by picking up something that you look forward to reading or follow these other tips to help make reading enjoyable again.
Whatever your specific case is, if you find yourself falling into a slump, consider switching it up and reevaluating your reading needs so that you not only build great reading habits but keep on enjoying reading at the same time!