Image by Vincenzo Malagoli From Pexels
Reviving a part of my childhood an hour a day
When I was in public school between the age of 9–15, I couldn’t stop reading.
The most I read in a month was 5, 500 page books when I was 13 (the sequels being the Hunger Games).
Then when I turned 16 and started homeschool for my high school years… it stopped.
This wasn’t something I noticed though, because I was an avid Minecraft gamer along those years of reading. So when COVID started shortly after beginning homeschool, since I didn’t have access to a library, I just continued my gaming routine — in overdrive!
Having a gaming addiction completely melted my desire to read, which I only did when reading boring school textbooks.
After a few years that ended with me finding better hobbies, I started college & had reading to do there — but since it was a Graphic Design degree, even then I didn’t have much to read.
I didn’t feel the desire either because other things easily filled my time, like: going outside, cleaning, college work, part-time work, research on hustles, amongst other things. So the happy memories I had reading adventure novels had faded, only coming back to mind if I was cleaning my bookcase or something reminded me of a book plot.
I didn’t feel the need to read until I thought about how beneficial reading is, and how much I enjoyed getting sucked into a book — never noticing anything around me basically until it was finished!
Wanting those moments back, as well as wanting to be a lil’ smarter than the audio-only mind I was becoming (I listened to podcasts while I cleaned & worked), I started making note of what people were saying they read in my X/Twitter timeline.
The thing is, what helped bring back to mind my reading days were seeing people on X/Twitter sharing how they finished “50 books in 2023” and how “reading this book is going to make you as much money as me.”
While these claims were somewhat true, I also realized the benefit of reading & taking notes on these books would have on my content, like appearing as an authority figure (AKA I know what I’m doing) because I’m citing sources from books like Atomic Habits & Deep Work.
That’s what started my mission to read more books. And no — I’m not gonna read 50 this year, just enough that I can hopefully read an hour a day and really understand what’s being written. And these aren’t boring books either, I’m actually liking them!
But you might wonder… how exactly are you incorporating reading an hour a day if you don’t have much time?
Here are 3 simple ways I’m doing that.
Having the resources
As someone who’s still building up income, I need to be very picky with what books to use. So instead, I decided to get a cheap subscription app! While some subscription services aren’t the best, Everand seemed like a great choice. And currently I’m using their 30–day free trial, so I guess I’ll see how I like it!
Along with books, I wanted to set goals. Firstly I got a free Notion Book Tracker from a creator friend, which has really helped me keep track of books I want to read!
Image from Tana’s Notion Product
Along with a timer to track my reading time & set goals called Emphasis.
Image by Author
And lastly, using Obsidian for my notes & building connections between ideas so creating content can be easier, too.
Image from Author
Planning my time
I have a set schedule to read at 4PM, but if that doesn’t happen then 6–7PM might do.
Having the Emphasis timer has made it really easy to both track my time, and see if I’m reaching my daily & monthly goals. It gives me a good look at how much time I’ve been reading for!
Image by Author
Reading because I want to
I’m curious about routine management & planning in Notion, so these books have crucial habits that help!
Also to get sucked into a book I’ve been wanting to read Moby Dick, so my goal is to read both educational & fiction classics.
Takeaway
By doing these I’m:
- Sticking to my goals.
- Reviving the memories of reading as a kid.
- Learning from the lessons & points to use as citations for my own content.
This journey started May of this year. But now that I have taken a little time to gather my resources, I’ve confident that I’ll keep my habit through the rest of the year!
If not,
I always have Medium stories to learn and grow from, too.