The Wrong Way to Read More

Most advice about reading more comes down to discipline: set a goal, stick to a schedule, make yourself sit down with a book. And while structure has its place, this approach misses something important. The people who read a lot don't usually read by gritting their teeth. They read because they've arranged their lives so that reading is the easy choice.

The goal isn't to try harder. It's to make reading frictionless — so it happens naturally, in the margins of your day, without requiring a burst of willpower every time.

Start With Where You Are, Not Where You Think You Should Be

Many people who want to read more set themselves up to fail by starting with books they feel obligated to read — the classics, the critically-acclaimed, the titles they've mentioned in conversation without actually opening. These books often sit half-read on nightstands for years.

Start with whatever genuinely interests you right now. A thriller. A history of a sport you love. A short essay collection. There is no hierarchy of books that makes some reading more valid than others. The only thing that matters is that you actually want to turn the page.

Use the Friction-Reduction Framework

Behaviour follows the path of least resistance. If your phone is on the coffee table and your book is in another room, you'll check the phone. The fix isn't willpower — it's logistics.

Situation High-Friction Version Low-Friction Version
Before bed Book is on a different floor Book is on the nightstand
Morning coffee Phone face-up on table Book open next to the kettle
Commuting No book packed Kindle or paperback in your bag always
Waiting time No reading material Phone with reading app open by default

Embrace the Short Session

A persistent myth about reading is that it requires long, uninterrupted stretches of time. This is simply not true. Ten minutes on a lunch break, five minutes before you get up, fifteen minutes while something is in the oven — these sessions add up faster than you'd expect.

If you read for just 15 minutes a day at an average pace, you'll finish somewhere between 15 and 20 books in a year. That's not a small number.

Keep Multiple Books On the Go

Reading one book at a time is a rule worth breaking. Different books suit different moods and moments. A dense non-fiction book might be perfect on a slow Sunday but wrong for a tired Tuesday night. Having a lighter option — a short story collection, a graphic novel, a book of essays — means you're never without something that fits how you feel.

It's not unfaithful to a book to set it down for a week. Books wait.

Let Yourself Stop

One of the biggest obstacles to reading more is persisting through books you're not enjoying out of a sense of obligation. This turns reading into a chore and poisons the experience. Giving yourself permission to abandon a book at any point removes the psychological weight of starting — because if it's not working, you can just stop.

Life is too short for books that don't earn your attention. There are too many good ones waiting.

A Simple Starting Point

  1. Put a book somewhere you'll naturally reach for it (nightstand, kitchen counter, bag).
  2. Pick something you actually want to read — not something you think you should.
  3. Commit to five pages before you check your phone in the morning.

That's it. Start there. Reading more isn't a feat of character. It's a small act of design, repeated daily, until it becomes just what you do.