Like a lot of people, I used to read a lot as a child but have found it difficult to keep it up as an adult. My reading list is at least a hundred books long, but it just doesn’t seem to move compared to my YouTube consumption or social media consumption.

I’ve tried simple to complicated methods. Previously I used to record all recommendations into Google keep with just the name of the books, now I have a more sophisticated Google sheet where I also record the person who recommended it, as well as a status/priority column where I record if the book is low/medium/high priority and then move it to done/abandoned when completed.

The problem is that even with this many guardrails it’s still hard to keep the train moving. I tend to leave a lot of books unfinished because something else strikes my fancy, but I would prefer to just have at most two or three books on the go and make sure I finish them before moving on.

I think what I need is a set time or activity through which I can make sure that I’m reading. A few ideas I have: read self improvement/psychology books while i have lunch by myself once a week. Read general interest books on my walks through text to speech. Read spiritual books while on the subway on my way to yoga. I think it’s important not only to have a variety of books but an activity to pair with it, and it makes sense to pair the activity with the genre that benefits it the most.

I’m slowly starting to adopt this framework and hoping to make it my new process going forward… I’ve read atomic habits lately and I want to try and employ some of the skills taught in that book.

Welcoming any thoughts, improvements or tips anyone has to offer on the subject!