5 Steps to Get Your Reading Routine Back

Two years ago, I used to read at least five books and lots of manga per month. But, in the past two years, I was too busy that I'd rather sleep than reading. It makes my record goes down to just a couple of books in a year and the only manga I read is Detective Conan. Sad.

These days, life is pretty boring, so I started reading to keep my brain busy and have some fun. Yet, I found out that my attention span has been greatly reduced. Thanks social media. Thanks Twitter’s 140 character. Damn. I find it so hard to enjoy the book, because instead of turning pages, I chose to open social media after finishing a page. Which means, an hour of Twitter for every 10 min. of reading. Bad.

Only after several trials did I manage to have fun and dive deep into the book that I’m reading. So, these are the five steps that saved me from the dark pit of only reading Twitter timeline.

1.      Start by re-reading interesting book

This is the most important step for me. I liked reading popular science book, but diving directly into those books did me no good in getting my reading routine back. The short span attention kept stopping me from finishing the book. The failure to finish the book made me so lazy to start again.

Until one day I saw a blog post about Three Investigators (Robert Arthur Jr.) and The Famous Five (Enyd Blyton). I decided to start re-reading books from my childhood reading list. Those books made such a great impact to me, I wish it will do the same this time. And it works! I managed to finish thicker books since then. Yeah!

2.      Show off!

In the era of social media, we have to show everything off, right? No? These days, social media is quite gloomy, especially with Donald Trump as president elect and the incoming Jakarta's governor election. So, instead of meddling in the muddy water, I’d rather make my timeline a bit smarter by sharing books that I read. Another way to show off your bookshelves is by registering to Goodreads.

Have you ever read articles on Bill Gates’ must-read-books or Barack Obama’s summer reading list? Yes, the world needs to know what you are reading now.

3.      Tell them your target

They say, the best way to reach your target is by letting the universe know, so that one way or the other it will help you. The rule applies to this program as well. It doesn’t matter whether you write the books that you want to read on your bedroom wall or Facebook wall, just make sure that the universe knows.

You may also join reading challenges from Goodreads.

4.      Go to book store

The heaven on earth. Coming to book store always make me happy and feeling intimidated in the same time. You could read lots of excerpt, acting like a know-it-all person, and smell the books. Going outside may help refreshing your mind after facing pressure at work and what’s a better way to recharge our energy but wandering around children books corner, right?

5.      Choose the right reading app

Last but not least. I think this last step is what makes my effort to get my reading routine back fruitful. Although I have no job right now, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not busy. I have to put reading in between many activities that I have to do in a day. Reading physical book is not really a good option for now. Besides being more expensive, it’s also not convenient for my situation right now.

So, after trying many application, the winners are: GooglePlay Books (free app, so little free books), iJakarta (free app, free books), Bookmate (free app, subscription available).

Please share your reading list with me. Connect with me at Goodreads.

Baca dalam Bahasa Indonesia: 5 Langkah Ampuh untuk Mulai Membaca Lagi