📖 Day 2: How To Get Out of A Reading Slump

Welcome to Day 2/5 of The Art of Reading 101!

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🚀 How To (Re)Ignite Your Love For Reading

Before we dive into more ways to find awesome books, let’s take some time to talk about how to increase your passion for reading…

Every reader I know has gone through a reading slump (myself included).

And that’s okay.

Sometimes life gets busy and you fall out of your reading routine.

You still have a passion for reading, you just need a little spark to reignite your love for it.

Or if you feel you haven’t yet discovered your love for reading, these tips will still help you get on the right track.

So, here are 3 tips to ignite (or reignite) your love for reading:

1) Pick Up A Short Book

When you’re in a reading slump, books can be intimidating, especially long ones.

I remember early on in my reading journey I ordered a copy of “War & Peace” by Leo Tolstoy because I heard it was one of the best books ever written.

But when my copy arrived, I was shocked to see that the book was 1,000+ pages long (I forgot to look at the page length before ordering it lol).

Even if it were a fantastic book, the fact that it was so long prevented me from even starting because I knew it would take months to finish it.

On the flip side, when I heard great things about the business book “Anything You Want” by Derek Sivers, I was excited to read it because it was only 98 pages long.

Another advantage of short books is that they don’t have any fluff in them, so you get to the key lessons sooner rather than later.

Lastly, short books help you build momentum.

Reading a 100-page book every week for 4 weeks will feel a lot more fun and rewarding than reading one 400-page book that takes you a month to finish.

So start small, and pick up a short book today.

2) Explore A New Genre

Let’s say you love pizza (I know I do).

If you had to eat pizza every day, you’d get tired of it and eventually sick of it (even as a New Yorker I can’t have pizza more than 3x a week).

You’d want to eat something different like a steak, salad, or sandwich.

Books work the same way.

If you’re constantly reading the same genre, chances are you’ll get bored of it.

That’s why I like to mix up my reading diet.

One week I’ll read a business book, the next it’s a health book, and then maybe a psychology book after that.

It’s also worth exploring completely new genres.

Just like how sometimes you go to a restaurant, try a new dish, and end up discovering your new favorite meal–do that with your reading diet.

If you only read non-fiction books, try a fiction book.

If you only read self-help books, try a sci-fi book.

Expand your palate–both in foods and books–and you might just discover your new favorite thing.

3) Try A New Book Format

I absolutely love physical books.

I love holding them, turning the pages, and writing in them.

But as your lifestyle changes, so can your reading needs.

When I was in grad school and had to carry a laptop and textbooks in my backpack, I didn’t want to also have to carry a book since my bag was already heavy.

So I switched to reading mostly ebooks on my phone and could read anytime I had some free time before class or on breaks.

Then a few years later when I was commuting 45 minutes to and from work on the train, I couldn’t read ebooks because I had to switch trains often and walk a lot.

This time, I changed my book format to audiobooks which made it easy to listen to a book on my commute.

Out of the three formats, most new readers I know prefer audiobooks.

They’re easy to consume and allow you to read a book while multitasking.

I heard of people listening to audiobooks while working out, driving, cleaning the house, and even while swimming (using waterproof earbuds).

So, try a different book medium and you might discover a new way of reading that works better for your current lifestyle.

✅ Actionable Advice

1) Pick up a short book (they’re a lot less intimidating to start than long books).

2) Explore a new book genre (read a book from a genre you haven’t tried before).

3) Try a new book format (such as audiobooks).

I hope these tips were helpful, I’ll see you tomorrow!

Read on,

Alex W.