14 Ways to Cultivate a Lifetime Reading Habit

By

Leo Babauta

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.” — W. Somerset Maugham

Somewhere after “lose weight”, “stop procrastinating”, and “fall in love”, “read more” is one of the top goals that many people set for themselves. And rightly so: A good book can be hugely satisfying, can teach you about things beyond your daily horizons, and can create characters so vivid you feel as if you really know them.

If reading is a habit you’d like to get into, there are a number of ways to cultivate it.

First, realize that reading is highly enjoyable, if you have a good book. If you have a lousy book (or an extremely difficult one) and you are forcing yourself through it, it will seem like a chore. If this happens for several days in a row, consider abandoning the book and finding one that you’ll really love.

Other than that, try these tips to cultivate a lifetime reading habit:

• Set times. You should have a few set times during every day when you’ll read for at least 5-10 minutes. These are times that you will read no matter what — triggers that happen each day. For example, make it a habit to read during breakfast and lunch (and even dinner if you eat alone). And if you also read every time you’re sitting on the can, and when you go to bed, you now have four times a day when you read for 10 minutes each — or 40 minutes a day. That’s a great start, and by itself would be an excellent daily reading habit. But there’s more you can do.
• Always carry a book. Wherever you go, take a book with you. When I leave the house, I always make sure to have my drivers license, my keys and my book, at a minimum. The book stays with me in the car, and I take it into the office and to appointments and pretty much everywhere I go, unless I know I definitely won’t be reading (like at a movie). If there is a time when you have to wait (like at a doctor’s office or at the DMV), whip out your book and read. Great way to pass the time.
• Make a list. Keep a list of all the great books you want to read. You can keep this in your journal, in a pocket notebook, on your personal home page, on your personal wiki, wherever. Be sure to add to it whenever you hear about a good book, online or in person. Keep a running list, and cross out the ones you read. Tech trick: create a Gmail account for your book list, and email the address every time you hear about a good book. Now your inbox will be your reading list. When you’ve read a book, file it under “Done”. If you want, you can even reply to the message (to the same address) with notes about the book, and those will be in the same conversation thread, so now your Gmail account is your reading log too.
• Find a quiet place. Find a place in your home where you can sit in a comfortable chair (don’t lay down unless you’re going to sleep) and curl up with a good book without interruptions. There should be no television or computer near the chair to minimize distractions, and no music or noisy family members/roommates. If you don’t have a place like this, create one.
• Reduce television/Internet. If you really want to read more, try cutting back on TV or Internet consumption. This may be difficult for many people. Still, every minute you reduce of Internet/TV, you could use for reading. This could create hours of book reading time.
• Read to your kid. If you have children, you must, must read to them. Creating the reading habit in your kids is the best way to ensure they’ll be readers when they grow up … and it will help them to be successful in life as well. Find some great children’s books, and read to them. At the same time, you’re developing the reading habit in yourself … and spending some quality time with your child as well.
• Keep a log. Similar to the reading list, this log should have not only the title and author of the books you read, but the dates you start and finish them if possible. Even better, put a note next to each with your thoughts about the book. It is extremely satisfying to go back over the log after a couple of months to see all the great books you’ve read.
• Go to used book shops. My favorite place to go is a discount book store where I drop off all my old books (I usually take a couple of boxes of books) and get a big discount on used books I find in the store. I typically spend only a couple of dollars for a dozen or more books, so although I read a lot, books aren’t a major expense. And it is very fun to browse through the new books people have donated. Make your trip to a used book store a regular thing.
• Have a library day. Even cheaper than a used book shop is a library, of course. Make it a weekly trip.
• Read fun and compelling books. Find books that really grip you and keep you going. Even if they aren’t literary masterpieces, they make you want to read — and that’s the goal here. After you have cultivated the reading habit, you can move on to more difficult stuff, but for now, go for the fun, gripping stuff. Stephen King, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Nora Roberts, Sue Grafton, Dan Brown … all those popular authors are popular for a reason — they tell great stories. Other stuff you might like: Vonnegut, William Gibson, Douglas Adams, Nick Hornby, Trevanian, Ann Patchett, Terry Pratchett, Terry McMillan, F. Scott Fitzgerald. All excellent storytellers.
• Make it pleasurable. Make your reading time your favorite time of day. Have some good tea or coffee while you read, or another kind of treat. Get into a comfortable chair with a good blanket. Read during sunrise or sunset, or at the beach.
• Blog it. One of the best ways to form a habit is to put it on your blog. If you don’t have one, create one. It’s free. Have your family go there and give you book suggestions and comment on the ones you’re reading. It keeps you accountable for your goals.
• Set a high goal. Tell yourself that you want to read 50 books this year (or some other number like that). Then set about trying to accomplish it. Just be sure you’re still enjoying the reading though — don’t make it a rushed chore.
• Have a reading hour or reading day. If you turn off the TV or Internet in the evening, you could have a set hour (perhaps just after dinner) when you and maybe all the members of your family read each night. Or you could do a reading day, when you (and again, your other family members if you can get them to join you) read for practically the whole day. It’s super fun.

Filed under: Reading Tips , reading habit

Bookmark designing competition-Results

READER’S CLUB

BOOKMARK DESIGNING COMPETITION

01/11/2008

RESULTS

SHIFT-I

S.No.	Group	Position	Name, Class & Div
1	VI-VIII	I	Prathibha G , VIII C
2		II	Aastha Rana, VII B
3		III	Amritha G. VIII D
4		III	Vinayan H, VII D
5	IX-XII	I	Joy Sivakumar, X A
6		II	Sachin R , X A
7		III	Nithin T, X D
8		III	Mithun Mohan, XI E
9		Consol.	Salini Johnson, X A

Filed under: Reading Tips, Winners of library competitions , bookmark

Love reading, be a rapid reader

By B.S. Warrier

No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet,

gracious discourses of my book friends.

— Helen Keller

•Dislike for reading: It is difficult for you to become a rapid reader, unless you love reading. You have to be a motivated reader who enjoys reading. You should nurture a positive attitude towards reading. You would have seen people for whom reading is as natural as breathing. It is a way of life for them. Though it may not be possible for all to fall into that category, you can cultivate an interest in reading. Often reading is a sheer necessity for discharging official duties. Normally, reading is our main source of information. If you have no interest, you will continue to be a slow reader. Generating interest in reading is the first step to speed.

•Poor vocabulary: If you desire fine comprehension along with speed reading, you should have a rich vocabulary. Every time an unfamiliar word appears, you cannot afford to run to a dictionary. You cannot develop a rich vocabulary overnight. There has to be sustained effort with the right goal in view. Special books for improving one’s vocabulary would suggest certain shortcuts. They may be followed. But that alone cannot help. Love for words is essential for developing one’s vocabulary.

•Lack of stamina: You may feel tired after reading for a few minutes, if you are not interested in reading. Even if you have interest, you may get tired after a few hours, especially if you are speed reading, which requires sharper concentration. You can however build up stamina in due course, by repeated effort. You should have the will to challenge fatigue as it sets in, and to continue reading. You try to maintain concentration, despite the feeling of physical exhaustion. Gradually you will improve your stamina.

•Word blocking: This is the habit of stopping at every unfamiliar word. This will prove to be a major obstacle to speed reading, especially if your vocabulary is not very good. A practical method is to guess the meaning of the strange word from the context and continue reading without losing the rhythm. Afterwards you may gather the exact meaning from a dictionary and confirm your guess or make corrections if found necessary.

•Lack of flexibility: Suppose you have planned to increase your reading speed from 200 words to 250 words per minute(wpm). You should realise that your objective is not to be able to read any passage at 250 wpm. That figure represents your average speed. You may have to increase or decrease the speed depending on the difficulty level of the passage. Some people have a habit of trying to maintain a constant speed of reading irrespective of the nature of the passage. This lack of flexibility is a serious barrier in ensuring satisfactory comprehension while reading fast.

•Back-tracking: Back-tracking or re-reading will slow your reading speed. This is different from regression. Owing to lack of confidence, the reader decides to go back and re-read the whole passage or a substantial part of it.

Try the Evelyn Wood technique, which is simply placing your right hand on the page and slowly bringing it straight down. This draws your eye down as you read. Go slowly and evenly, letting your eyes rake back and forth across the page as you go. Following your finger will prevent you from backtracking and keep you focused. This technique is only for practice. Once you get rid of the faulty habit, you start reading normally without the help of the moving finger.

•Too much of analysis: It is true that you should attempt the best possible level of comprehension. It does not imply that you have to analyse each word including its origin, or each idea to its logical limit. The broad objective of reading a passage should not be forgotten. Too much of analysis may slow your reading significantly, and it may even end up in ‘analysis paralysis’. Your approach has to be practical.

•Lack of concentration: Your mind should be totally focused on the subject. It should not wander. Since rapid reading demands full concentration to co-ordinate physical eye movement and for the complex processes of assimilation of ideas, there should be no laxity in maintaining concentration. Lack of concentration may be caused by absence of interest, attempting too high reading speeds, complexity of text, lack of motivation, physical pain or disabilities. If you feel that you are being distracted , take a short break and then resume reading.

•Procrastination: A hangover from the habit of slow reading leads to the tendency to procrastinate or delay the reading process. You should jump headlong into rapid reading, without waiting for a better moment. If you feel that reading is a chore, you are likely to procrastinate. Face reading cheerfully. If the text is too long, divide it into parts and focus on one part at a time. Fix deadlines.

•Distraction: Keep away from the telephone before you start a long session of reading. Never play even soft music in the background. Ask others not to disturb you while you are reading.

•ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Hyperactivity): It is a disorder beginning in childhood and gets carried forward to adulthood. Restlessness, inability to remain seated, unusual impatience, difficulty in concentration, trouble in listening, daydreaming, inability to follow instructions, making careless mistakes, getting bored before finishing a task and switching to a second task before completing the first are some of the symptoms. Three to five per cent of the population may have this problem. This has to be treated by medication or counselling.

We have listed various barriers to rapid reading. All these are relevant in any effort directed towards achieving reading speed. But advanced techniques become relevant only if basic requirements such as good vocabulary and a fair level of comprehension have been achieved by the reader. None can force another person to practise drills for increasing reading speed. Once the facts are presented, the desire should come from within the person. To make the practice easy, interesting stories or narratives should be selected. Complex prose or matter with diagrams may be avoided in the drill. What is most important is your determination for improvement. Perhaps you can schedule your practice at a particular hour each day, so that your self-imposed discipline forces you to practise regularly. During the initial phase, you may fear whether increased speed damages comprehension. Go ahead with a positive frame of mind; you are sure to achieve higher speeds through regular practice. You may also attempt rapid reading, while you handle the daily newspaper.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Filed under: Reading Tips , Reading