Why do reading habits fail?
Reading habits usually fail because the goal is too large and the cue is vague. Aiming for an hour a day, or for a book a week, makes every missed evening feel like failure. A tiny, fixed daily amount tied to an existing routine is far easier to keep.
Phones are the other obstacle. A phone on the sofa beats any book at ten at night, so part of the plan below is about moving the book closer than the phone.
Set it up in four moves
Do these on day zero, before you read a page.
- Choose an easy first book. Pick something you want to read, not something you think you should. A novel with short chapters or a collection of essays makes the first fortnight far easier than a dense classic.
- Pick the cue. Write a sentence in the form after I finish dinner I will read for five minutes on the sofa. A specific time and place is an implementation intention, and research by Peter Gollwitzer found that such plans raise follow-through.
- Put the book where the cue happens. Leave it on the pillow, the sofa arm or next to the kettle, and put your phone in another room or on charge across the room during the reading slot.
- Decide what counts. Five pages or five minutes, whichever you choose, counts as a mark. Stopping mid-chapter is allowed. The size of the habit is not the point in the first two weeks.
Your first fourteen days
Adjust the numbers to your pace; the shape matters more than the figures.
| Days | What to do |
|---|---|
| Days 1 to 3 | Read five pages or five minutes in the cue slot. Stop even if you want to continue; leaving wanting more makes tomorrow easier. |
| Days 4 to 6 | Same slot, same amount. Notice what interrupts you and move the phone or book accordingly. |
| Day 7 | Review the first week: how many marks, and what time of day felt easiest? |
| Days 8 to 10 | Raise to ten pages or ten minutes if five felt trivial; keep five if it did not. |
| Days 11 to 13 | Keep the amount steady. Read in a second place once, such as a bus or a cafe, to see how portable the habit is. |
| Day 14 | Count the marks and choose the amount for the next two weeks. Write the title of what you want to read next. |
What a small daily amount adds up to
The arithmetic below assumes about 300 pages for an average book and 250 words per page of print.
| Daily amount | Pages per year | Books of 300 pages per year |
|---|---|---|
| 5 pages | 1,825 | About 6 |
| 10 pages | 3,650 | About 12 |
| 20 pages | 7,300 | About 24 |
What should I do when I miss a day of reading?
Do not try to make up for it. Leave the box empty and read your five pages the next day. A single gap has little effect on habit formation, according to a 2010 study at University College London. What matters is not missing twice in a row.
If you find yourself missing often, shrink the amount before you change anything else. Two pages read every day is better for the habit than twenty read twice a week.
Beyond the first two weeks
In the same study, the time it took for a behaviour to reach a plateau of automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days, with a median of 66, so a fortnight is just a start. Keep the chain going on a monthly sheet and let the amount grow with your appetite rather than with a target.
Audiobooks and e-readers are fine if they are what you will actually use. The cue, the minimum and the visible chain matter more than the format.
Track it for free
Mark each day on a free chain in your browser. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.
Open the free habit trackerCommon questions
- How long does it take to build a reading habit?
- It varies. In the 2010 Lally study the time to reach automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days, with a median of 66. Expect a few months, not a few weeks, for it to feel effortless.
- Should I read before bed or in the morning?
- Choose the slot that you can protect most reliably. Before bed is common, but if you fall asleep after two pages, try a slot after dinner or during a commute.
- What if I lose interest in the book?
- Switch books without guilt. The habit is the daily reading, not finishing every title. Keep the chain going with a different book and mark the day as normal.
- Does listening to audiobooks count?
- It counts if you decide it does in advance. Write the rule on your sheet, for example ten minutes of audiobook equals one mark, and apply it consistently.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from:
- How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world, European Journal of Social Psychology, Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts and Wardle, 2010
- Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans, American Psychologist, Peter M. Gollwitzer, 1999