Create a Reading Routine

I hit my reading goal for 2022; 2 books per month.

Through testing reading times, styles and creative I built my own Reading Routine.

I'm upping the goal to read 1 book per week; 52 in 2023.

Below are my biggest learnings to create a Reading Routine;

1/ Read at the same time

This is the 8020 tip, like any great habit set a time for reading, making it enjoyable and immovable
For me this is multiple moments during the day depending on the category listed below

2/ Create Categories

The majority of my reading is Business, Leadership or Spiritual; however that can vary wildly from a book on Creativity to Coaching. Creating categories of my own allowed me to see the topics that I was exploring, which opened my eyes to reading in themes below
After testing and learning, I discovered for me reading Business or Leadership books on Kindle either late afternoon weekday + cup of green tea OR Saturday afternoon sitting on the kids trampoline outside I was most engaged;
Spiritual best for me on the walk to work via Audiobook format
My reading for fun is usually a Biography (Audiobook if the author is reading) or the latest Gabriel Allon (physical book) which is the perfect wind down

3/ Read in Themes

How To Read a Book is a humbling book to read! This gave me a great insight into reading in themes; as per above reading in multiple topics, rather than jumping from 1 theme to the next. I would group all the relevant together, and could also see where I might be over-indexing on topics that I'm naturally more interested in
A great application of this was Remote Working; some fantastic books released on the shift here, a lot of cross over when reading together; enables you to move faster through and/or deepen your knowledge at a rapid rate compared to reading a single book

4/ You don't have to finish the book!

HUGE for me! I love a to-do list, I add things to my to-do list just to tick them off
So the idea of not finishing a book felt criminal; until I shifted my reading patterns to reading in themes
Many business books shouldn't be books! Often it's 1 great point that's rehashed way to many time; so now once I feel I've grasped the topic or the key points, I give myself permission to skim and/or stop (I actually did this on Dave Grohl's autobiography too, which felt even harder!)

5/ To Read List

This can be a massive lifesaver for avid Podcast listeners; as so many podcasts are interviewing people who publish books; they suddenly feel urgent to read
By creating your To Read List, with categories + themes; it gives you an avenue to schedule reading that book and/or simply acknowledge you won't be able to get to it
The power of saying 'no' compounds with reading! Rather than cluttering or feeling guilt now about all the unread books
My target of 52 books, I already have 20 in my To Read List and the year isn't even 1 month old

6/ Create a Capture system

The best system is Kindle + Highlights then export; however as mentioned I've found enjoyment in multiple formats
Audible's clip is "ok" and physical books; highlighting is my current mode

7/ Write a Book Review

I only started this towards end of the year; as I re-read books for the first time!
What made this possible was my capture system above, however still required flicking through the full book or sometimes my note didn't make sense so would re-read
I'm now using Notion with a format for Key Themes, Key Quotes and the most important What I Will Change (action items)

With a routine in place, I've actually read 4 books in the first 2 weeks (albeit was on holidays!); I actually don't care about reading the 52 Books; it's there as a guidepost for maintaining the Habits of constant learning & growing.

I'm going to add Book Reviews as a YouTube theme to solidify this.