Expert Advice on How to Develop a Reading Habit

You are on Goodreads right now, which means that you are someone who appreciates the pleasure of reading a good book. On the other hand, you are on Goodreads right now instead of with that book, so you may also be someone who doesn’t read as much as she would like to.

The data backs this up: “Read more” is on most top-10 lists of New Year’s resolutions. Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who read each day is declining, as the internet takes up more and more of our attention.

Why don’t we just go with the flow? Why do we keep wanting to read more? Part of the answer is obvious: Reading is fun, entertaining, and often inspiring.

But there are other, less obvious, and less subjective benefits. We know that becoming engrossed in a novel improves brain function and enhances neural connectivity. If that sounds like “reading makes you smarter,” you’re not far off.

And even though reading is a solitary endeavor, there are social benefits as well: The experience of being transported into a fictional world increases your empathy and ability to imagine others’ experiences.

Stressed? Reading just for six minutes can slow your heart rate and ease muscle tension as you escape into a fictional world. So, it’s obvious that we all want to read more, not just because “it’s the right thing to do" but because it is truly good for us. That’s not even taking into account how good books are at giving you something to talk about at your next dinner party.

It’s settled, then. This is one New Year’s resolution worth committing to.

But how do you go about carving out time in your busy life to make it happen?

The best way to start reading more—and keep reading—is to form a habit. Don’t roll your eyes at how obvious this sounds. And forget what you know about habits. Forget about motivation, keeping records, and setting goals. Despite what you might have heard, habits don’t work that way.

Habits do not rely on your willpower or your innate character. Habits rely on repetition.

Essentially, behavior begets behavior. Your brain is set up to “decrease the cost” of each repeated behavior. Every time you do something that you’ve already done, you are on the way toward doing that thing more easily, more automatically, and therefore more stably.

Read a book once, and you’re making a decision. Do it twice, and you’re still learning. Read 100 times in a similar way, under similar circumstances? You don’t have to think twice about it. You’ve done all the thinking you need to do. The hard work is over. You will automatically pick up a book, your brain blissfully free to focus on whatever unfolding story awaits.

The simplicity of this is undergirded by an elegant mental apparatus that we are only just now really understanding. When you do something that feels good (like reading, for the reasons I shared above), your brain reacts by releasing a neurochemical, dopamine, which forms connections in your mind between the context you are in (your comfy reading couch after work) and what you did (read a chapter of the latest pulse-pounding thriller everyone is talking about) to get rewarded. As that connection is reinforced by repetition, it becomes independent from the reward.

In your consciousness, this is what happens when you stop doing something “because it feels good” and you start to do it simply “because that’s what I do.” Ultimately, you only have to see your couch when you walk in the door, and you reach for the book.

In that way, habits are literally mental shortcuts. They connect context and behavior (and do away with reward). They simplify things to the point that we don’t have to really think about them anymore.

So, putting this all together. This is how I, a scientist who studies habits, would get you to read more. First, borrow a tip from the chefs, and prepare your mise en place. Put everything in its place. “Prep” things by placing your book right where you’ll be reading it, whether it’s next to the couch or next to your bed.

Second, make other things more difficult. Add friction to other behaviors (like browsing Twitter). This could be as simple as removing your phone from your pocket and leaving it in the kitchen or putting the TV remote in a drawer.

Next, stack habits. Habits form faster when they seem to “hitch” on other habits. If you already habitually look at your phone when you’re bored, download an ebook and make that the first app that pops up.

Lastly, evaluate. Don’t force yourself to finish a book you don’t like. My own house rule is to stick with a book for 50 pages and quit if I’m not captivated by then. An audit like this is good to have in place, especially if you’re trying to form the reading habit. Eventually your habit will diminish the impact of rewards, but you don’t need to make it so hard from the get-go. Go with what gives you pleasure!

These simple strategies should help you cultivate a better and more consistent reading habit, one that persistently delivers the pleasure of reading a good book.