How to get your reading mojo back

How to rekindle your love of reading with 5 simple strategies you can implement today!

Reading is soothing, relaxing and exciting. It can educate, inspire or simply entertain you. It is just good for the soul.

But sometimes life can just sort of got in the way. Perhaps you had a baby? Started a new job?  Life just got busy or stressful?

I can completely relate.

Pre children, I was reading about 1 – 2 books a week. I L-O-V-E-D reading. I would be that person at work telling (or should I say nagging) everyone “you just have to read this book, it is amazing” after ever book I finished.

And then I got pregnant. Once the pregnancy exhaustion set in I wasn’t able to read as much, however I could quite comfortably rest the book on my growing belly while I read so that was a nice bonus.

And after I had the baby, books completely vanished from my life. COMPLETELY! I didn’t miss it because I was just trying to cope with each day and the challenges we were experiencing. But after we got through those first months and I was feeling ok again, I felt like something was missing. I wanted to read again, in fact I NEEDED to read again.

That was one of the easier times to get back into reading as it was a genuine craving for books. However since that time, my reading desire has gone up and down and I have needed a bit of a push to get back into reading again.

Below are 5 strategies I have put into place to successfully get my reading mojo back.

…

Baby steps

To get back into my reading groove, I decided that each night I would set myself a goal to read just 10 pages of a book. I know… that is not much at all. But it was a start. And do you know what… I NEVER stuck to that limit.

I always exceeded it!

The hardest part was actually just picking up the book. Watching another episode on Netflix or scrolling through social media were so much easier, but taking that moment to switch all those things off and just have a simple commitment of 10 pages was achievable and so much more rewarding.

A different approach to baby steps is setting yourself a goal to simply read 10 minutes a day. This is very achievable and before you know it you will be choosing to read for longer periods as you get further into the book and the story line grips you.

And remember Dottie Walters’ saying “success is a staircase, not a doorway”.

…

Read a gripping book

Find a book that will suck you in from page 1 and I can assure you your reading mojo will be back in a flash! I find thrillers tend to do that for me. The most recent books that grabbed hold of me and refused to let go until I had finished the book are:

• Verity by Colleen Hoover (hands down AMAAAAAAAZING!)
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• The woman in the window by A.J. Finn
• Anything by Lee Child

Books that grip you could be from a completely different genre. Simply find a book in your favourite genre and get reading.

Check out my blog post Books With Jaw Dropping Twists for some great suggestions.

…

Keep a list of books you want to read

There are so many ways to keep lists of books you want to read. A scrap of paper, a notebook or an app on your smart phone or tablet. There are many list keeping apps as well as book related apps and websites that can assist you with this such as Good Reads or Litsy.

I love using the Good Reads list. You can add books to your ‘want to read shelf’. You can also find similar books to some of your favourite books, check out their ratings, reviews. Researching other books might also pique your interest in reading again.  

…

Pick a time of day to read

Find a time of day that works in with your daily routine where you can just pick up the book for 10 minutes.  Some suggestions include:

Read during your lunch break at work instead of working through your lunch break or scrolling through social media.

If you are a parent of young children, introduce a 10-15 minute quiet time during the day where everyone goes to their room to look at books. This also teaches your children good reading habits and you are leading by example.

If you are picking up children from school, arrive there a few minutes early and read in the car.

If you travel to work on public transport, this is the perfect time to get some good reading in, instead of looking at Facebook or Instagram.

In the evening after dinner, keep the tv off, get comfy on the couch with a nice warm blanket and read. After 10 minutes if you still want to read, then keep going. Remember, baby steps.

Take some time out from your busy schedule just for yourself. Drive or walk to a favourite location (i.e. beach or park) and enjoy the outdoors, the fresh air and a good book.

…

Favourite author research

Do you have a favourite author? I have several – Colleen Hoover, Susanna Kearsley, Deborah Harkness and Paullina Simons. If you have been in a reading slump for a while, chances are that your favourite authors may have published something new. That alone would get me really excited and keen to read it.

Another interesting thing to do (as previously mentioned) is to find books by your favourite author on Good Reads and check out the ‘See similar books’ section – see example below. There are some fabulous suggestions there and I have definitely used this function very often.