Read Two Pages a Night

If you want to read more often and more consistently then listen up! If not, then listen anyway. I am going to share a tactic I have employed for the last few months that works for me and has helped me improve my reading habits. It is to simply read two pages of a book every night.

I hear your questions already, Brian, you can’t possibly learn anything reading two pages a night, and it’ll take you forever to read a whole book. Well first off, it’ll take you 100 days to read a 200 page book so that’s not forever, and second and more importantly, you usually end up reading more than two pages when you get around to doing it!

It’s all about building the habit!  For me, two pages is just enough to feel like I put in the effort to take action, but it’s short enough that it doesn't seem like a burden to do on the nights I’m really tired and just want to go to sleep. As I mentioned, often times the two pages is just the foot-in-the-door to me sitting down and reading for longer, because getting started is the hardest part. Just by guaranteeing I put myself in a position to start, I end up reading a lot more!

What’s powerful too, is since I read consistently before bed every night, I now identify as a reader! And with this new found identity, I want to engage in behaviors that strengthen this association. I have come to take pride in reading at night. 

Give it a try for a week and see what happens. I bet you read more than 14 pages!