Between the Lines of Busy: How I Make Time to Read in this Digital Age

My Reading Trend Last Year

The First Step: Choosing the Book

I realize that sometime, the amount of time me decide which book I should read after I finish a book is waaay longer than the actual reading time itself. I can be very indecisive for some reason. Then, this year, when I’m about to finish a book, I already decided which book I will read next. This actually helps me a lot, and I can get right on the reading train instead of taking a break.

Another consideration from my perspective is that I usually alternate between reading in Bahasa Indonesia and in English OR alternating between genre and how heavy is the topic of the book. I want to read more types of books. I usually prefer to read fiction with mystery genre. Or basically, any books about cats or have cats on the cover. Lol. (believe me, Japanese book has A LOT of cats on the cover and have nothing to do with the story).

But I know many people read more than one book at the same time – which I sometimes do, too. I do this for many reasons. First, if I read a thick book, I’d pick a thinner one so that it would be easier to bring when I went out. (not that I read a super thick book, tho, believe me). The second reason is that if a book is too heavy and takes too long for me to read (like a classic English book), I will have another easier book so that I can keep my reading spirit up. Third, sometimes I read fiction and nonfiction at the same time and alternate to read it based on how my day goes.

The important thing is to read books you would enjoy!

Training Our Brain to Read

Intention is the number one factor. You need to set an intention for the day to read for at least 20 minutes. It can be 5 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes during lunchtime, and 10 minutes before sleep, or altogether 20 minutes at the same time. As I mentioned in the beginning, at some point, I found it difficult to focus on more than 5 pages. So I use the 20-minute goal daily.

And indeed, people often find it difficult to focus when reading books if they aren’t accustomed to the practice because reading requires sustained attention. This can be challenging, just like exercising for the first time in weeks. Moreover, in this digital era, we are accustomed to faster-paced content, like the 30-second videos on Tiktok with sound and visuals. Our brain needs to adapt to the cognitive effort of processing text for extended periods. So, make the intention to practice reading because the first distraction is our own brain.

Getting Rid of the Distraction, Finding the Time

Once we know what books to choose and that it takes time to get used to reading, the big question is: WHEN can we read?

Personally, my favorite time is reading in the morning before everything else. I used to believe that I definitely was not a morning person, but it turns out I really enjoy a slow early morning phase. I want to wake up without having to rush and be able to do things I want to do, not things I HAVE to do. I can journal and read my book until I have to actually start my day. I feel like my mind is at peace, so I can delve into the books better.

The opposite of that is, of course, at night before sleep. These two are actually the easiest times to build a reading habit every day. Not only do I spare time to read, but it also reduces the amount of dump scroll I do on my phone as soon as I wake up and before sleeping. This is another story tho, I will share more about screen time on another blog!

But I have a new strategy!

Changing the Dump Scroll into Reading Time

In the past week, I have a new strategy to squeeze reading between daily activities. Since I work from home, on some days, I find it hard to focus and end up wasting my time during the day and working at night. So I used a Pomodoro timer to work. I chose this video on YouTube, which also has background noise that I like! The focus time is 45 minutes with 10 minutes break. And for these past 5 days, I’ve been reading a book on my break time! realise this is such a privilege for me, cause if you works from an office, it wouldn’t be appropriate to read in between works.

That actually works wonders for me. Not only can I focus better on work, but I actually get a lot of reading time even though it feels REALLY short – because in those 10 minutes, I also use it for going to the bathroom, refilling my water bottle, stretching, or other stuff. But I mostly use my time to read.

Without having to dedicate a certain amount of time to reading, I can read a lot. I have read over half of the books 226 pages out of 400 pages on work days! Moreover, last week has actually been quite a busy week for me. I even work after dinner time, but reading in between working really motivates me. When I first discovered this Pomodoro timer, I mostly used the 10 minutes for screen time – checking Instagram or watching YouTube videos. I am so proud of myself!

Dedicated Time: Weekend Marathon

The last thing is this one. On weekend with no event, I usually spend my time just reading book. I can finish a book on Saturday and then start a new one on Sunday! hahaha. I go to church in the morning, and after the mass I go to cafe and just dedicated my time to read. Such a relaxing time on weekend.

Right now, I’m on my 9 book this year. I actually enjoy my reading time instead of just focusing on achieving my target number. I hope you can read more book this year! Once you’re in the flow, I believe it will be easier to continue become a reader. It’ll slowly become part of your identity and something you look forward to in our busy life.