3 min read

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.

Published by:

C R Fraser