LESSON 1 OF 9 · MAKING TIME TO READ
Finding your reading time: fitting books into an ordinary week
Most people who want to read more do not need more willpower. They need a time that already exists.
Short answer
By The Shelf Desk · Published 2026-09-27 · 2 min read
Why does reading slip out of the day?
Reading rarely loses to something important. It loses to whatever is nearest. A phone is in your hand; the book is in another room. The fix is less about motivation and more about placement: put reading next to a moment that already happens, and put the book where that moment is.
How do you pick the right moment?
Look for a moment that happens every day, lasts at least ten minutes and does not need your hands for anything else. Common ones:
- The first hot drink of the morning.
- A commute by bus or train, or a walk if you listen to audiobooks.
- A lunch break eaten alone.
- The time between getting into bed and turning the light off.
Pick one, not three. A single reliable slot does more than several hopeful ones.
How do you protect it without making it a chore?
Make the slot easy to start and easy to stop. Leave the book open, face down or with a bookmark in it, at the spot where you will read. If you read on a phone, move the reading app to the place your thumb goes first. If you listen, have the audiobook queued before you leave the house.
Then let the slot be short. Ten pages or fifteen minutes is enough to keep a book moving. Days when you read more will happen on their own.
What if your days are never the same?
Some weeks have no fixed shape: shift work, small children, travel. In that case tie reading to an event rather than a time. 'When I sit down on the train' works even when the train time changes. 'Before I open messages in the evening' works whatever time the evening starts.
Where does a reading tracker fit in?
A tracker is useful as a mirror, not a coach. Logging that you read today, or the page you reached, shows the habit forming. Most of the apps we profile have goals or stats; the goals and stats section of the reader guide lists them. If a goal starts to feel like homework, lower it or switch it off. The point is the reading, not the number.
What should you try this week?
- Choose one daily moment from the list above.
- Put a book, or the reading app, where that moment happens.
- Read for ten minutes at that moment for seven days.
- At the end of the week, notice which days it held and why.
The next lesson is about getting the most from those short sessions.