I know that when
we students go back to school, we usually do not have a lot of time for reading
anymore, but today I have a few tips for you, which could help you to change
that and increase your reading during school time! :)
o
Don’t force yourself to read
If you do not feel like reading, it won’t make sense to force yourself to do
it. Your mind will always slip off to another topic. You will read 5 pages, and
you won’t have any clue what it was about, because you were so distracted. The
most important thing is to take your time. If you want to play some video games,
or watch some Netflix, then do it. Your excitement for reading will come back
eventually, I promise.
o
Bring a book everywhere you go & use your “in
between” moments
This is a tip that really worked well for me. If you have a book in your bag, ready to be read,
you are more likely to pick it up. If you have a short 10 minute
break, use the time and read these 10 minutes. Even if you only read a few
pages, it still will make a change at the end of the month. You can also use
the spare time when you’re on the bus going to school, or go home from school.
These “in between” moments, where you have nothing else to do, are perfect for
reading.
o
Use ear plugs
A lot of people tell me that they find it hard to read when other people are
around because they can't concentrate, and I can totally understand that, but I got your back: Use ear plugs. You
can get them at any pharmacy store, or even at some libraries, and they are
extremely helpful. They help you to concentrate more on the book than the other
people around you. Another possibility would be to use your headphones instead
of ear plugs. You can even play some music, if that doesn’t distract you from
reading.
o
Set a specific time to read (before bed e.g.)
It always helped me a lot when I set a specific time to read when I was in
school. You can do your schoolwork and studying during the day, and when you
are finished you can look forward to reading. (Another small tip: It is always better to do the
work first, so that you can read as long as you want afterwards.) I would
especially recommend that you try to read everyday before bed. I personally do
not have a specific time when I go to bed. I can be from 9pm to 11 pm, and I
can get a lot of reading done in these two hours. When you read before bed it
helps your mind and eyes to relax, because we are on our phone/laptop/TV a lot
during the day, and usually right before bed too, watching some YouTube and
whatnot. The "blue" light from these devices however is very bad for our eyes. But when you read before bed it helps your eyes to relax and you will
probably sleep better. So only benefits, right?
o
Try to lower your procrastination time
I know it from myself: We use far too much time for social networks nowadays.
But this is important time that we could use for reading. So next time you are
tempted to spend 2 hours on Tumblr, shorten the time to 30 minutes and use the
rest of your time for reading. You will be able to read a lot more if you
shorten your time on the internet, trust me. I know that it’s really hard, but
just try it!
o
Read shorter and more light hearted books
If you don’t have a lot of time for reading it’s very exhausting to read long
books with heavy topics. Try to read 250 – 300 page books, and you will see
that the excitement for books and reading will increase, because you can read
the books faster, and your monthly wrap-ups get bigger and bigger, which is
always an amazing feeling, right? Light hearted books will probably also make you happier than sad and serious books, and thats helpful because it gives you more motivation to pick the book up again, than a book which makes you sad or even tired because of the topic. After a hard school day a light hearted read is much better.
o
Try out graphic novels or audio books
Maybe your aren’t going to school by bus or train, but by car, so in this case
you can’t read, but you can listen to audiobooks instead while driving. You can get a lot of "reading" done whilst driving that way. Another
possibility, when you have a short amount of time for reading, is that you try
out graphic novels. These aren’t as exhausting and time consuming to read as
normal books, but a lot of fun as well. So when you are trying to relax, and
don’t have a lot of time, I would highly recommend that you try out some graphic
novels, also if it’s out of your comfort zone.
o
Participate in Reathons or Readalongs or join
Bookclubs
It is always much more fun to read when other people are reading with you, so
bookclubs can be an amazing opportunity to read and discuss books with friends.
A Readathon however can push you to read more in your free time, because you
want to complete the challenges as best as you can. These Readathons always give
me more motivation to pick up a book, because I know that other people are
reading with me at the same time.
I really hope that at least
some of these tips were useful for you! Please let me know which one of these
tips is your favourite, and also comment some of your best tips on how to read more during school.
Thank you all so much for reading this and checking out my blog! I will
hopefully see you next time. Bye!
