If you’re looking to make a wholesome, non-toxic new year’s resolution, resolving to read more is a good move to make in 2023.

Not only does it broaden your mind, but it’s also good for your body. Research has found that reading not only strengthens pathways in your brain, it also lowers blood pressure, heart rate and feelings of psychological distress. So fitting in as much of it as you can, or prioritising it over other activities, seems like a no-brainer.

But due to the amount of (mostly digital) distractions in our daily lives, it can feel impossible to carve the time out for reading, even if we really enjoy it.

Stylist asked a range of seasoned bookworms for the best ways to stick to your reading goals and have fun while doing so – here are the top tips.

If you’re struggling to interact with reading, it might be that you need to switch up the way you’re doing it. Try audiobooks, especially if you’re active and always moving around. Switch to an e-reader, such as a Kindle, if you find paperbacks and hardbacks cumbersome. If you’re tactile and love the feel of the pages, prioritise this form as it’ll feed into your reading experience.

It might be that certain genres suit certain mediums, so mix it up and see what happens.

Viewing reading as an opportunity to escape from reality works. It’s a sacred time slot for you to cultivate, freeing you from all the mundane responsibilities of adult life.

“I set a timer for reading time, knowing I’ll be back ‘in the world’ in an hour, or whatever duration,” Clemence, 30, tells Stylist. “It helps me fully tune it out for the duration of my reading.” 

Whether it’s first thing in the morning, on your lunch break or last thing at night before you go to sleep, an easy distraction and/or procrastination method is to take to your social media poison of choice.

So the next time you feel the impulse – whatever time of day – pick up a book (digital or analogue) instead. 

Considering we spend an average of 2.5 hours of our day on social media, that’s a lot of pages you could be reading instead.

We’ve been socialised to put pressure on ourselves to finish all the books we start, even if we’re not enjoying them. If you think about it, this is productivity for productivity’s sake and just isn’t a good enough reason to waste your precious time when you could be starting the best book you’ve ever read.

“Nothing will stop you reading more than a book you don’t get, and if you’ve decided you have to finish it before you start the next, you’ll never get anywhere,” Rhea, 38, tells Stylist.

This can apply to whether you actually commute to work or not – even if you work from home, make space for a 20-minute reading window to emulate a train or car journey to work.

If you do actively commute, it’s an excellent way to lose yourself during a relatively ‘empty’ part of your day. Experiment with which medium might suit a crowded train; is it an audiobook or perhaps a Kindle? 

Whether this is following a few Bookstagrammers or joining an IRL book club, meeting likeminded people who will either have the same tastes as you and make brilliant recommendations, or completely different tastes and introduce you to completely different authors, writing styles and genres, cultivating a reading community will only increase your love for reading, and how much time you spend devoted to it.

Like with fitness and other health apps, tracking your reading should only be done if it motivates you – if it makes you feel guilty when you’re not reading or obligated to read more, it may not be the method for you.

It’s a great way of hitting reading goals for many, though, especially if you set yourself a “challenge” for the year.

“I’m one of those people who loves to gamify their life and [setting] a reading goal for the year gives me something to work towards,” Emily, 25, tells Stylist.

“Challenges really push me to read more, and usually books I wouldn’t normally pick up,” Marty, 28, adds.

“I bring my book out to a restaurant to get my reading time in,” Olive, 31, tells Stylist. “I even put on lipstick so I feel like a fancy heroine from some impossibly chic movie!” 

Or, she says, turn up to a friendly or romantic date slightly early to fit in some reading.

Getting yourself a library membership opens you up to a range of amazing titles, without the limitations of a book-buying budget. Chances are you’ll be open to trying more titles, without the financial commitment.

Apps like Libby and BorrowBox also allow you to read your library rentals through an e-reader on your phone or through audiobooks if that’s your jam. 

“I learned to read what I like,” Danny, 38, says. “There is a pressure to read certain amazing books that everyone is talking about, but now I just want to read what I feel like reading.”

Images: Getty