If you have a never-ending pile of books to get through, you might wonder how you will ever keep up. However, one woman says she reads four books a week while working a nine-to-five job, and she insists you can do it too.
The Reading Revolution
Reading has been a beloved pastime for centuries, and social media has drawn a new generation of younger enthusiasts to it in recent years. Yet when some people discover that someone reads regularly, they question how they find the time. They mistakenly assume that avid readers do nothing else but sink into a comfortable sofa with a book in hand.
One woman, Tetra, was determined to demonstrate that you can read extensively while holding down a full-time job. She reassured followers that she does not have loads of free time; she simply reprioritises her life and insists you can do the same if you are eager to make a dent in your ever-growing book pile.
She promised people that she is not lying about the number of books she gets through, nor is she secretly unemployed. So here is how she squeezes so many reading sessions into her busy schedule.
1. Try Reading on Your Commute
Rather than mindlessly scrolling through social media and working yourself into a state of anxiety, why not crack open a book on your morning commute? "If I am on a bus or a train, I am reading. Even just 15 to 20 minutes adds up so quickly over a week," Tetra explained. Reading for as little as five minutes each day can significantly boost your mental wellbeing, so it is absolutely worth setting your phone aside and giving it a try.
2. Read on Your Lunch Break
It is far too tempting to sit alone at lunchtime scrolling aimlessly through your phone. Tetra, however, prefers to squeeze in a chapter while she eats. If you "literally just read one chapter" daily during your work lunch break, you will have completed five chapters in a week. And that is without factoring in any reading during your commute. The results could be so impressive.
3. Read the Kindle App Instead of Scrolling
Tetra explained she far prefers using her Kindle at any time of day because it is a far better use of her time. Additionally, she never feels guilty after spending hours reading, unlike the dread that she gets after scrolling. "If I am going to sit on my phone at night anyway, I just open the Kindle app on my phone instead of TikTok. It is the same screen time, but definitely a better outcome," she shared.
4. Reading Sprints
This technique involves setting a timer and settling into a book, discovering how much you can get through within that period. Tetra explained: "I will literally say just 20 minutes and set a timer or go to a coffee shop and read until I have finished my coffee." This approach means there is "no pressure to finish loads of pages," yet more often than not she continues reading anyway because she is thoroughly engrossed in her book. The bookworm added: "It is genuinely not about reading for three hours straight. It is about sneaking it into all the gaps when you have time, and then that is how you finish four books a week."
