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Unlike articles that can be written in a matter of hours, well-written books take several years of research, writing, and editing. And because more thought goes into publishing a book, it’s much more valuable.
While the value of books hasn’t changed, studies show that the number of people reading books has decreased.
You’re probably not too surprised by these findings because of the information era we live in today. It’s just not as easy to sit down and read a book when you’re distracted by your smartphone every five minutes.
Fortunately, there are potent hacks to trick our brain into forming positive habits, such as reading more often.
Here are five powerful mind hacks you can use to read more books.
1. Start with small steps
Starting a book from the beginning can feel intimidating, especially if it’s been a while since we read a book.
Taking small steps applies to achieving any goal because it allows us to gain momentum without overwhelming ourselves. Scott H. Let’s put two people side by side:
- Person A: Reads 10 minutes every single morning consistently without ever missing a day
- Person B: Read for 3 hours straight every few weeks
Who do you think will still be reading a year from now?
Jack Cheng says 30 Minutes A Day is enough to form a new habit. He shares in this post:
“When mastery is the goal, spending an exorbitant number of hours in one sitting will likely lead to burnout. We don’t go to the gym expecting to put on 20 pounds of muscle in a single, day-long workout. Instead, we do several short workouts a week, spread out over months.
Our bodies need time to heal; our muscles time to grow. And the same goes for that muscle inside your skull. When trying to develop a new skill, the important thing isn’t how much you do; it’s how often you do it.”
Developing the “muscle inside your skull” requires diligent action every day, no matter how small the progress.
Small steps add up fast, and small pages add up to many books.
Don’t wait until tomorrow. Get started now. Then do it again tomorrow.
2. Do It Early
Kathleen Vohs, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota, says, “people still have the same self-control as a decade ago, but we are bombarded more and more with temptations.”
“Our psychological system is not set up to deal with all the potential immediate gratification.”
We need to exert our limited willpower more than ever today if we want to avoid distractions and stay focused on the task at hand. Since willpower is finite, we need to identify the times of the day when it’s at its highest.
Studies show that early morning, just after waking, is the time of the day when the prefrontal cortex is most active (a key element to the creative process).
What can we take away from this?
If reading is a task that requires some form of willpower, then doing it early in the morning gives you the best chance of reading more books. Because you’ll be the most creative at this hour, you may also be able to generate more ideas during your reading.
3. Stop before you’re finished
Have you ever been interrupted while in the middle of something important? Not the best feeling in the world, is it?
According to the Zeigarnik Effect, you are much more likely to recall uncompleted tasks than the ones you completed. In a 1927 study, Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik asked subjects to complete tasks. During some of the charges, the issues were interrupted before they could finish. When asked later about the lessons, they recalled the studies during which they were interrupted at a much higher rate than those they were able to complete.
Hollywood was one of the first industries to take advantage of the Zeignarik Effect in humans by introducing cliffhangers to TV shows and movies.
Just something about our brain needs the story to be completed.
Knowing this pattern of our brains, we can try to trick it by forcing cliffhangers when reading books. This is something I’ve personally been experimenting with myself.
I read many books using an app called Scribd, and I try to finish a few pages before the chapter or large section ends. The bigger the climax, the more I try to force myself to stop reading. It kills me every single time, but it also forces my brain to continue where I left off, and it’s been an effective strategy to be more consistent with my reading habit.
Try it for yourself!
4. Use Triggers to Your Advantage
If you’re like me, you’ve probably started a habit only to forget about it a few days later. I’ve done this several times with books, even after a great reading session.
To combat this, you can use triggers to your advantage. A trigger (or cue) is what Charles Duhigg, author of Power of Habits, calls the event that starts the habit.
We’ve already shared one trigger you can use to your advantage — time.
After a few weeks of reading each morning consistently, your brain will be automatically triggered the following mornings to begin reading.
Another powerful trigger is visual. If you want an easier time waking up, you may have heard about the positive benefits of laying out your clothes the night before. You could apply the same strategy to books.
If you enjoy reading physical books, you can leave your readers in places where you’ll be able to see them every day, such as your desk.
If you enjoy reading books digitally as I do, you could pin your tab, so it’s always in your visual perspective.
Since over 90% of my work involves using my browser, it is hard to forget that I have to continue where I left off in the book.
5. Read for Immediate Rewards
There’s no shortage of studies that show the correlation between human behavior change and immediate rewards. One study was done by researchers at Harvard University, where many people offered the choice of $10 today or $11 tomorrow to receive the lesser amount immediately.
Receiving immediate rewards releases dopamine in our brains and compels us to seek more of the activity.
Countless studies have shown that a cue and a reward, on their own, aren’t enough for a new habit to last. Only when your brain starts expecting the reward — craving the endorphins or sense of accomplishment- — will it become automatic to lace up your jogging shoes each morning. The cue, in addition to triggering a routine, must also trigger a craving for the reward to come.
Applying this mind hack to books, we want to be reading about topics we can immediately use to improve our lives. For example, if you’re facing some financial problems, you’ll receive immediate rewards by reading a personal finance book. Or if you’ve just started a new company, reading books like The Lean Startup or The Business Model Generation may give you immediate benefits.
