How to Make Time to Read

Reading is vital to expand your mind and grow your skills. You need to know how to make time to read.It’s hard to find time to read, either for fun or for personal development. I don’t know about you, but I especially wanted to find more time for personal development reading, but how? There are so many other things that you have to do during the day. Where can you possibly fit in something else? You need to know how to make time to read.
I know that was true for me. I’m a full-time stay-at-home dad and I homeschool my kids. That means that I am responsible for most of the cleaning and cooking as well as being the teacher for my kids.
I also have an internet marketing business. That requires time to write blog posts, update pages, and promote my posts on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
There are only so many hours in a day. Where can you find time for reading and study?

How to Make Time to Read

The trick is to find times when you can double up on your activities. At least that is what’s working for me right now. I had a chain of events that helped me figure this out. Hopefully you can skip some of the more painful parts and just learn how to make time to read from my experience.
Please bear with me. I’m going to go a little bit outside of the main topic but I will bring it back to reading time, I promise.

My Story

A couple months ago I decided that I wasn’t drinking enough water everyday. (I told you this would seem a little off topic.) I used to have an app on my old iPhone that reminded me to drink water regularly and allowed me to record how much I had. It is called WaterMinder and I had already paid for it, so I dusted off my old device and reinstalled it.
I also knew that I wasn’t moving enough. I spend my day sitting on front of my computer, much like I’m doing right now. My wife received a Fitbit for Christmas from her parents. She decided that she wanted the next model up, so I would use her “old” one once she had the new one.
With my plan in place I thought I was all set.

Validation – a Kidney Stone

On February 21 I went to the ER and they diagnosed me with a kidney stone. A huge 8mm stone. Later on I find out that there is actually a second 6mm stone still in my kidney. I wrote about that in another blog post.
One kidney stone, let alone two, completely validates my belief that I wasn’t drinking enough water and wasn’t moving enough. About this time my wife’s new Fitbit arrived and she gave me her old one.

Life With a Fitbit

Do you have any experience with a Fitbit? The low-end one that I have is really just a very fancy pedometer. It tracks my movement to figure out how many steps I’ve taken then calculates how far I’ve walked, how many calories I’ve burned and how much time I have spent moving. It does exactly what I need it to do.
At first it was nice outside so I could go for walks on a side-street and getting my steps in for the day. Then it got cold, wet and windy again and I didn’t want to go outside. So I started walking indoors. I have a space about 10 steps long and maybe 5 steps wide so I’m walking in circles for the most part. It got very boring very fast.

How to Make Time to Read

Like I said, walking in circles is boring. I needed something to occupy my mind while I get my steps in every day. And it’s not like I need to see where I’m going. I’m pacing in circles in my own home.
Can you guess what I did?
I got a book and started to read. Reading thoroughly occupies my mind while I’m walking, so I get two things done at the same time.
The Fitbit says that the CDC recommends that you get up every hour and walk at least 250 steps. That isn’t very far. They also recommend 10,000 steps a day. For me that’s about 4.5 to 5 miles. I increased my goal to 12,000 steps a day to make sure I get a full 5 miles every day.
That’s a full 5 miles walked every day in my tiny space. It’s like when you go to the zoo and see a lion or tiger pacing the perimeter of their cage.

What I’ve Read so Far

Once you know how to make time to read, you have to decide what you’re going to read. I’m generally a slow reader. I take the time to let everything soak in as I go.  At this point, I think I’ve been pacing and reading for about 3 weeks, maybe a little less, and I’ve read 4 books completely and have 3 in-progress.

Go Pro by Eric Worre

I’m a network marketer and I received this book in the mail from one of the leaders in my upline. It’s not the way I work my business but it’s a short book so I thought I’d read it anyway. There is always something that you can learn from the successful people in your industry. It’s a good training book, especially for traditional network marketers.

The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles

The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace WattlesIt’s a classic on the Law of Attraction. Mr. Wattles first states that it is everyone’s right to be rich. Further, everyone should want to get rich because it requires money to get the resources you need to grow and live a truly complete life. He then proposes that there is a strictly scientific method by which you can get rich.
I’ve read this through once and now I’m reading a single chapter once everyday for a week before moving on to the next chapter. That helps the material sink in better. They’re short so why not?

Buying Trances by Joe Vitale

I build my business exclusively online through product pages that I have created and blog posts that I write. Words are important and Joe Vitale teaches you how to use them to get the right people in the mood to buy (ethically of course).

You Can If You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale

Dr. Peale doesn’t go into the conscious and subconscious mind as in-depth as I like, but his books are very good. Most people think very negatively. It’s how we’ve been programmed by the people around us, the news, TV, radio, you name it. Negative thoughts lead to negative results. You Can If You Think You Can shows you that you have the ability to adopt positive thoughts and that those positive thoughts can lead to positive results. It’s a very inspirational book and I highly recommend it.

Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel

This is one of the books that I have in-progress. The Master Key System was originally a weekly correspondence course on how to use your subconscious mind to create the life that you want. All 24 lessons are now collected in one book but they still recommend that you treat it like the original correspondence course and read just one less each week for 24 weeks.
That’s exactly what I’m doing. Just like I’m doing with The Science of Getting Rich, I read the weeks less once every day for a week before moving on to the next lesson.
I’ve started the book before but I’ve never made it more than a few lessons in. Now that I have my daily walking routine I am very confident that I’ll make it all the way through.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Dr. Joseph Murphy

This is the book that I’m working on reading straight through, and I’ve just started. The intent is to teach about how the subconscious mind works to create the life you want. It has a similar goal to Master Key System and The Science of Getting Rich. This is a bigger book and hopefully goes more in-depth. The focus so far is more on healing but applies to anything else.

Do You See How to Make Time to Read Too?

As I said above, reading is very important, both for relaxation and for learning. You have to make time for it. The trick is where to fit it in.
You have to get up and move regularly for your health. I received a good lesson in that. So why not get both your movement and your reading done at the same time like I did. For me, that is the best answer for how to make time to read.
That’s my story. What do you think? Leave me a comment below.
I appreciate you taking the time to read all the way through. I would appreciate it even more if you would be so kind as to share this post with your followers on social media. Thank you.
P.S. All of the links above are affiliate links. If you order through any of them then I may earn a small commission. My commission will not affect the price you pay.

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