It gets easier after university, I never had enough time there to read much, and what free time I did have I wanted to take advantage of the unique social opportunities attending a university afforded me.

Get an audiobook and connect listening to it with a physical activity that wouldn't allow you to read an actual book. Take a study break, go for a walk and listen to something for pure entertainment. And return refreshed and with better ability to concentrate.

well best is to pick something good, something you cannot put down from the genre you like. You can go to r/suggestmeabook where people can recommend books according to what you would like to read.

I will also suggest listening to audiobooks when you are doing something mundane like chores, commuting etc. Audiobooks help me a lot to get through something boring, I no longer hate chores because of it.

Habit. Decide that you want to read more than you want to YT. Go to bed just a half hour early at first and decide that you’re done with screens for the day. Force yourself to read for 30 minutes. With enough regularity and a good book you’ll want to go to bed earlier and earlier until you realize that you want to also read at other times during the day.

I think it helps to create like a timeslot for reading time. For me, it started with my bedtime routine, because I noticed that reading helped me fall asleep faster as opposed to watching something. So I started to block at least 30min before going to bed just for reading.

You could also use your commuting time (if you are not driving of course) :)

Hope it helps!

Another idea might be (and this I'm basing on your wanting to read but doing other things in your free time instead) to start with very short books - a novelette or short story collection or, at most, a novella. They may not be the books you're currently interested in reading but may help to form a habit and will give you that 'reward' of finishing a book quickly which could help all by itself, giving you that feeling that you've done it once, now you can do it again.

It's difficult when you have obligations to read other things, but finding the right thing helps more than you can imagine.

While knee deep in my A levels, I started reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? out of curiosity, which I think might have been the last book I read where I genuinely got that sensation of not being able to put it down: where I needed to try to wean myself off of it to do other things and I sat with genuine anxiety and suspense waiting to read another chapter.

When I read LoTR and SoIaF on the other hand? I'm sorry, but I frequently had to hype myself up to get the energy to read them a lot of the time. I wouldn't say those books were bad, but they definitely weren't great reads on top of my school work at the time and in the middle they began to feel much more like an obligation I was putting on myself.

It's all well and good to go for classics or things people have recommended you, but it's easiest if you're hooked on whatever you're reading.

Have you tried audiobooks? They might help you transition to reading for pleasure because you can listen to them while you do other things

Find a book group, either online or attached to the university, and read with them. You'll not only expand outside your own preferences, you may also introduce others to the books you love. And that is always a good incentive to read, even if you're in a slump.

Well, I don't spend much time watching YouTube.

I read for myself for 20 minutes at bedtime. I also have the kindle app on my phone, so if I am in line or waiting for a bus, I can read. Some people use audiobooks while working out or doing household chores.

Modern life provides endless distractions and can leave us feeling that we are doing something wrong as there are not enough hours in a day to do what we ‘like’. Reading for leisure is such a pleasure (I didn’t mean it to come out like that but….). Allocate half an hour or so every day and stick to it. And enjoy!

Schedule time, just like how you would for watching videos or listening to music.

>instead I do other things during my free time, like watching youtube. I also think reading books would be better for my brain than watching youtube endlessly lol

I do not think books are the universal better hobby, but watching youtube videos for hours is probably not going to lead to any insights into anything or relaxation.

So I guess the answer, just do not watch youtube videos for hours on end. If you want to use that time to read books, fine, if not, if you wanna do some volunteering or exercise or draw or clean stuff, that is also a good thing. Take a breather from spending hours watching youtube videos, that will be a win, whether you want to read books or not.

Take YouTube off your device, get the kindle or libby app. Problem solved.

Read "Atomic Habits." There is ample tremendous advice on how to tip-toe your way into net positive habits making, while tip-toeing away from net negative habits. It changed my life more than anything I've read at any time.

I'll give you one nugget from it: if you want to make habits, commit to something very small. For example, set a goal to Read 2 pages a day for pleasure. That's it. But, commit to it every day. You'll find that, just by taking that baby step, you'll end up reading more than yo8 thought.

Also, put the book in a comfortable place, and make sure it's in sight.

Additional idea: write it down on a schedule. At 7pm, every day, I am going to read 5 pages.

Let me tell you how this has transformed my life.

I have a 180 day streak on duolingo. Not only do I have that streak, but i went from a few minutes a day to 25 minutes, every day, on average. There are days when I spend 1.5 hours. What happened is, once I started learning and seeing results, i got hooked.

I started a lifting program at the same time (last august). I have completed an average of 25 workouts every month since. How? I put my shorts and shoes on when it's time to workout. He also recommends writing it down. Example: "i am going to work out April 1st for 10 minutes. Just by putting your workout clothes on, you will start. And by starting, you'll go way over 10 minutes at some point.

It's about consistency long term. Making tiny improvements in your daily life leads to dramatic results. Believe me. I have ample proof. My notebooks are full of soanish and German, and all of workouts. And, I have read a TON of books in that time.

it helps me to use different formats. audiobooks for fun, text for academia.

as for feeling like you're wasting time, scheduling yourself really well is the best advice i could give. i only read outside of my studies while at lunch, after before 9 am or after 8 pm, or on saturdays or wednesdays (my days off). otherwise, i have time set aside for reading for my classes. i don't worry about what i should be reading for my classes while i'm reading for fun because it has a different time and place

You need to carve out some actual time to read each day. Bring a book to a coffee shop and leave your phone.

Start with smaller books and just aim to read X amount of pages per day or week, take yourself to a different room to read, I enjoy reading before bed but I know some people it just causes them to fall asleep lol

Also I love GoodReads because I really enjoy seeing what I've read and then going there for my next book idea

Part of it gets easier after university. Part of it is being deliberate with your time.

What I do is give myself 15 minutes a day to read. If I want to stop after those 15 minutes, that's fine, but for those 15 minutes, I have no mobile, no background stuff going on. It's me and a book I want to read.

Sometimes I get into the zone and I can read for an hour or more. Other times, I scoot slowly through a book 15 minutes at a time. Either way, that's better than nothing.

Make a point of carrying a book or ereader with you all the time. If ereader, load it with only books that are NOT related to your studies. Open the book or ereader and read a few pages or even paragraphs whenever you’re on the toilet, waiting for or on a bus, in a waiting room, etc.

You're going to "waste" time, whether you plan for it or not. If you don't plan your wasted time, it really will be wasted by procrastinating. You will end up doing something you don't really want to do (hi Reddit), and feel guilty the whole time about not doing work. Instead, put leisure time on the calendar and use it for just that, and put focused work time on the calendar and don't deviate from it. Your time will be better spent, and you'll not have to feel guilty about enjoying the other stuff. The other stuff is important to you as a whole person.

My reading got replaced by YouTube, which has since been replaced by scrolling on Reddit/Tic Toc.

Our entertainment has evolved beyond books for all the reasons why our parents warned us about. There are literal teams of people working on ways to ensure that our eyes stay glued to whatever website, application or device we are currently working on.

My recommendation is actually shifting the medium. Audiobooks are a great way to stay visually engaged in a chore, but remain attentive to a narrative.

It will also help break the mental link between books as a chore and books for fun.

Pair it up with a mundane task like laundry night, food prep, or a long drive and see if you can remain invested.

Start a light series, finish a couple audio books and then pick up the next book in the series in physical form and see if it sticks.

Good luck. I’ve been exactly where you are, and it’s hard to get it to stick.

My first two years of graduate school I really didn’t read much fiction, I was simply burned out on reading after I finished my 500 pages a week of academic reading. Instead, I decided to set myself a goal of “learning” about old movies, so it gave me an excuse to watch a lot of old movies. I would suggest not beating yourself up about it. Your mind is telling you that it needs a break from books, and that’s pretty common in uni!

Alternate suggestion is – especially if you like genre fiction like science fiction or fantasy – there are some amazing novellas being published as books right now and those are very bite-sized. Martha Wells’ Murderbot series, Mohamed’s The Annual Migration of Clouds, Barnhill’s The Crane Husband are all great books ~120 pp.

Short stories are also an amazing literary form 😏

You're probably gonna have to take a break for now. Choose very limited and manageable goals. Read fiction that's easy. Something like ten pages when you're going to sleep after you've finished other work.

Hi there. This subject has been very popular in the past. Please use reddit search and/or check the /r/books/wiki/faq.

When I'm trying to add something into my life that I "want" to do, but I have so many things that I "need" to do, I have to set time aside on my calendar. If I'm really busy, I'll set timers to start the activity and a timer to end the activity so I don't feel guilty for not getting back to the things I need to get done.

I recommend starting with small chunks of time, 15-30 minutes 1-2 times a day. There are programs that you can put on your phone or laptop that will limit your access to certain apps or websites. I have a friend who has on that has a pop up when she tries to go onto social media that asks if this is how she wants to spend her time. It also has a timer that has a snarky comment that will pop up every 15 minutes.