5 Tips To Help Any Visual Designer Read More
Designers are busy. From working late hours to starting side hustles along with fulfilling the daily duties with being human, it's hard to add one more thing to do before the day end. Especially when that one more thing is reading.
Building a reading habit can be difficult. Everyone knows it's essential and has an incredible impact on health. It boosts intelligence, relieves stress, increases empathy, and it can even make people live longer.
The best part is there is no correct answer to what needs to be read to experience these health benefits as long as it's done daily for a small amount of time.
Here are a few tips to help you jumpstart your reading habit.
1. Start Slow
If you haven't read in a while, then don't start with a 500+ page novel. Developing a reading habit is difficult when you set extreme goals from the beginning. Be realistic and keep your goals manageable. As you complete them, you’ll naturally set new challenging goals.
Keep your reading material simple. Choose books that are short or with lots of visuals.
Keeping your reading material short will help you stay focused and engaged and allow you to finish it quickly. This is important because it'll help you feel like you've accomplished something, and that will encourage you to want to read more.
It's important to note that you also don't need to start with design books. Pick up the latest bestseller, graphic novel, or Young Adult novel you’ve seen on Tiktok. The goal is to read something you will enjoy, not to read something because you feel forced.
Note: It’s also an excellent time to mention that if you discover you don't enjoy a book you're reading, then it is okay to stop reading it and pick up something different.
2. Schedule Time To Read Throughout Your Week
It's easy to say, "I'll read when I have a spare moment" or "I'll read before I go to bed," but the truth is you won't have a spare moment, and you'll probably fall asleep one page into your reading journey.
If you want to read more, then you will need to dedicate your time to reading actively. Look at your schedule and identify chunks of time where you can fit in a few minutes of uninterrupted time to read. It can be spread throughout the week.
Keep your goal realistic, and don’t pressure yourself to read every day if it doesn’t fit with your schedule. Reading a few days per week is better than not reading at all.
Start off slow. Dedicating 15 minutes per day to reading is manageable, whether it’s done at once or broken into sections throughout the day.
Once you consistently complete that goal for a few days, then increase the amount of time.
Thirty minutes of reading per day is an incredible amount of time to schedule because it is not too long to prevent you from doing other important things. It's long enough to read a substantial amount of a book, a number of articles, etc., and you won't feel like you're wasting your time.
3. Follow Blogs
Following blogs (and reading their articles) is a great way to discover new reading material that you can casually read throughout your day.
Most content is free, highly accessible, and about almost anything you might be interested in.
I recommend starting an RSS feed with a few blogs that interest you. Get in the habit of checking it every day and thoroughly reading articles that interest you.
4. Romanticize Reading
Reading can feel like a chore. Romanticizing reading can influence you to want to read. It makes the act of reading feel special, and it'll make you want to read instead of making you feel like you need to read.
Do this by following accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube who glamorize, gamify, and make reading entertaining, follow aesthetic accounts that make reading look enticing, and follow authors who give you a behind-the-scenes look at their books)
5. Reduce the Friction Between You and Reading
This tip is the most important because it is the foundation of your building your reading habit.
Make your reading materials accessible to you, and don't let anything get in the way of accessing them. Keep your book with you in places you're inclined to read. If you tend to read during your commute, keep a book in your backpack, or if you prefer to read while taking a bath, keep the book near the tub.
If you prefer to read on your phone, then make sure the reading app is on the first screen you see when you unlock your phone, and make sure the book is downloaded onto your phone so you can access it at all times. If you automatically click on a different app after you unlock your phone, try physically swapping that app with your reading app.
The goal is to make the transition from not reading to reading easy, fast, and painless.
By incorporating these tips into your daily routine, you can create a realistic reading habit that will help you read more. Remember to start small, set achievable goals, and make reading a pleasurable experience.
With consistent effort and dedication, you will cultivate a reading habit that will enrich your life and open up new opportunities for personal and professional growth.