The Most Common Excuse — and Why It's Not Quite Right

"I just don't have time to read." It's the most common thing people say when asked why they don't read more. And while it's not entirely untrue — life is genuinely busy — it's also not the full story. Most people have pockets of time they're currently filling with other things: phones, streaming, commutes, waiting rooms. Reading more isn't usually about finding time. It's about choosing to use existing time differently.

Step One: Remove the Friction

The biggest obstacle to reading isn't time — it's access. If your book is in another room, in a bag, or buried under a pile of things, you'll reach for your phone instead. It requires no effort. The book does.

Fix this by making books the lowest-friction option in your environment:

  • Keep a book on your bedside table, one in your bag, and one in your most-used room.
  • Use a Kindle or reading app so a book is always in your pocket.
  • Leave your phone in a different room during times you want to read.

Step Two: Use Small Windows of Time

Most people imagine reading requires a long, uninterrupted block of time. It doesn't. Ten minutes on public transport, five minutes waiting for a coffee, fifteen minutes before sleep — these add up considerably over a week. A reader who averages 20 minutes a day will finish a typical non-fiction book in three to four weeks. That's around fifteen books a year, from what most people would consider "spare" moments.

Step Three: Choose Books You Actually Want to Read

This sounds obvious, but it's frequently ignored. Many people approach reading as homework — selecting books they feel they should read rather than books that genuinely interest them. The predictable result is slow progress and abandoned books that breed guilt.

Read whatever draws you in. Genre fiction, history, biography, popular science, essays — it all counts. The goal is to build a reading habit, and habits form around things you enjoy. Worthy but dull can come later, once reading is genuinely established as part of your life.

Step Four: Give Yourself Permission to Quit

One of the most liberating rules a reader can adopt is the permission to abandon a book that isn't working. Life is too short for books you're not enjoying, and the guilt of an unfinished book often puts people off starting new ones. If a book isn't engaging you by 20% in, put it down without ceremony and move on.

Step Five: Reduce Streaming as a Default

This is the honest one. For many people, the realistic trade-off is reading versus watching. Not every streaming session, not every time — but occasionally choosing a book over an episode of something you're only half-watching is where the time comes from. It's worth being clear-eyed about this rather than pretending the time will appear from nowhere.

Tracking Without Obsessing

Some readers find tracking their books motivating — apps like Goodreads allow you to log what you've read and set annual goals. This can be genuinely encouraging. Just be careful that the goal doesn't start driving the reading — rushing through books to hit a number defeats the purpose entirely.

A Simple Weekly Framework

  1. Set a reading goal that feels easy — perhaps one book per month to start.
  2. Identify two or three daily time slots where reading could replace phone use.
  3. Have your next book ready before you finish your current one.
  4. Keep a short list of books you want to read so you're never stuck deciding.

Start Tonight

The best time to build a reading habit is always the same: now. Pick up the book you've been meaning to start and read ten pages before sleep. That's it. Tomorrow, do it again. The habit builds itself from there.