How to build a reading habit

Many people say, “I love reading, but I don’t have the time.” In reality the problem is usually not time but habit: reading is not part of the daily routine, there is no book to hand, and the phone is always within reach. In this article we look at how to make reading a daily habit rather than a one-off attempt: how habits form, which book to start with, where to find books for free and legally, how to remember what you read, how to cut down phone distractions, how to read with children and how to set up a book club in your mahalla. At the end you will find a 30-day reading exercise and a checklist.

Why make reading a habit

Reading a whole book in a single day is fine too, but the real benefit comes from regularity. Someone who reads a little every day finishes a lot of books over a year and, most importantly, does not experience reading as a heavy chore.

The practical benefits of regular reading:

• Vocabulary. Books are full of words and phrases you rarely hear in everyday conversation. Little by little they find their way into your speech and writing, and you will notice it when you prepare an application, a letter or a presentation.
• Attention. Reading a long text is practice in keeping your attention on one thing for a long time. On days filled with short videos and messages this skill weakens, and reading helps to rebuild it. There is more on this in the article on focus and concentration.
• Thinking. A book shows events, causes and consequences, and other people’s points of view. The reader “argues” with the author, asks questions and draws their own conclusions.
• Knowledge and career. Professional books give you new skills, and popular science books help you understand the world. Reading is the easiest and most accessible route to lifelong learning.

These benefits build up over months, not in a day. So the goal is not “to read a lot” but “to read every day”.

How a habit forms

A habit is built with a system, not with willpower. The following principles work for many people.

Start small

The most common mistake is a grand promise: “I’ll read for an hour every day.” Two or three days later tiredness or urgent tasks get in the way and the plan falls apart. Instead, set a goal so small that it is hard not to meet it: 10 pages or 10 minutes a day. If you are in the mood, read more; if not, it is still 10 pages and the “chain” stays unbroken.

Set a specific time and place

A plan like “I’ll read when I have time” hardly ever works. Give a precise answer: when and where?

• in the morning after breakfast, in the kitchen;
• during your lunch break, at work;
• in the evening, once the children are asleep, on the sofa.

If the place is always the same, your brain begins to link it with reading.

Use a “trigger”: attach reading to another habit

Turn something you already do every day into a signal to read:

• “When I drink my morning tea, I read 10 pages.”
• “When I get on the bus or the metro, I open my book.”
• “When I’ve brushed my teeth before bed, I read in bed for 15 minutes.”

Tea, the bus and brushing your teeth happen every day, so reading will happen every day too.

Keep the book in sight

If the book sits on a shelf, at the bottom of a bag or in another room, it is harder to pick up. Put it next to your pillow, on the kitchen table or in your work bag. Download one e-book or audiobook to your phone so that you can read in a queue or on the road as well.

Mark your progress

After each day of reading, put a mark on a calendar. A chain of marks in a row is motivating in itself: you do not want to break it. If you miss a day, don’t be hard on yourself; just try not to miss two days in a row.

Choosing a book: where to start

For someone who is just starting to read, the most important thing is that the book is interesting. If you start with a “useful but boring” book, the reading will stop before the habit has formed.

Start with your interests

Ask yourself: what do you enjoy talking about or watching videos about? History, adventure, family relationships, sport, business, travel: there are books on every subject. Interest first, “serious” books later.

Uzbek literature: classics and contemporary works

Starting with a book in your own language is easy: the language is familiar and the events and places feel close. Some widely known authors to begin with:

• Abdulla Qodiriy: the novel “O’tkan kunlar” (“Bygone Days”), known as the first Uzbek novel. Through the fates of Otabek and Kumush it portrays the life of its era.
• Cho’lpon: the novel “Kecha va kunduz” (“Night and Day”), a prose work by the poet.
• O’tkir Hoshimov: “Dunyoning ishlari”, a collection of short stories about a mother. Each story can be read on its own, which makes the book ideal for those just starting out.
• Abdulla Oripov: his poetry. There is no need to finish a book of poems in a day: reading one or two poems a day is a habit too.

In a bookshop or library, ask about the works of contemporary Uzbek writers as well; a librarian can recommend new and popular books.

Professional and popular science books

Alongside fiction, add books from your own field: accounting, programming, marketing, teaching, medicine. Popular science books explain complex subjects in plain language. A good rule is two books at a time: one for relaxing (fiction) and one for learning (professional). On a tired day you read the first, on an energetic day the second. A book in a foreign language is also a good way to learn the language; see the article on English vocabulary.

Give yourself permission to put a book down

If a book still does not grip you after 50 pages, you can close it. That is not a failure: not every book suits every reader. Forcing yourself through a dull book is a sure way to fall out of love with reading. You can always come back to it later, in a different mood.

Paper, e-books and audiobooks: where to find them

The role of each format

• Paper books: no distracting notifications, and they are easy to underline and write in. The best choice for reading at home and in the library.
• E-books: on a phone, tablet or e-reader. Light, they store many books in one place, and you can enlarge the font, which helps people whose eyes tire easily.
• Audiobooks: for when your hands are busy, such as on the road, while cooking or during exercise. Fiction is easier to listen to than a complex professional book.

You can combine formats: a paper book in the evening and the e-book or audio version of the same book on the bus.

Free and legal sources

Many good books can be read for free:

• Libraries. Regional and district information and library centres, and mahalla and school libraries. You usually register as a reader with your passport and can take books home. Ask the librarian about new arrivals and the electronic catalogue.
• Open digital libraries. Some libraries and educational portals make books openly available to read online. Classic works whose copyright has expired are also often distributed legally through open sources.
• Friends and colleagues. Swapping books is the simplest route. At work or in your mahalla you can set up a small “book shelf”: everyone leaves a book they have read and takes another.

Beware of pirated copies

Some of the books shared on social media and messenger channels as a “free PDF” are pirated copies posted without the permission of the author and the publisher. This infringes copyright: the writer and publisher get nothing for their work, and in the end fewer new books come out. On top of that, a file from an unknown source may contain malware, so only download files from trusted places. The rule is simple: use a library, an official publisher or an open source with the author’s permission.

Active reading: remembering what you read

Finishing a book and remembering almost nothing a week later is a familiar experience. The solution is active reading, that is, “working” with the text.

1. Underlining and marking. In your own book, underline important ideas in pencil and put a question mark or ”!” in the margin. Don’t write in library books; use sticky notes instead.
2. Notes. In a separate notebook or a notes app on your phone, write down quotations and ideas you liked, with the page number.
3. A three-sentence summary after each chapter. When you finish a chapter, close the book and write three sentences: what happened or what the main idea is, what was new to me, and where I will use it. This is the most powerful technique: retelling in your own words strengthens memory.
4. Flashcards. Write the key concepts from a professional book on small cards: a question or term on one side, the answer on the other. Review them once a week.
5. Telling someone else. Retell what you have read to your family or a friend in two or three minutes. If you can explain it, you have understood it.

There is more on memory techniques in the article on how to remember what you learn, and on combining learning with work and family in the article on studying effectively as an adult.

A reading journal and a “books I’ve read” list

Keep a simple notebook or spreadsheet. For each book: title, author, start and finish dates, your impression in one sentence, and who you would recommend it to. At the end of the year this list will show you how far you have come. A separate “want to read” list is useful too: when someone mentions a good book, write it down straight away, and choosing your next book will never be a problem.

Cutting down phone distractions

Reading’s biggest rival is the phone. You read a page, check a message, and then it takes time to refocus.

• Put your phone in another room, or at least place it face down out of reach.
• Do Not Disturb mode. On Android: Settings → Notifications → Do Not Disturb, or Focus mode in Digital Wellbeing; on iPhone: Settings → Focus → Do Not Disturb. You can schedule it for your reading time.
• Check your screen time. On Android: Settings → Digital Wellbeing; on iPhone: Settings → Screen Time. Seeing how much time goes on social media each day is often motivating in itself: part of that time could go to a book.
• If you read e-books on your phone, turn off notifications and open only the reading app.
• A timer. Set a timer for 20 minutes and do nothing but read during that time.

Reading with children and the family

Children usually copy what their parents do. If adults read at home, a child accepts books as something natural.

• Read aloud to young children. A 10–15 minute story before bed is one of the best family traditions. Look at the pictures together and ask, “What happens next?”
• With school-age children, take turns: one page you, one page the child.
• Family reading time. Pick one evening a week: the television and phones are off, everyone reads their own book, and then over tea each person talks about what they read.
• Let the child choose. Go to the library together and let the child pick a book that interests them.

Tips on finding time to learn as a mother with children are collected in the article a study plan for mothers with children.

Setting up a book club, and an illustrative example

A book club at the mahalla library: step by step

A book club is a small group that reads one book and then discusses it together. It makes reading social and enjoyable, and the commitment of “I need to finish it before the meeting” strengthens the habit.

1. Find a venue. The mahalla or district library, a school, the mahalla guzar. Talk to the librarian; many libraries support initiatives like this.
2. Start with 5–10 people. Neighbours, colleagues, parents. In a small group everyone gets a chance to speak.
3. Agree on a schedule. For example, once a month on a Saturday at 4 pm, for an hour.
4. Choose a simple first book. One that everyone can find and that is not too long, for example a short story collection such as “Dunyoning ishlari”.
5. Prepare discussion questions: Which character did you like and why? Which episode stayed with you? What was the author trying to say? Does this still happen today?
6. Take turns leading. At each meeting a different person leads the discussion and suggests the next book.
7. Set up a Telegram group for meeting times, the next book and favourite quotations. Share links only to legal sources.

Example: how Bekzod became a reader

Bekzod is a 32-year-old logistics worker from Samarkand (an illustrative example; the figures are approximate). Since leaving school he had read almost no books. He spent his evenings watching short videos on his phone.

• Week 1. Bekzod set himself a small goal: 10 pages on the bus to work. He borrowed “Dunyoning ishlari” from the mahalla library because the stories are short.
• Month 1. He put a mark on the calendar every day. He finished the book by the end of the month and started a reading journal.
• Months 2–3. He added another 10 pages in the evening over tea. He read “O’tkan kunlar” and also started a professional book on logistics for work. He got into the habit of leaving his phone in another room before bed.
• Months 4–6. He joined the book club at the library. He began reading one or two books a month, and it is now an ordinary part of his routine.

Bekzod’s success is not about willpower: a small start, a clear trigger (the bus and tea), a book always to hand and the commitment to the club.

Common mistakes and a 30-day exercise

Common mistakes

• Too big a goal. “Ten books a month” quickly wears you out. Start with 10 pages a day.
• Starting with a difficult book. Your first book should be interesting, not “clever-looking”.
• Forcing yourself through a boring book. Give yourself permission to put it down.
• Not setting a time and place. “When I have time” means “never”.
• Reading next to your phone. Every notification splits your attention.
• Chasing numbers only. What you take away from your reading matters more than how many books are on the list.
• Pirated copies. They infringe copyright and are a security risk.
• Missing a day and giving up altogether. One break is normal; carry on the next day.

The 30-day reading challenge

This exercise will help you turn reading into a habit within a month.

1. Days 1–3. Choose your first book (based on your interests) and join a library. Write down your reading time, place and trigger.
2. Days 4–10. Read at least 10 pages or 10 minutes every day. Mark it on the calendar.
3. Days 11–17. Add a three-sentence summary after each chapter. Leave your phone in another room while you read.
4. Days 18–24. Retell what you have read to your family or a friend. If you have a child, read aloud to them every day as well.
5. Days 25–30. Finish the book, write your impression in your reading journal and choose the next one. Find a book club or a friend who loves reading.

If you want to plan your learning more broadly, the article on a self-study plan will help, and to turn what you read into new ideas, read the article on creative thinking.

Checklist

• A specific time, place and trigger for reading are set.
• The daily goal is small: 10 pages or 10 minutes.
• The book is chosen by interest and always to hand.
• I have joined a library, and my books come from legal sources.
• While reading, the phone is far away and Do Not Disturb is on.
• After each chapter I write a three-sentence summary.
• I keep a reading journal and a “want to read” list.
• I have given myself permission to put down books I don’t enjoy.

A reading habit does not appear overnight, but 10 pages a day add up to dozens of books over a year. Start with your first 10 pages today.

If you would like to combine reading and learning skills with professional knowledge, take a look at our association’s free training programmes. When you are ready, submit an application and our specialists will get in touch.