Let me guess, you have a desire to read more books this year but….it’s a few months in and you still haven’t read any (or as many as you'd like).

In today’s episode, I’m going to talk about some simple ways you can get yourself to read more consistently so you CAN and WILL read more books.

Stay tuned if you want to learn:

✔️ The top reasons that keep most people from reading

✔️ The biggest thing that prevented me from reading more books and how I changed it

✔️ Why you don’t need to be a speed reader to read more

✔️ The biggest benefits of reading

✔️Why reading can help you sleep better

How to Make Reading a Daily Habit and Rediscover the Joy of Books

If you've been wanting to read more but find yourself struggling to make it happen, you’re not alone. Many of us set lofty reading goals, but life, distractions, and the comfort of Netflix can quickly get in the way. In this episode, we dive into practical ways to help you make reading a sustainable habit—so that you can read more books without the overwhelm.

Why We Struggle to Make Reading a Habit

Many people assume that reading requires a lot of brain power or feels like a chore. At the end of a long day, the couch and a streaming show may seem much easier than diving into a book. However, studies show that reading even for a few minutes can significantly reduce stress—something TV can’t always do.

Another common reason people struggle is that they don’t allow themselves to read what they truly enjoy. There’s often a notion that we “should” read certain books or genres, but the most important thing is to read what excites you. So, if that means you pick up a young adult fantasy novel or a humorous memoir, go for it!

The Benefits of Reading

Reading isn’t just a hobby—it’s beneficial for both mental and physical health. Research shows that reading can help improve brain function, delay cognitive decline, and even lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Plus, it can improve empathy by activating areas in the brain associated with sensory processing and emotional understanding.

Simple Steps to Read More Consistently

1. Start Small

Rather than aiming to read a certain number of pages or books, start by dedicating a small, manageable amount of time each day. Even just 10 minutes can help you build the habit without feeling overwhelming.

2. Choose Books You’re Excited About

One of the biggest barriers to reading is feeling obligated to read certain books. Whether you’re into thrillers, romance, sci-fi, or non-fiction, start with genres you love. This way, you’ll look forward to reading rather than seeing it as a chore.

3. Let Go of Perfection

When reading for personal growth, it can be tempting to take notes and try to absorb every piece of information. However, just enjoy the book without the pressure of needing to remember every detail. And remember, there’s nothing wrong with reading a book more than once to fully absorb its insights.

4. Create a Reading Ritual

Incorporate reading into your daily routine, like right before bed. Studies show that reading at night (especially instead of scrolling on your phone) can improve sleep quality. Plus, the habit of reading before bed can help relax you and make falling asleep easier.

5. Avoid Speed Reading

You don’t have to read hundreds of pages daily to read more books. The key is consistency, not speed. Focus on creating a regular reading habit that fits your lifestyle.

Tracking Your Progress

Keeping track of what you read can help you stay motivated and remember more of what you’ve read. Apps like Goodreads allow you to log your books, find new reading recommendations, and even join reading challenges if you’re up for it.

Tips to Get Excited About Reading

Join a Book Club: Whether in person or online, joining a book club can give you motivation and introduce you to books you might not pick up otherwise.
Visit the Library: Libraries offer an endless supply of books to explore without the financial commitment.
Make a Reading List: Write down books you’re excited to read so you always have something to look forward to.

Reading as Self-Care

Reading isn’t just about gaining knowledge; it’s also an opportunity to unwind and let your imagination roam. Embrace it as a part of your self-care routine and a way to recharge.

Whether you’re getting back into reading or building a new habit, remember that every book and page you read is an accomplishment in itself. So, start small, read what you love, and enjoy the journey of getting lost in a great book.

Let me guess. You have a desire to read more books this year, but it's a few months in and you still haven't read any. Or maybe you started five different books, but then stopped and now you can't decide which one to read again. The overwhelm the guilt, which book is the best. But oh, there's also Netflix. I feel you. And that's why in today's episode I'm going to talk about some simple ways you can get yourself to read more consistently so that you can and will read more books.
Stay tuned for today's episode. If you want to learn the top reasons that keep most people from reading, the biggest thing that prevented me from reading more books and how I changed, it why you don't need to be a speed reader to read more. The biggest benefits of reading and why reading can actually help you sleep better.
Welcome to the Mindful Productivity Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Steckler, and this is the place to be to live a more mindful and productive life. If you're ready to turn daily chaos into calm and start your days with intention, then get ready to join me as we dive deep into mindful living and personal productivity. It's time to connect with your true self so you can live the life you want to live. And it all starts now.
Before we jump into today's episode, I thought I'd read another review from the podcast because I got some responses last time I did this and the person that actually reviewed it reached out to me was like, oh my gosh, that was cool. So I thought I'd read another review just to if you're listening for the first time, just so you can kind of know what this is all about. This one comes from Jenny. She was actually on the podcast and she says, I love the juxtaposition of mindfulness and productivity.
I haven't seen this done anywhere else and it's so effective and so aligned with me. Sarah's voice and message are accessible, easy to listen to and so so valuable. I could listen to her all day. She is insightful, relatable and warm. Can't wait for more episodes. Thanks for the love, Jenny. And if you've been enjoying the podcast so far, I would love to hear and read a review from you as well. So about reading more books. You guys, I do this thing every year. In fact, in the beginning of 2017, I actually wrote a blog post about how I was going to read 52 books in the year a book for every week, and I broke it down into how many pages that meant every day.
I was really psyched. I had like, 20 books I wanted to read to get me started. I had a ton more than I knew. I wanted to check out from the library, and for about the first four weeks I was really consistent. I was like, wow, I'm a badass. I'm reading so many books, and then it just kind of stopped and I didn't update my blog about it. I just kind of let it slide like nobody's going to notice. And I'm not saying this to harp on myself, but I'm just saying it to be real that I think we all do this.
The new year starts, a new month starts it's a new quarter. We have this crazy idea that we're going to do something and we are going to go all out with it. We're going to be go big or go home all or nothing, and then we don't do it and we don't do it. And the reason why we don't is because we don't get clear on the micro steps and the micro habits that we need to accomplish that goal. So today I'm not only going to be talking about how you can break down your reading and actually be more consistent with it, but I'm also going to tell you some awesome research about reading, the benefits of it and some things to consider and some ways to move past any roadblocks that may be in front of you in terms of actually beginning to read, starting to read, and any guilt that you might have around it.
And I hope that this episode is helpful for you. Did you know that reading actually helps create strong neural pathways in your brain? In fact, a peer reviewed study in the American Academy of Neurology found that reading helps keep your brain alert and helps delay cognitive decline. Reading consistently can also help decrease your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life. So it turns out that those book worms in middle school reading on the bus were really on to something. In fact, I don't know if you've ever felt this way, but if you ever wonder why books are just always better than movies, there's actually a reason for that, like a scientific reason.
And it's because reading activates the sensory motor area of our brains, giving us the ability to empathize and feel the emotions of characters in more powerful ways. I often feel this way when I'm reading like, wow, I feel like I'm really the character. I'm really in his or her shoes, or I really understand what the other character is going through in a really powerful way that it takes a lot more for movies to do. It takes that specific kind of director. In fact, I think the first movie that actually totally captivated me in a way that I, like, literally forgot I was watching a movie in the theater was glorious.
Bastards. That movie. I remember the opening scene where she's hiding underneath the floor. If you haven't seen that movie, it's fantastic a little bit gorier than I would prefer, but great movie. That was the first movie where I was like, oh my gosh, I forgot I was watching a movie and it was so fantastic. And I think it's a lot easier for whatever reason for our brains to really step into that space when we're reading books. So these studies in themselves are amazing, and the facts might have you feeling like Yay.
I should read more. But I also really want to use this episode to help you zero in on the reasons why maybe you're not actually taking action on reading more because as we all know, just knowing things or just having information doesn't always get us to get the ball rolling. Right? So let's start with, like, what are the top reasons that keep most people from reading? One of the first ones is that I think we often assume that reading is going to require a ton of brain power, and it won't be relaxing.
And be honest with yourself. I mean, after a long day at work, what would you rather do? Would you rather plop down the couch and have the TV mindlessly take your brain on vacation or pick up a book? You don't have to feel bad. But sometimes TV sounds way easier and you can really zone out. But when it comes to stress reduction, this is what's actually surprising. So researchers at the University of Sussex actually found that reading was one of the best ways to reduce stress.
In fact, just six minutes of reading. You guys can reduce stress by 68%. That sounds a lot better and out there than me drinking a beer and watching an hour of reality TV that makes me feel depressed. I'm just saying. So even though the habit of reading and starting off reading might require a little bit more brain power, it's actually going to leave you feeling a lot better and reduce your stress a lot more than watching TV. I wish I had the stats for if TV reduces stress, I'll have to look that up and maybe leave it in the show notes.
But another huge reason that you might not be reading or you might not be starting is that you're not letting yourself read the types of books and the genres that you actually want to read. So as a quick aside, it actually wasn't until I was in my mid 20s that I actually started reading books for fun and that I actually had an interest in that weren't for school or for work. I mean, that's crazy, right? I mean, thinking about it. It's like I pretty much spent most of my life without books without reading.
And I remember feeling really kind of embarrassed when I first got into reading like, kind of having that mindset because I hadn't done it before. Like, oh, this isn't for me. I'm way too late in the game for this. But the truth is, no matter what you want to do in life, whether it's starting to exercise, starting to read books, starting to paint, starting to make sculptures at pottery classes, no matter what it is, there's no time limit, and there's no wrong place to start. Okay.
Like, you don't have to be that third grader that read those giant novels on the bus. You can start at any time. And I just think that that's really important to hit home, that it doesn't matter when you start. Also, it's really important from bouncing off from that point, it's important to figure out what kinds of genres interest you and read those types of books. So this is another little story. I was nanny for a family not too long ago with this amazing twelve year old, and he was awesome.
We had some really good times, but he didn't like reading all that much. And I remember one day I took him to the library and he came alive because he was bringing over. He showed me all these graphic novels and books about I think it was like, called the I Survive series or something about people that had survived tragedies, and they're like, first person accounts of what they've done and how they survived in the wilderness. And no, they weren't this extreme reading level per se. And they weren't about specific topics that maybe he should be reading.
But they were the books that got him excited to read, passionate to read. He was like, oh, my gosh. I want to go home and read this, Sarah. Like, I just want to do this instead of playing video games or instead of what blah, blah, blah, like, he wanted to read. And I was honestly devastated when we brought some of these books back from the library. And his dad was like, he told him, no, you're not allowed to read these because they have to be these X Y and Z books, and they have to be at your reading level and blah, blah, blah, like, Major Buzz Kill, right.
And I'm not here to tell anyone how to parent, but it shines some light on the fact that I think we do this to ourselves. Like, if it's not an adult book, right? You guys, there are some amazing ya books out there young adult books that are just really fantastic, really great. And I love reading them. I got really into some, like, vampire series kind of books like, Beyond Twilight, like all the other ones where they mixed in werewolves and vampires and, like, magic and Wizards.
And I was like, yeah, or like, you know, or even just like, really out there books like parody books. There was a book I read. It was a parody of 50 Shades of Grey, which I never actually read that series. But I think it was called, like, 50 Shades of Grey, of 50 Shades of something of Alice in Wonderland. I'm totally stuttering over my words here. And let's be real. That book was complete smart. But I was like, wow, this is great. I wanted to read it, right.
So just give yourself permission to read a book if you haven't read a book in a long time. Would you just let yourself read a book, like download it on your Kindle or nook or go to the library or whatever it is or just do it. Just let yourself read the books that you want to read. And here's the real news flash and the real honesty talk. You guys truth talk moment. If you're not reading something that you want to read, that's fun for you, that's fascinating.
That lights you up. That makes you go, oh, I can't wait to get in bed tonight so I can read this book you're not going to read. You're not going to start your reading habit. If there are books that you want to read or that you know that you should read, that would improve your personal growth. Or there's books that you want to participate in book club, but you're not completely passionate about them. The more you start reading now with things that you do love, you'll build up your reading like your stamina and your comprehension and everything over time, and then you'll get to a place where you Canva incorporate more books into your reading routine that maybe don't get you quiet, excited.
But you're more willing to read because you can read better and everything right. You've developed that muscle. So those are just a few things to think about when it comes to some of the barriers I think that keep us from beginning to read in the first place. I also wanted to talk about one of the biggest things that prevented me from reading more books and how I really started to change that. So another huge reason that kept me from reading and really finishing books was that I was reading a ton of personal development stuff.
I'm obsessed with anything that talks about neuroplasticity, the brain, psychology, coaching, productivity habits, anything in my field. But this often prevents me from reading because I get in the zone where I think, Well, if I read this, I need to take notes so I can remember everything. And if I can't take notes, then I can't read it right now. And one thing that really changed this was just reading a book and letting go of the fear of not comprehending or not retaining every single nugget of information because you ever read a book and you're like, oh, my God, this is so good.
This is blowing my mind. One of my favorite books like that was thank and Grow Rich by Pam Growl. Like everything in there. I was like, I could highlight this whole book, but instead of doing that, instead of taking notes on every single sentence that she said, I read the book, I read it without taking notes. And there's something really liberating about allowing yourself to do that because here's the thing, too. There's nothing wrong with reading a book more than once. It doesn't make you any less productive.
It doesn't make you any less smart. Books have a lot of content to digest. And it can be incredible to read something over again, too, because then any time you look at something, no matter if you realize it or not, you're going to look at it with a new lens or a fresh set of eyes and you're going to see something that you might have missed before, or you're going to get a whole new take on a subject. I do this with certain articles in my life, certain articles I've read in the past, certain books, I like to read them over again.
Sometimes I like to read them every year or every five years. I have kind of an ongoing list, and I need to get back into that. But it's fun to come back to certain things because it's amazing how much you change over the course of a given amount of time and the new stuff that you see within a piece of writing because you're older, you have a different set of skills, you're a little bit wiser or you've had a little bit more experience here and there.
Sometimes you'll go back and read something and be like, oh, wow. This advice sucks. Like, I can't believe I followed this before, but it's also realizing that maybe at that time in your life, when you read that book, you are in that stage in that place in your life where that really served you. And so not judging that, not judging where you were and realizing too, that different things are going to come into our lives at different times. And let's be honest, the timing of things is everything.
I'm getting off tangent a little bit here, but I think you get where I'm going with this, making time for reading and coming back to things and not feeling like you have to highlight everything and you have to take notes and you're not going to be tested on this. Like, there's going to be a test after class. It's going to be a test after you finish this chapter. You better know everything, like, no read for the sake of pleasure. If you can really step into that zone of reading for pleasure and allowing your mind to soak in information.
And every time you're reading, every time you have that, oh, my God. Moment or that wow moment or Holy crap, this is going to change my life or my mindset or, like, when you read a sentence and you're like, on the bus or something and you're like, I'm going to read this again, like, five times and you want to text somebody about it or something, let yourself be in that zone of wow without feeling like you have to take action. I know that sounds counterintuitive to a lot of things you might hear about, like, goal setting or productivity.
But seriously, if you have to highlight it or make a note or put an extra bookmark in there. Sure. But reading a book without feeling like you have to comprehend. Everything will change the way you read, and it will get you to read much more consistently. I also wanted to talk about why reading can help you sleep so much better. And a lot of these things you've probably already heard. And the truth is, I've heard these things many, many times during my master's program. I actually took an entire class all about how to sleep more mindfully and how to like the things that you can do in your life to increase your evening routine.
I mean, it was like a whole class with science backed research, and we had to actually go through one of the things I loved about the program I went through is we had to actually practice it right. Like we had to do the things we had to develop a meditation practice. We had to do all this stuff. We had to try Chai Chi or yoga. And within this class, we had to go through these sleep routine, modalities and trial and error things. And I was really amazed at not only how much I fought it for the longest time, but how much it really did make a difference.
Right? Sometimes you hear things and you're like, yeah, I know that, but we don't do them. So again, information won't change your life, but action will. So why will reading help you sleep better? A couple of reasons. So making a habit, for example, of reading before bed can do a couple of things. First, it sets the tone for you to relax, and it keeps you away from your phone or the TV or any other electronic devices. When you are looking at a blue screen, any kind of electronic device when you have, like, unnatural light really in your face in the evening, 2 hours, especially 2 hours before bed, you are basically telling your body, hey, we don't know what's going on.
We don't know if we're going to sleep. We don't know if we want to sleep and it really drastically affects your circadian rhythm, which is responsible for the natural occurrence of when you fall asleep. And when you wake up. And one thing that happens naturally within our bodies in the evening, as the sun goes down, as the lights get lower is that we produce, we begin to produce melatonin and melatonin is what gets us to feel kind of drowsy and sleepy and it can lower heart rate and help us really, like, take deeper breaths and relax.
Right? It's our body's way of being like, it's time to go to sleep. So when we're looking at white and kind of like unnatural light, right. That's one of the reasons why having dimmer lit lights in the evening or candles or anything like that. They even sell those different sun type lamps that are supposed to like, I think they begin in the morning with a natural sunlight, and then in the evening they dim because it can help us sleep better before electricity and stuff. We didn't have this problem.
We were going to sleep when it was dark and we were getting up when it was light, and now we can do whatever we want, but that can affect our health. So if you really want to improve your sleep, one great thing is to incorporate reading at night instead of using your electronic devices. Also, too. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this episode, reading on a regular basis is really going to help reduce your stress. So if six minutes of reading reduces your stress by 68%, imagine how you're going to feel after 20 to 30 minutes of reading and 20 to 30 minutes of reading.
You guys is not that much. Think about other things that you do mindlessly throughout the day that take up 20 to 30 minutes of your time. I bet you for a fact there's a lot of scrolling going on on your phone. Mindless scrolling. It doesn't make you feel any better that you're doing mindlessly. You're not accounting. You're not really tracking the time on that. There's a lot of time throughout your day that maybe you're not aware of how you're spending it that could be used for reading.
Just real talk, right? Reading can also help you sleep better because it's part of a nightly routine that you can set up. And then at night, you're getting into bed. And let's be honest, if there's something that you're excited about doing. So if you're reading the genres and the kinds of books you want to read, that make you go, oh, my gosh, yes. Then you're more likely to get in bed at the same time every night or at the time you really need to to go to sleep, and it's going to help you relax.
Your body is going to start getting ready. It's like one of the reasons why when we're kids, our parents might give us a bath and then put us in our PJs because it honestly kind of ignites this response, this physiological response within our body saying, hey, you got your PJs on how you feel, fresh and clean and cozy. Maybe your body is ready to go to sleep, right? We kind of train our brains in that way, and you can do the same thing with anything in your nightly routine with brushing your teeth with reading.
But I know for a fact for me when I get in bed and I've done my nightly routine and I pick up that book and I've got my alarm set and I've got my phone on airplane mode, and I'm not going to look at my phone. I've got that book and I'm going to read for 30 minutes. I always fall asleep better, and I stay asleep longer. And I don't have a scientific study to back that up right now, right in this moment. But I know that that's what totally helps me.
And so I'd love to hear from you how it goes for you guys as well. So here's another thing. You don't need to be a speed reader to read more. And I'm going to totally call something out right now. But you're not reading more because you're not reading 200 pages a day. You're not reading more because you're not reading period. Am I wrong? But the reason why we're not reading more is because we're not setting a consistent goal. We're not being consistent with it. And like I said earlier, we're not making it a priority.
So the key here is not to take, like, a speed reading class or not to feel like you have to read 200 pages a day or 100 pages a day. But it's really to set a realistic amount of time that you want to read each day. And you'll be amazed at where even 20 minutes a day of reading can get you. If that sounds like too much aim for at least ten right above that six minute Mark so you can get the benefits of reducing your stress and also kind of get into that zone where you can make headway on a few pages there.
But when you're first starting out and you're building up your reading practice or you're getting into it for the first time or anything like that, try to get away from the idea of I have to read so many pages a day or within a certain amount of time, and instead be like, I'm going to hold a container of space for myself to read every day, and it's going to be this much time. And I'm doing this because it's going to help me feel less stressed. It's going to help me relax into my day or my evening, or maybe it's going to keep me from going to the vending machine on my lunch break.
And instead I'm going to take my Apple and go read my book outside. Right? There's all different reasons why you can get clear on why reading is going to be helpful for you and why you want to do it and make it a priority every single day reading. I said, this is like developing any muscle in your body as you read more, you'll get better, you'll get better at it, your speed will increase, and so will your reading comprehension. One thing, too, is if you're struggling with remembering what you're reading, and I think we've all had this happen where we read a page or we read a paragraph and then we go, Wait, what just happened?
I was totally thinking about what Suzanne said in the break room the other day or like, I was totally daydreaming about my hunky husband, but I totally don't remember what I just read. Like, what happened? How was I actually like, I saw my eyes go over those words, but nothing is there. So if you're struggling with reading comprehension, first of all, you're trying something new. You're getting back into the swing of things and you'll develop muscle memory over time within your brain. You'll strengthen those neural pathways, but just take your time.
And if you do have that happen, reread the paragraph, reread the page and also too, it can be helpful to keep a reading bog. So after a reading session, if you're reading for 20 or 30 minutes, maybe you want to keep a notebook by your bed or on your desk or in your purse. Notebook, Bob, backpack, whatever you want to keep your notebook, keep it in a place. And after every reading session, keep a little reading log and just write down, like, what are the three main takeaways that you remember it's okay if you don't remember anything, but this kind of helps train your brain to remember what you were reading.
So you can write down three main takeaways. If you're reading a book for education or personal growth or anything like that, or you can write down important plot points or a character name or a place that they went to or the color of a car. Like, just start writing down three main things that you remember, and you'll find that over time, picking out those three things will actually help jog your memory and help you remember more in what you were reading. The same thing can be applied to, like, dreams.
I have a dream Journal, and sometimes I wake up and I've been trying to track my dreams more, and I go, I can't remember my whole dream. I'm always asking my husband, what do you dream about? And he's like, I don't know. He's like, I didn't dream about anything. And I'm like, Well, did you know that you usually have seven dreams per night? You probably did dream about something you just don't remember. So one way, I've been trying to track my dreams more and to kind of recall them better over time and more consistently is I keep a dream Journal.
And so I wake up. And even if I'm struggling to remember exactly what I dreamed about, there's a turtle. And then they got in a fight with a Pelican, and we went down this roller coaster in our car. And then we were eating subway, and I was really upset. And I don't know what happened. That's the thing about trying to tell somebody a dream. It makes sense in your brain, but not so much otherwise. But the point is, I'll write down like, turtle Pelican and car rollercoaster, even if there's just, like, words.
And then throughout the day, I was like, wow, there it is. There was the rest of my dream. That's what it meant or whatever. Or that was the whole plot story. Or it had no plot whatsoever. Or I dreamed about that gecko because I watched a commercial about insurance, and that's why he was there. Right. So anyway, my point is with this little segue is that keeping a reading log can help you increase your comprehension over time. A few extra fun tips to kind of up your reading game and get you excited about reading.
One thing that my mom actually had me do since I was a kid and she would do this for me. And now as an adult, it's something I love to do is that whenever I get a new book that I own, that I'm going to keep. Whether it's a brand new book or a used one or something I get at a book sale, whatever it may be, it's kind of this really fun, nurturing process of honoring the book and honoring everything that I'm going to get from it.
And that is to take a ribbon and tie a ribbon within the book so that you have a permanent bookmark. It's really fun and something I love doing. And then when you're reading, you never have to rip off random pieces of paper or receipts or napkins. I've used some weird stuff as BOOKMARKS, so that's just a fun way to kind of honor your book and get excited about reading. Another thing you can do is join a site like Goodreads. Com. This is a site I really love because it's free and you can have friends on it.
It's kind of like a social network. Honestly, I don't really use it for that. I never really look at what anyone else is reading to be just be honest, but I like it because you can keep track of your books. You can keep track of what you're reading, how many pages in your you can read different books. And if you subscribe to the newsletter, they will send you. I think, like a monthly report of different books that you might be interested in depending on what you're reading.
So that's just kind of fun. I kind of call it like Netflix for books because it gives you really cool recommendations. And then it's great to look back, too, because sometimes I'll be like, what was that book I read while back like that I didn't finish or that I had to return to the library and didn't finish. And I can kind of go back into good reads and check it. You can also set your profile to private and not share anything if you don't want to.
That's what's cool about it. Also, another thing is visit your local library. Oh, my gosh, you guys, I love libraries. I know that I for a long time dreamed about becoming a librarian, going to get a master's in library science, and I just didn't. I did work at a library for most of my undergrad degree when I was in College, and it was seriously one of my most favorite jobs. I actually worked at the library at Western Washington University up in Bellingham, Washington. Shout out my peeps there if you're still there or if anyone goes there and is listening.
But that'd be cool. That was one of my most favorite jobs, though. And one of my projects when I worked there was to catalog all of the microfiche in the basement. And if you don't know what microfiche are, they're basically like these little tiny slide decks, if you will of, like scanned magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias. We had volumes and volumes of all kinds of stuff. It's kind of like what you see in the movies when they go to do research, and it's like the 60s and they're going through those big screen things, like the black and white photos of newspaper clippings.
That's what my Gray are. Anyway, I loved working at the libraries. I love the smell of books. I love just being in a library or a bookstore and being like, wow, there are so many endless stories that are waiting for me to read that have been told that are in these books that people have spent years of their lives creating, cultivating, researching, creating. And I've yet to read them. And it's this really expansive, magical feeling. And I love to actually go into libraries to do my own writing or to do my own research or to even just read.
And it Canva be so fun. So just big plug and shout out to supporting your local library. I think it's one of the longest lasting legacy things we have left that hasn't really changed. And I hope libraries never, ever go away because they benefit so many people. And also too, if you haven't checked out, I think it's little libraries or littlefreelibrary. Net, something like that. You can find these little libraries that people build. They're basically like they look like almost like a little birdhouse or something.
They usually have room for anywhere from, like, ten to 50 books and people donate books and it's kind of just like an on the honor system where you can go check out a book, take a book and then bring one back or donate a book and they're all over the place. And I love it when I find them. And there's actually a whole you can actually build your own and put it up on your property and then register it with I think it's littlefreelibrary. Net, but I'll have to double check.
You can register yours and then people can look it up and come find it. So how cool is that? I'd love to do a cross country road trip again soon where one of the things I do is eat a bunch of amazing vegan food, but also look for all the little tiny libraries everywhere. Like how cool my last little tip for you today is to make a list in your Journal or in your favorite software system, whether it's Evernote or sauna or whatever you use or just notes in your phone.
Make a list in your Journal or wherever for books that you want to read, genres that you want to read, authors that you love. Ask your friends what kind of books they like reading and just try out different books. There's one last thing you guys, is that if you start a book and you give it some time and you really don't like it, you don't have to finish it. You don't have to finish a book just for the sake of finishing a book. It might sound obvious, but if you're really not enjoying a book and it's not required for you to read it, then you do not finish it.
Go on to the next book on your list. I hope this episode was helpful in giving you some ideas for how to be more productive and how to really start making reading on a daily basis a priority for yourself, because I think that it's not so much that we're reading more books, but that we're creating time in our lives to bring in more creativity, more knowledge, and more expansion. In our perspective. I think that's ultimately what reading does, it not only boosts our vocabulary and our reading comprehension obviously reduces stress, and it helps our brains.
But it also gives us this amazing opportunity to both escape and grow as humans during the same time, during the same process. And I just think that's freaking incredible. So I am going to make more of an effort myself to get back into reading and to set realistic goals. And I'd love to hear from you what some of your favorite books are, what some of your favorite genres are. You can always find me on Instagram at Mindful Productivity Blog and you can always find more about the podcast and read the blog.
Mindful Productivity Podcast. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you guys next week.