如何开始阅读并保持习惯How to Start Reading and Maintain the Habit

CarryKit (WeChat Official Account) May 27, 2026 19:26

All the books I bought are collecting dust on the shelf. How can I actually get myself to open the first page?

I can't help but reach for my phone every time I read for less than five minutes. How can I calm down and focus?

I can't get into those 'must-read' books or classics. Am I just not cut out for reading?

If you have any of these problems, congratulations—this article is here to solve them.

This post is a summary of recent reflections combined with insights from videos and books. As the title suggests, it aims to provide you with specific action methods and mindsets (Note: there's a concise version at the end).

A Motivation: Everything we do requires a motivation, big or small, but it must exist. For example, "I want to improve myself," "I want to broaden my horizons," "I want to show off," or even "I suddenly feel like reading."

In short, you'll encounter your motivation at the right time, and that's the best moment to start reading.

Starting to Read: The Principle of Minimum Friction

How many steps does it take to open a short video app? 1. Unlock your phone (which is always with you). 2. Tap the app. In other words, watching videos only requires two steps to bring instant stimulation and pleasure.

What about opening a book? First, get out of bed, walk to the desk, pick a book, sit down or go back to bed, open the book, and finally focus your attention—only then can you start reading.

From a behavioral perspective, watching videos has extremely low friction (low barrier), while reading has high friction. This makes it much easier for us to grab our phones and watch videos rather than read. Following this logic, we can increase the resistance to starting videos and decrease the resistance to starting reading. Here are some actions you can take:

• For example, you can place video apps in folders that require more taps to access, and download a reading app on your home screen.
• For example, you can put an easy-to-read book on your nightstand, ready to open anytime.
• For example, you can start with the smallest action: open the book, set a timer for one minute, and minimize resistance as much as possible.

Ideally, you'll glide smoothly into reading. But what if you can't get into it? Don't worry—keep reading.

Getting into Reading: Normalizing Reading

Now we've opened the book. The next step is to read, right? Well, as you read, "Wait, where was I?" Read again... "Hmm, I haven't picked up the laundry yet." Continue reading... "Ah... What should I eat later?"

To prevent your reading experience from becoming the ultimate dilemma of "what to eat later," please adhere to the following rules:

1. Books can be "abandoned" anytime, just like you can switch songs freely—no need to wait until you "finish a book" to start the next one.
2. People need rest. If your attention is clearly wandering, take a break immediately. Like listening to music, you can exit at any time and listen to something else.

When you need willpower to read a book, you might just not have found the right book at the right time. Don't easily conclude, 'I have a dumb brain and I'm not cut out for reading.'

To help you smoothly enter a reading state, consider the following insights:

1. Read what you love until you love to read (from The Almanack of Naval Ravikant)

Recently, I've been reading Keigo Higashino's Journey Under the Midnight Sun, a mystery novel with a gripping story and captivating plot. I can't stop reading it—I often pick it up when I have nothing to do or during breaks. This habit has replaced my late-night FPS gaming and even improved my sleep, making me go to bed earlier.

In other words, you can start with books you enjoy to cultivate an interest in reading, and then move on to more challenging ones. As the saying goes, "Don't spread your legs too wide or you'll hurt yourself." Jumping straight into philosophical debates or math textbooks makes it hard to "fall in love" with reading.

2. Behavior Influences Attitude (from Social Psychology)

A classic idea in social psychology is:

People don't necessarily 'do things because they like them'; often, it's because they 'do them, and then they start to like them.' Philip Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment (https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%96%AF%E5%9D%A6%E7%A6%8F%E7%9B%91%E7%8B%B1%E5%AE%9E%E9%AA%8C/20188120) is ethically controversial, but it reveals an interesting phenomenon: when a person consistently plays a certain role, they gradually become influenced by it and internalize the corresponding behaviors and attitudes.

We can leverage this: for example, when you think of yourself as a 'reader,' you'll think, 'I'm a reader, so I must read.' And your reading behavior reinforces your 'reader' identity, creating a positive feedback loop.

This entire process is subtle, and I believe it's the main reason I developed a reading habit.

Cultivating the Habit:

I'm still exploring this part, but I've formed some ideas:

As mentioned earlier, a practical way to build a reading habit is to first identify with your 'reader' identity, gradually form positive feedback, and slowly invest in reading.

Before introducing the next content, I'd like to ask:

What habits do you find hard to give up? Or, how do you define 'habit'?

For example, before going to bed, you always open a short video platform and start scrolling, feeling more and more bored but unable to stop.

Or, you love listening to music, especially in the shower—without it, the shower feels boring.

Stop there. Let me share my understanding of habits:

1. Habits are byproducts of the environment.
2. Habits run 'automatically'—they're subconscious actions.
3. Habits can only be replaced, not erased.

Based on these points, we can derive some methods to help cultivate a reading habit:

Our brains are highly sensitive to the environment. The simplest example: walking into a library naturally triggers a learning urge, right?

Just as we're used to scrolling on our phones in bed, the 'bed' environment is subconsciously defined as a highly stimulating entertainment zone. Even with eyes closed, the brain stays excited due to environmental cues, making it hard to fall asleep.

Using this sensitivity, we can change the environment, like going to a library or café—quieter places.

We can transform the environment, like tidying up the desk to create a clean space dedicated to reading.

We can train conditioned reflexes to the environment: when lying in bed with warm light on, unconsciously reach for... Wait, we're talking about reading.

In short, by 'changing/transforming/adapting to the environment,' you can bind a specific space to the reading behavior, achieving the effect of 'unconsciously picking up a book to read in a particular space.'

The above focuses on the environment. There are other methods, but I believe mindset and environment are the most important—other factors are secondary:

Quantification and Sense of Achievement: Quantify your reading results visually, e.g., reading apps show weekly reading time, books read, and notes taken. This data directly brings a sense of achievement, and drawing motivation from achievement is a way to build a reading habit.

From another perspective, quantification can also serve as a form of motivation, like daily check-ins or accumulating reading time in apps to earn fancy virtual assets or cyber ranks.

Muscle Memory: Whenever you're bored, open the reading app or a book. Even if you don't read, opening it occasionally builds a subconscious habit. Sometimes I open a short video app, get bored, and then suddenly feel like reading, so I open WeRead.

Habit Replacement: I used to open mobile games to do daily tasks while waiting for food at restaurants. One day, I saw a 30-day reading challenge in a reading app that rewards accumulated reading time. Out of whim, I signed up. During waiting times, I'd take out my phone, open the app, and log reading time. When I was engaged, I enjoyed it; when not, I switched to an easier book. Before I knew it, I'd formed a new habit, replacing the old mobile gaming habit.

Audiobooks: Reading isn't limited to 'reading'—you can also listen. During commutes when you can't take out your phone, listening to books is a great alternative.

Summary

Here's a concise method list. If you've recently stumbled upon a book you 'can't put down,' or if you have your own private reading habits, feel free to share in the comments (I've 👉 key points for you—no need to thank me).

1. Break the Start-Up Barrier (Minimum Friction)

• Increase entertainment resistance: Move short video apps off the home screen, hide them in deep folders, etc.
• Decrease reading resistance: Put reading apps on the home screen, keep a book on the nightstand, make books as accessible as possible.
• 👉 Minimum friction: Don't force a page count; opening the book is already a success.

2. Lighten the Mental Load (Normalize Mindset)

• 👉 Start with pleasure: Read what you love (e.g., mysteries, novels) until you love reading itself.
• Allow quitting midway: You can abandon a book anytime—no need to force yourself to 'finish' before starting a new one.
• Don't rely on willpower: When attention wanders, rest immediately. There's no such thing as 'not being cut out for reading'; people need rest and entertainment.
• 👉 Behavior affects attitude, attitude affects behavior: Identify with your 'reader' identity, let reading behavior shape your internal mindset. Eventually, a positive feedback loop forms: the more you read, the more you love reading.

3. Use Clever Strategies to Solidify the Habit (Environment & Mechanisms)

• 👉 Transform/change/adapt the environment: Go to a library, or clear a desk space dedicated to reading. Even consider 'the bedside with warm light' as a reading space, establishing a 'specific space = reading' conditioned reflex.
• 👉 Quantify achievements with data: Use app features like reading time, check-ins, and virtual rewards to get intuitive feedback and a sense of achievement.
• Build muscle memory: When bored, unconsciously open a reading app or book—even just a glance counts.
• Replace fragmented time: Use reading or audiobooks to fill originally 'boring' blank times like waiting for food or commuting.