Books are my secret weapon in life.

I have learned so much, been endlessly entertained and inspired. Reading has improved my life on almost every level. But I haven't always been a steady reader.

When I was younger I would fall in and out of the habit constantly. If I somehow got into a new book that I loved, I would tear through everything the author had written. Only to burnout into another dry spell when it was all over.

But over the last few years, I've learned to read more, a lot more, than I ever imagined was possible.

And I've come to find that reading is actually a learnable skill. One that boils down to four key elements: Planning, Consistency, Efficiency, and Access.

1) Planning: 

If reading is a skill, planning is the foundation on which it's built. And there has never been a better tool to plan your reading habit than GoodReads.

Goodreads is essentially a social network for book lovers. You can connect see what your friends are reading, you can browse book lists, and most importantly, you can keep track of what you want to read. It's where GoodReads really shines.

What planning really boils down to, is having a robust list of books you want to read so you never finish one book without another ready to go.

So now the question is how do you find great books to read? You have a few options here.

My personal favorite is to just take a trip to the library or bookstore and browse. I pull up anything that interests me on the GoodReads mobile app, check reviews, and add it to my "To-Read" list.

You can also browse what your friends are reading (or have read) to find new books. Or you can even use the GoodReads recommendation engine, which picks books based on the books you've read or are interested in reading.

Any time you come across a book that sounds interesting, just add it to your list.

2) Consistency:

Step two might be an obvious step, but consistency is fundamental to building any new habit and can be difficult to actually put into practice. And regardless of what tools you use or how fast you can read, if you don't read consistently, you won't get anywhere.

Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to make reading consistently easier, especially early on.

First, you want to make reading a part of your routine and the easiest way to accomplish this is to read at the same time every single day. You don't have to read for a long time either, 15 minutes a day is better than nothing.

You can also leverage your other habits to make this easier in a practice known as habit stacking. The idea is simple, you can use one of your other habits or aspects of your routine as a cue to start reading.

To make this work, all you have to do is start reading immediately after finishing something else that you already do every day.

But the most important thing is to just read at the same time every single day. If you are a busy person, I recommend scheduling it in your calendar. 

Very quickly it will become a habit.

3) Efficiency (Speed Reading):

In the world of books, speed reading is a fiercely debated concept.

And I'll be the first one to admit there are strong arguments on both sides. I've never been able to read at the ridiculous speeds that people claim to be able to read, at least not with any sort of comprehension.

But, and it's a big but, I have been able to increase my reading speed substantially with specific speed reading techniques. And I know this because the eReading app I use on my tablet, Moon+ Reader,  keeps track on my average reading speed for every book.

Now I want to stress that not every book should be read quickly, some are meant to be savored, while others are too technical (at least for me) to read quickly. But before I learned these techniques my reading speed averaged 180 words per minute for dense material to 260 wpm for fiction that really grabbed my attention.

My range now is 260-400 wpm. It's not earth shattering, but it's enough of an increase that it made a huge difference in the number of books I'm able to get through. (86 books last year!)

So how did I do it? It was actually fairly straight forward. I followed best-selling author Tim Ferriss's scientific speed reading method. It's essentially a series of eye muscle drills that takes about 20 minutes to complete.

The basic idea behind it is that we can comprehend at a far faster rate than we currently read, but are limited by the fine motor control of our eye muscles.

All I know is that my reading speed jumped to the numbers I mentioned before after trying it once. I felt like I had unlocked a super power. I couldn't believe it was so easy.

Take 20 minutes and give it a try. You'll be glad you did!

Also, as a bonus tip, if you prefer to listen to audiobooks, you can increase the playback speed on the Amazon Audible app. Even a 30% increase means 30% more books.

4) Access:

The final piece of the puzzle is having easy access to books.

Luckily it's never been easier. At any given moment, you are literally a click away from reading any book on the planet. The only problem is that reading a lot can get expensive. So what is an aspiring book addict to do?

You have a few options.

If you want to own the books you read, then you will have to budget for your reading habit. I personally believe that books are one of the best investments you can ever make in yourself. If there is ever a book I really want to read, I won't hesitate to buy it. 

I've learned so much from books over the years. The ROI has been incredible.

But you also have paid options that give you access to millions of books without actually having to buy any of them. It's like Netflix for books and several companies offer the service.

Amazon Kindle Unlimited: With over 1 million eBook titles and access to unlimited audiobooks, Kindle unlimited is one of the best deals around at the moment.

Scribd: Read any 3 books a month with all-you-can-read on select books. Has books from all 5 big publsihing houses as well as self-published books

Bookmate: With an incredible interface, massive selection of books, and incredible price point ($8.99/month for unlimited, $4.99/month for unlimited minus new books and bestsellers) Bookmate is another excellent option.

You can, of course, always go to the library for your books and skip the cost all together. You can even borrow eBooks and audiobooks from the library with the Overdrive app.

At the end of the day, however, it doesn't matter where your books come from, as long as they come from somewhere.

Conclusion:

If you would like to be able to read more, I hope you give this framework a try!

With these four simple elements, I've been able to become a voracious reader, often getting through 2-3 books a week. It's improved my life in countless ways.

So what are you waiting for?

Go get reading!