Reading Burnout - Blog Posts

Current reading routine to prevent burnout

I have this terrible habit of becoming very motivated to read but I quickly become overwhelmed with choice and indecisiveness, or I get bored with the book I'm currently reading but don't want to start a second book in the middle of the first. This cycle tends to bring me down, it just brings me frustration and makes me disappointed in myself; wishing I could read like I used to as a kid.

After years of failed attempts to bring back my reading spark I finally developed the following structure.

At any point in time I will have a rotation of four book I'm reading at once (I know it sounds like a lot but stay with me). Each book will be part of the following categories:

Fiction

Self-help/spiritual

Classic

Non-fiction

This list helps me reach all my reading goals. I get to enjoy my fantasy books, while also broadening my horizons with classics, non-fiction, and self-help. I find that when I set myself to reading just one book at a time the non-fiction and self-help books will get neglected, but if I read only one of those at a time i'll experience fomo for some dramatic fantasy. This eliminates that issue for me. If I start to become bored or feel fomo I can just switch to a different category to fill that void.

My current reading cycle is:

Red Queen

Atomic Habits

Pride and Prejudice

League of Lady Poisoners

I know this isn't revolutionary but this small change completely altered how I enjoy reading as an adult. I hope it can help someone as much as it helped me :)