I was so excited to dive right into my 2024 Reading Goals – I shared my list last week (and have already added a couple more titles…) and did manage to get my 2023 books wrapped up just in time this weekend.
In the past couple of years I relaxed my reading goal tracking a little since I had a lot of other things going on. But I am a micromanager and a box checker, and I find I really do need to schedule myself in greater detail to make sure I am reaching my goals.
Plan the Planner
There are a multitude of options available for reading journals, but I decided to go back to my original book journal style, using a Leuchtturm1917 dot journal. I love that the paper is thick and works well with the rolling ball pens I use. I enjoy dot journals for planning out the boxes and tables I need. And while I have used a binder with printed reading trackers over the past two years, I find I am much more likely to use a smaller journal that fits in my book stack rather than having a binder open nearby as I read.
Plan the Year
The first step in planning my reading journey for the year is spreading out my book selections evenly over twelve months. I like to have approximately the same reading load each month, because I know I can commit to an hour or ninety minutes first thing in the early morning, and I know I can handle four to six titles in that time period each day. I try to distribute my reading across topics as well – for example, this year I have twelve science/natural science/math titles, so I assigned one book per month from that topic. I also have twelve fiction titles I’m wanting to read this year, so I put one title on each month as well.
Plan the Month
After I distribute my reading list across twelve months, I then look at the current month. I look at the number of weeks in the month – January has five weeks. I look at the number of pages in each book and determine how many pages per week I need to read to finish the book in a month. For example, if my book is 300 pages, I need to tackle 60 pages each week over the five weeks of January to meet my goal.
I then prep the monthly spread in my reading journal – this is a basic check list of the books I am reading that month on one page, along with a tracking sheet where I color in boxes so I can track all the days (and which books) that I read in the month.
Plan the Week
After I determine how many pages per week per book I need to read, I am ready to plan each week. If I need to read 60 pages each week for one book, that is 12 pages each day for five days – pretty reasonable. The next spread in my journal is my weekly spread. This is where I plan the week. I assign books and pages per day – one or two books I might read for five days – one book might be a Monday start, and the other is a Wednesday start, so each day ends up with approximately the same reading load. One or two books I might spread over only two or three days, so my reading load each day is very reasonable. I check my boxes each day as I go through my reading – and then I fill in my monthly tracker too!
I plan out each week – one week at a time. Sunday is a day to review my reading progress and adjust if needed before I plan the following week. This might sound anxiety inducing to some people, but for me my journal acts almost like a coach – encouraging me to reach my goals. Planning my reading and tracking my progress is a great motivator to keep me on track.
Get Involved
One thing I have found to be encouraging for keeping up with my reading goals is getting involved with like-minded folks. I have been involved with some wonderful book groups over the past several years on Facebook, and it’s been a wealth of book recommendations and discussions, encouragement and comradery.
Another tool I have used in the past, and am using this year is Goodreads. Each year on January 1st, Goodreads opens up the current year’s Reading Challenge. You choose the number of books you want to read this year, as your reading goal. You log the books you are currently reading (Currently Reading) and note when you finish each book (Read) – and you track your progress toward your Reading Challenge goal for the year. In addition to tracking my books in the general Read bookshelf I also record my book titles in a separate bookshelf entitled 2024 Reading list. Want to follow me on Goodreads? I’d love to follow your reading progress as well!
Michelle Home Scholar 