12 Reading Goals For Adults (Easy and Practical)
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Adulting and making time for reading is hard. If you’re anything like me, you have a full-time job, a side hustle, family, friends and also your hobbies (like reading) to juggle.
Setting and achieving reading goals as an adult is challenging when you have so many responsibilities.
But here’s the thing, reading goals don’t have to be complicated. They can be easy and practical to achieve.
In this blog post I help you with 12 realistic reading goals for adults, along with some actionable steps you can take to achieve them.
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More Reading Tips:
- Should You DNF A Book? How To Decide And Next Steps To Take.
- 6 Tips On How To Read Fantasy Books For Beginners
- How To Read More Books Before The Year Ends (12 Tested Tips)
- How To Get Out Of A Reading Slump (25 Tested Tips!)
What Are Reading Goals?
Reading goals are goals related to the act of reading. However, it is not limited to the amount of books read, time spent reading and other measurable reading goals.
A reading goal can be as simple as documenting your reads using a bookstagram or book blog or taking actionable steps to encourage more reading like signing up to be part of a book club and making friends with new readers.
Why Should You Set A Reading Goal?
Why are reading goals important? If you don’t set a goal, you will have no clear direction and what to achieve in regards to reading. Having a reading goal in mind and a plan to reach that goal will help you achieve it with less friction.
How To Set A Reading Goal?
Here are a few tips on how to set a reading goal:
- Be realistic about the goal in mind (do you have the time and resources to achieve it?)
- Don’t set too many reading goals at once (too many goals can distract you from achieving any of it)
- Know your WHY (why are you setting this goal? what do you hope to achieve from it?)
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12 Easy Reading Goals For Adults
What are some reading goals for adults? These simple and practical reading goals for struggling readers such as busy adults can really help you make reading feel less like a chore.
1. Read More Frequently
Set a goal to read more frequently instead of reading more books.
Putting the pressure on yourself to read more books as an adult might discourage you to read when life gets in the way.
Increasing the frequency of your reading is going to eventually make you read more books. However, it is easier to set a goal such as “read 20 minutes a day” instead of “read 2 books a month”.
Breaking down your reading goals into daily achievable tasks will help and therefore, you should try setting a goal to read more frequently!
2. Expand Your Reading Genre
This reading goal is totally subjective. You can tell yourself to read at least 3 different genres this year or as long as you explore a genre outside of your comfort zone – that works too!
In my scenario, I’m an avid asian literature reader. I also really enjoy historical fiction (especially romance), but i’ve never been the sort to read fantasy.
A couple of years ago, I challenged myself to read The Folk Of Air Series by Holly Black and successfully did so! This also made me venture into a whole new genre, fantasy! S
Some other fantasy books i’ve read in the past years are:
- Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
- Daughter of The Moon Goddess by Sue Lyn Tan.
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarross
- Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Without setting this reading goal, I would have never known that I liked reading fantasy.
I would also have not known that it was a bit of a struggle for me to get into the genre in the beginning, here are some fantasy reading tips for beginners based on my personal experience with the genre.
3. Attend A Book Event/Launch
If you’ve never been to a book event like a book fair or even a book launch at a bookstore, you could try making it a goal to visit at least one book related event in the year.
Some tips on finding these book events:
- Follow local bookstore instagram pages
- Follow local or favourite authors on social media
- Subscribe to book related newsletters
4. Listen To Audiobooks
As a busy adult, listening to audiobooks to read more books is a great reading goal to have.
We have to be honest with ourselves, if we do not have the capacity to read physical books, we can try different ways to incorporate reading into our busy schedules.
Reading audiobooks are great because you can listen to them while transporting to work, doing chores, hitting the gym and more.
If you enjoy reading romance, here’s a list of romance audiobooks that’ll make you blush
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5. Track Your Reading
Maybe your goal towards reading this year is to be more consistent in tracking your reading, and that’s a great goal for busy adults!
Tracking your reading helps you understand what types of genres you lean more towards, how often you are reading, what authors are your favourites and so much more!
As an adult, I’m sure you know that obtaining data to set and analyse goals are super important!
A super easy way to track your reading is by using free bookstagram templates like these ones – especially if you’re already on bookstagram as it’ll help boost your engagement!
Read More: 5 Free Printable Reading Journals And Digital Downloads
6. Join A Book Club
Joining a book club may be intimidating, but that’s what makes it a great reading goal for an adult. A goal like this helps us step out of our comfort zone.
If meeting in person for a book club session is too intimidating, then try signing up for a virtual book club meet up.
I used to attend once a month book club sessions to discuss random book topics!
Some bookclubs don’t even require you to read the same book as everyone else, it’s just a little get-together to talk about books and industry related news.
7. Start A Bookstagram
One of the easiest reading goals for adults would be to start a bookstagram.
Starting a bookstagram is great to help you make friends with like-minded readers.
It is an easy and practical goal because it’s basically free! Plus, it is up to you to decide how you want to use your bookstagram – if you’d like to take book influencing seriously or just to document your reading.
Not sure how to start a bookstagram? I have some tips just for you:
- Pick a bookstagram name using this guide
- Choose some bookstagram post ideas from this post
- Checkout these easy bookstagram caption ideas
- Copy paste these exact bookstagram hashtags for better reach
- Post these bookstagram templates on your story, tag friends and gain new followers!
8. Start A Book Blog
If you’re not much of a social media person and prefer to write instead of taking photos and videos – starting a book blog is a great goal to have as a busy adult!
It’s way more low maintenance than having a bookstagram. Plus, you have full control over it as the blog is 100 percent owned by you, unlike posting on a social media platform that may disappear anyday.
Checkout some of these best book bloggers to get inspired by! If you want to start a book blog but are struggling with post ideas, I have a list of 70 post ideas for you.
9. Join A Buddy Read
Joining a buddy read is a great reading goal for adults. This is because we’re so caught up in responsibilities at times that we forget to discuss what we’ve read with others to gain additional insights about it.
Reading alone is great but joining a buddy read has a ton of benefits.
If you’re not sure how to join a buddy read, I explain it in great detail here.
10. Prioritising Your TBR
Don’t roll your eyes at me! I know, it’s pretty annoying when anyone reminds you about your TBR list that keeps piling up!
But to be honest, prioritising your TBR list is a great reading goal to have as an adult.
Time is limited and there’s so many books in the world one wishes to read, if you take the extra time to set aside books on your TBR you want to read this year, it’ll help you reduce your TBR pile.
Plus, you don’t need to read like 5-10 books from your TBR. Even a couple of books is a goal accomplished!
11. Decluttering Your Reading Shelf
When was the last time you took a look at your reading shelf or made the effort to organise it? This is a reading goal often overlooked by many readers.
Organising and decluttering your reading shelf is as important as reading. This is so you know what books should be going into the donation pile and what books into the TBR pile.
Being organised in this way can definitely help you read more!
12. Subscribe To A Book Subscription Box
Book subscription boxes are great. Not only you get a book but also get some pretty cool fan merch.
If you’ve always wanted to try subscribing to a book box, you should totally make it a goal!
This can also help you be more consistent with reading as you receive a new box every month.
Some popular book subscription boxes:
How To Achieve Your Reading Goals As A Busy Adult
As an adult, it is important to plan to take action because we often plan thing but never end up doing them.
Here are 8 ways to achieve your reading goals:
1. Carry A Book With You Everywhere
Put a book in your work bag, totebag, grocery bag – literally take it with you everywhere you go and choose to read the book instead of your looking at your phone, it’ll help you read more.
2. Try Different Reading Formats
Some of us just don’t have the time and access to physical books – if reading on a kindle or listening to an audiobook helps you then by all means go for it!
3. Create A Reading Corner
Creating a sacred space to indulge in books somewhere in your home can be very helpful when trying to achieve your reading goals.
Try to avoid reading in places you’ll get distracted by such as infront of your TV, at your work desk or at a really loud cafe (unless you like loud cafes).
Some ways to make your space more reading friendly:
- Light bookish candles.
- Get some essential oils.
- Sit on a reading chair (please make sure it is ergonomic so you can read for long periods of time without damaging your back)
- Make some tea or coffee in your favourite bookish mug!
4. DNF That Book
DNF that book right now! Holding on to a book you cannot resonate with is going to put you in a reading slump.
If you’re trying to read more, explore different genres, authors or whatever you reading goal maybe – sticking to a book that’s putting you off because of guilt is not going to help you.
How do you know it’s time to DNF a book? Checkout this post.
5. Time Block Reading
Time blocking is a great technique to get more reading done.
Even if your goal is to declutter your shelf or attend a book club session, time blocking can help you be accountable for those goals by simply scheduling it in your calendar!
6. Reward Yourself
I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear.
One of the laws of forming a habit is to “make it satisfying”. To reinforce the actions you take related to your reading goals, you have to make the experience of completing something satisfying.
For example, everytime I publish a post on my book blog, I treat myself to coffee.
Associating something positive and rewarding with something difficult to do will help you achieve your reading goal faster!
Read More: 11 Books Like Atomic Habits by James Clear
7. Go On A Reading Date
Grab a friend or your partner and go on a reading date. I recently did this and it was fun. I had good coffee and managed to read a few chapters.
Some progress is better than no progress, always remind yourself that when trying to achieve your reading goals.
8. Visit A Book Cafe
I have been exploring some book cafes in my city. I recently went to Tsutaya bookstore which had a cafe in it.
Since it was a Japanese bookstore, there were a variety of Japanese drinks and desserts to choose from. I also picked up a Japanese lit!
Besides, I visited a book cafe with a few of my friends on bookstagram and it was a great reminder on why I like reading and connecting with like-minded readers.
Final Thoughts on Reading Goals for Adults
Reading goals for adults do not have to be complicated. You can start with one of these easily achievable goals.
Try not to be hard on yourself. Don’t define yourself based on your reading progress. You are much more than that. Most importantly, remember to have fun while reading!
So, what are your reading goals for the new year?
Sure, it would be great to read 50 books a year. But in my opinion, making friends in the bookish community, expanding my reading tastes, learning something new and having fun are more important to me than a numeric reading goal.
What are your reading goals? I genuinely want to know! Let me know in the comments.
