How to complete your Goodreads goal before the end of the year

Goodreads goals, love them or hate them, if you set yourself one it’s always pleasing to reach it. Whether you’ve set a goal or one or fifty books, knowing you’ve hit your goal is a good feeling. With a few months left of the year, how can you maximise your reading to hit your Goodreads goal?

• Only pick up books you really want to read and scrap the TBR!

With an endless TBR pile that may never be conquered, it can be tricky to choose your next read. I don’t set myself a strict TBR because I find it too restrictive and I don’t enjoy reading as much when it’s pre-planned. By picking books I really want to read I’m alleviating the risk of ‘I’m reading this book because it’s November and I have to read a winter themed book in November’. It’s very easy to fall into this trap, you’ll soon realise that you’re reading books you don’t really want to pick up just because they’re on your TBR. So scrap the TBR and only pick up books you really, really fancy reading.

• Clear your to-do list

This is nothing to do with picking up a book, but clearing your list of to-dos can offer massive freedom and relief to be able to read without guilt. I often have a big list of things to do at the weekends, but I find that I can’t concentrate on reading until everything on the list is ticked off. Once you’ve completed all of your tasks, you know you can sit down and read 100% guilt and worry free, which also makes the reading experience a lot more enjoyable.

• Put your phone on Do Not Disturb and shut yourself away from distractions

I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but if I shut myself away from my technology and other humans, I can read so much more. This could be for just half an hour each day and it would make a difference. I often find that my half an hour turns into an hour and then more, especially if I don’t have anything else to do for the day. As much as I love tweeting about my book, I find it hard to pull myself away from my phone once I’ve picked it up. It’s easier to just remove the temptation for distraction and settle down to read uninterrupted.

• Pick books you know you will read quickly

This could be down to the size of the book, or the genre, or target audience age. For me, I know a YA Thriller will be a quick read and will keep me hooked and desperate to pick up the book. This could be the make or break to a reading slump for you, so make sure you pick a book you know will be a quick read.

• Don’t be afraid to DNF

I feel like I talk about this a lot, but it’s true! If you aren’t enjoying a book you’re meant to be reading for fun, why are you still reading it? You run the risk of slumping yourself if you push through with a book you aren’t loving. There comes a certain point in a books life when you just need to admit defeat and put it down in favour of another. I’ve written more about DNFing books in my blog post talking about why I DNF books.

• Take the pressure off, does it really matter?

Lastly, this Goodreads goal I’ve just been telling you how to crush? Does it really matter all the much to you? Are you going to be speed reading books and not really enjoying them just to hit your target? If so, then question why you’re doing this, it’s just a number. If you really want to, you can lower your goal to a more achievable number. It’s not worth stressing yourself out over.