Increased reading is a common New Year's resolution for many, and like other resolutions, tends to be neglected come February. Even if you've set a specific target for the year, if you haven't gained momentum by February, you might feel like you've already failed. But just like other habits that need to be formed, developing a reading habit takes time, discipline and few other hacks that we discuss below. In this article we highlight our own tried and tested eight steps to fulfilling your annual reading goal while honing a reading habit that will make reading part of your everyday.

you read faster and voluntarily more when you're genuinely enjoying a book

1. Make a list of books you really want to read

The first step is to make a list of the books you want to read. Note each book's length (i.e. short, medium or long) and genre, so that you can quickly pass judgement on reading viability when it comes to shuffling books around and deciding what to read next.

Try not to cram too many books into the year or set period, particularly if you haven't been reading consistently for a while. Challenge yourself by adding a few extra books (or more, depending on how fast you read), so that you need to stretch yourself rather than cruising through, finding the challenge too easy and missing the mark by underestimating what's involved. If you don't finish all the books on your list, you're still likely to have read more than you would have without an ambitious list.

2. Schedule books around other events in the year

With your list and a diary or calendar at hand, schedule each book around upcoming events, busy periods and holidays with some contingency time for when life throws you some unforeseen issues. For example, if you know that you have three weeks of studying and sitting for exams in May, extend the time you'll need to finish a book by the entire three weeks. Don't over-commit yourself only to feel like you've lost traction. Be realistic and generous with yourself in advance.

3. Set a daily reading target

Many seasoned readers recommend setting a daily page target, but this can leave you hanging at a random point, forgetting where you left off and re-reading sections the next time you read. As most books have chapters that are reasonably sized, try setting a chapter a day. If you've already honed a reading habit or are a skilled speed reader, you can set a higher daily target. And if a book has relatively short chapters, you could set your daily target to two or three chapters, even as a newbie.

4. Read anywhere, everywhere, whenever you can

The secret to quickly developing a habit is to tie it to another habit or set of habits. For example, if you have an existing sequence or stack of habits that you do at the same time every day, tack it on to the end or fit it in between other habits that will suit the flow of things. Say you have a morning routine of get up, wash face, brush teeth, check phone / social media, write to do list, pack bag, you could insert ‘read' between writing your to do list and packing your bag or swap out checking your phone for reading, but you wouldn't add reading between washing your face and brushing your teeth. When you already have a set of things in motion that you habitually do each or most days of the week, it will be easier to add another small habit to the loop.

In the absence of an existing habit that you could add reading to, bring your book everywhere. In fact, bring it everywhere even if you do have a habit stack for it. Bring it along to work, school or uni, when running errands, visiting family or friends, even if you have attention-consuming activities planned, there'll always be moments when you can read a few pages. Those moments that you'd normally pull out your phone, that's when you pull out your book or reading device. The more often you do this, the sooner it will become second nature.

5. Update your book schedule regularly

Life happens, visitors come by unexpectedly, and other times you just don't feel like doing much for one reason or another. That's ok, but when you do get back to reading, it's ok to shuffle, swap or even cull books you had scheduled to finish by the end of the year.

As you get closer to a deadline or year end, consider swapping longer books for shorter ones – they're easier to get through and you'll feel empowered to fly through them knowing that there's hope in reaching the last page. You could also pick up a book you didn't finish, fly over the parts you still remember and only have part of a book left to complete.

Alternatively, if you set out to read a number of books in a year or set period and you've already read the same or even one more than your last book marathon, pat yourself on the back and let the rest go. Try smashing your record next time and be satisfied in the knowledge that you got some solid reading done and are on the way to being, or once again becoming, a major bookworm. And if you're still in the mood for reading the unread books on your list, carry them over into the following year or reading period.

6. Don't keep reading a book you don't enjoy

The reason we read, generally, is to be entertained and get lost in somebody else's story to escape, relax or even learn from in some way. It should therefore be a given that if we aren't loving a book – maybe it has too many triggers, the characters are unlikable, it's unrelatable, or maybe it's written poorly and tries too hard – it should be dropped like a hot potato there and then. Don't think about the 80 pages you just dragged yourself through (there are still many more to come!), cut your losses now and move on.

You'll find you read faster and voluntarily more when you're genuinely enjoying a book. The same could be said about anything you do, so employing this rule in other parts of your life, albeit carefully (don't quit your job suddenly tomorrow when something trivial goes wrong), you might find yourself feeling less stressed, more motivated and more productive.

7. Log your progress

This is probably the easiest of the eight tips. When you complete a book, record it. You could do this on a page in a notebook or journal, on a whiteboard, a spreadsheet or table in Word as we did in the video, or in a notes app on your phone.

Log the book's title, author, genre, your personal rating out of five or 10, a short description or review, when you finished it and an Id for counting (so from one). Keep it handy and review your progress. It's like keeping a tab or collection of accomplishments that you can use to keep going. Even if you only have one book on the list, you'll still feel like you've accomplished something and that you should keep adding to it. It will also be helpful when creating your next reading list as you can look up authors or genres you rated highly.

8. Share and celebrate your progress

It might feel weird sharing your wins (i.e. finished books) on social media, but no one will see it that way. You'll not only make yourself accountable to keep reading and announcing future wins, but you might inspire someone to pick up a book too.

Whether you share your wins or not, you can always celebrate on your own or with a friend. Knowing that there's a reward coming up for each book will give you a little push to keep going and will also provide a marker for finishing one book and moving on to another. The reward needn't be anything grand, unless that's your thing, but it should be significant enough to not freely grant yourself when you haven't accomplished anything. Think a cheat meal, a date night, buying yourself something from your wishlist on Amazon or taking off the weekend before moving on to your next goal.

If you want to reinforce these eight tips in a shorter form, check out our YouTube video and subscribe for more hacks and motivational videos.