build a reading routine with me 📖 | a reading vlog 

My tips for reading more / enjoying it more: - I always read multiple books at once, so I can pick whatever I'm in the mood for. Usually one draws my attention more and I'll naturally focus on that one untill it's finished. Then I don't have to doubt what I'll read next because I've already read a few chapters in a few books. - I have a "read every day" tracker. That means that when I'm on my phone and my eyes fall on my book, I'm reminded that I haven't read yet and it really breaks that mindless cycle of screen distraction. - In that tracker I have a separate color for fanfiction. Fanfics take less effort to read, because you don't need to make the effort to get invested in new characters. Some days I just don't feel like reading new information. That's fine. I allow myself that freedom. - On the same note, after I finish a book, I usually need some time to process it. I tend to give myself a few days of mental rest before picking up the next book. I've found that positively impacts my enjoyment of both books and follows a more natural rythem. I'm not trying to squeeze as many books as possible in my life, I'm trying to enjoy myself and learn some things.

To be honest, I struggled with a TV addiction for a while that came from my anxiety. After creating a real reading routine and making it a habit, I rarely watch TV or use technology anymore. I can confirm that a routine like this can work and change your life if you make it a habit

“The silence in my brain is deafening when I’m embroidering and doing nothing else” I feel seen and understood omg

This video literally could not have come at a better time... thank you for everything you do, Leonie!

u are my comfort booktuber 💗💗

the audiobooks while crafting is honestly a game changer, just this summer i crocheted blankets, mittens and headbands while listening to audiobooks and it saved me hoouurrsssssssss

honestly, making a reading plan before starting a book (like, i'll write down chapter names and number of pages for each chapter and i'll decide beforehand how much reading i'll do everyday) has been a game changer for me. i've been doing it for a little while, and it has allowed me to consistently read at least ten books a month.

I'm actually doing fairly well with reading this year. I've completed 14 and my goal for the year is 50. I credit finding this channel with reminding me how fun reading is. I'm actually working on The Iron King from your last video right now as well as an audiobook on Cleopatra. Great video as always, Leonie!

I love to sit outside and read for an hour or so every day when it’s nice and sunny. Really easy to stick to a routine based on that… …Unfortunately, I live in England.

I started a routine last year with the need to be healthier, and the desire to read more, including more non fiction. So I started to work out at night, usually some time between 9-11 depending on what I've got going on, then I shower, and then afterward as a reward for the workout, I read at least 15 minutes of a non fiction book and then at least 15 of a fiction book. I've done pretty well at sticking to it, managing at least three nights a week. Then if I'm still not sleepy, I'll watch something. 😉

One thing that truly changed my reading habits for the best was buying a Kindle, so I really suggest it to everyone struggling (ofc, if you can)! I was sure I wouldn't like it bc I love reading physical books so much, but I swear it's a game changer! And I don't necessarily read less physical books bc I have it. Actually, now I read more in general bc it is so practical and allows me to read in moments I wouldn't be able to use a physical book. Ohh, I started embroidering and cross-stitching during quarantine and love it soooo much!!!

I can't believe Leonie invented reading before bed! Loved the video! I'm trying to set up a similar routine right now but I always just want to scroll through tiktok and twitter 😅

Awesome vlog! I love reading but I have ADHD and dyslexia so it makes reading harder. I do like listening to audiobooks but I really love having the physical book when reading.

*immediately raises both hands* i've been reading so many not great books lately and it's put me in a gross reading slump!!!!!

This video came when I needed it! I am having such a terrible time keeping a reading schedule. Definitely going to try these methods!

I do have somewhat of a reading routine. I do three things. The first is that I read in the morning, because I am an early riser I need a quiet activity to do where I don't disturb my family. One of the things I do is that I read, and it is really nice opening a book with a cup of tea whilst reading at like three or four am in complete silence. It is very peaceful even during a tense read. The other thing I do is I read in between doing things. So if I finish a task, or an episode of a show, I read a chapter or a scene from a book, and then I move on to the next task. For example, when I watch booktube, I do this each time there is an ad in the middle of the video or whenever I finish a video. The last thing I do, which I really like but may not be a good idea, is reading for a few hours before bed. And the reason it may be a problem because sometimes I stay up reading instead of getting the sleep I need. And before anyone says 'you can wake up later you know', I don't wake up at 3 am on purpose, my brain just does. It just goes you are awake now, so I do have to go to bed early if I want to get decent sleep, which I don't hate by the way. I actually the silence in the mornings, and waking up early is a joy, and I am very happy that it happens.

omg i needed this lol i just cant read consistently anymore now idk why and also i was just trying to find something to watch to help me feel better and got a notification from you just right in time you are one of my comfort booktubers

ur my fave book youtuber leonie!!!!!

It's so cute whenever you are joking at yourself doing that "Oh it's a method people told million times why I make it such a big deal", actually lots of creativities and efforts are needed in order to smooth those selfcare methods and hobbies into our stressful fast paced daily life. You make it practically to yourself, so inspiring.

I really needed this video: with university lessons, study, tv shows and other things I'm trying to put my favourite passion (reading) between all this stuff and you helped me to understand how to do it better. Thanks ily Leo😚💙

I hope you are able to keep a RU-vid channel after you finiish your Degree. I enjoy your light-hearted videos. Best Wishes from the State of Mississippi, USA.... 5000 miles away from you !

I love reading audiobooks while crafting. Especially sowing and painting by number, it's so relaxing to me

My main time to read is before bed. It’s quiet and no one distracts me and to me it’s the coziest time to read 😊

I listen to my audiobook when I shower at night and then during my morning routine and that has added quite a bit of time to my reading!

Thanks for your advice! I have been distracting myself with other stuff even if I want to read and I hope this helps me. Your videos are great and your voice is very calming/soothing and nice. Thanks.

Your vlogs are always so cozy and comforting!!

I was so excited to see you do the audiobook and embroidery combo!! I'm an embroidery artist and sitting down to stitch while listening to a good audiobook is one of my favourite ways to spend my time :)

i love you vlog type videos especially if they involve reading more! it's so inspiring!

I have definitely struggled with finding a good reading routine lately as well so this is such a great reminder to try some things out and try to rebuild the habit! :) Thank you!

Thanks Leo, really needed this video :)) These vlogs always give me such a positive attitude!

yes, around the 4th minute: it’s called habit stacking!! 🥰 you explained it really well, the point of stacking is to implement a new habit naturally and easily, so you’ll get used to it easier, and it gives you a certain flow (if I remember correctly) 😌

Omg- I love your personality and you’re literally so gorgeous

I used to read for an hour every morning but now I can’t wake up early enough to before work so I try to sneak in 15 minutes here and there and then 30 minutes at night but I mostly prefer to just have the time to read in the morning. It’s nice to figure out what works for you though! I enjoyed the video

this gave me some ideas, thank you! I'm a student so I don't have as much time to read as I would like to, but I recently bough an e-reader so that makes reading a bit faster sometimes even tho I prefer physical books :)

I needed this. Not just because I haven't been reading as much as I want to, but because bad things happened this weekend, and I lost something good I had, and I am not in a great place emotionally. I need to drown in books.

Your videos are pure serotonin

thank you for this!! this comes at the perfect time for me

This video really made me laugh 😂 ty. I need a new routine since I keep joining readalongs. I love when you take us out, it's so different from my city.

Listningen to audiobooks before bed is great as well! You don’t need to have the light on and you can close your eyes

i've been listening to books more, while doing tasks. im having trouble sitting and reading...this sounds good!

As I always say, I love every one of your videos! I especially love that you are so authentic, makes it very relatable 🥰 Also: Your editing and the shots in your videos 😍 Your videos are like a cozy time with a friend in an aesthetic café where you enjoy the pretty things around you but you can also discuss your problems without being judged (I don‘t know if that makes sense, but thats how your videos feel for me 😅😂) Greetings from Germany 💖

My hand raised high up in the air when you asked the first question.

Holding your book open with one hand while reading can be so annoying! I highly reccommend the Dutch library hardcovers (they fold open very well) and your phone as a weight to hold the pages apart. And it really helps to have something (like your closed laptop bc you're reading so you don't need it) under the top of the book so it's not flat on the table. Or you could get a recipe-book holder if you want to be super dedicated :P For reading in the evenings, it might help to set an alarm on your phone at the time you want to start reading? That might be just that little extra push you need to actually put away the other things you're doing and get into bed with a book.

Ahhh I love waking monday morning seeing you have uploaded

the glasses fit so good to you, and this video made my day✨

I'm trying to build better habits as well. My addiction though is video games. I've taken up jigsaw puzzles, cross-stitching and reading to replace that. So far so good! The variety inherit in those keeps me interested. I totally relate to the "mind silence" too. I have a horrible attention span so it's worked to listen to a movie or show while keeping my brain engaged in my activity.

ive been in a reading slump! this helps so much❤️

i started listening audiobooks like 2 months ago (i used to hate it) now i love it, its way cheaper and i do it while sewing, painting, cleaning. But i miss reading physical books so much, i'm gonna try to get back into it

Definately guilty I'm literally always obsessing over how behind I am at uni instead of reading lol, loved the video! 🖤

i just quit my job and I've been trying to get my life together, so thank you for the motivation 💕

I'm a person who's very easily overwhelmed by life and reading helps me slow down and gives me a safe energy to rest at for a while so it actually ends up being the only habit I've consistently maintained. I guess my recommendation for everyone is to see it as this whole thing that you're doing for yourself - you're creating an environment of calmness simply by taking a moment to sit down and read. Your body and brain will always thank you for that.

Please do an apartment tour! Been always interested to see how you decorate your place. Looks cozy always.

I listen to an audio book everyday while cooking and while painting (I make arts) :D and I read physical book at night for half an hour before I sleep.

thank you for this vid! I spend 60+ minutes every day driving to work and I’m going to try getting into the routine of listening to an audiobook while I drive

This video was perfectly on point! Loved it, and it has inspired me to incorporate new reading routines. I think I have a cookbook holder that would work perfect for books while eating. Because I know exactly what you mean by that being the biggest challenge of reading while eating. -Sarah

I was IN NEED of this video

Your sweaters are always amazing, I such sweater envy.

Absolutely loved this Leonie, and I FEEL YOU when it comes to wanting to read 24/7 but rarely actually reading lol. I'm so excited to pick up Gallant, I bought it last week in the bookstore 🥰 Also, I would love to try embroidery myself! Do you have a tip regarding how/where to start?

Reading before bed can go either way. I either fall asleep reading or want to continue way past my bedtime especially if it’s a book I can’t put down. I think it’s best to read nonfiction before bed because they’re mostly relaxing and the information sticks better imo. Sometimes I’ll listen to audiobooks before bed and they lull me to sleep.

Loveeee the idea of doing yoga right after your workday

And the habit of RU-vid. I had a super fun routine for Feb but pick up a physical and audio book that I ended up really not like. Now it’s March and I haven’t read (for pleasure) in weeks. I definitely feel shittier especially since mindless social media has taken over my routine times.

just found out that i have covid… this literally made my day haha. definitely gonna read a lot during my quarantine

this video could not have come at a better time! my reading has been very sporadic lately, so i think i also need to build. reading routine

An average grocery haul for the week/month would be so cool! Maybe also what I listen to while I cook in a week? I loved the vibes of this video, btw (I love them all, but this one is just 👨🏻‍🍳👌🏻)

Your eyeliner is so bomb in this video!!!

thank you so much for this. i want to read so much and im reading so much too.

Inspired me to close down my computer and I'm on my way to pick up that book that has been lurking at me from my nightstand

I miss this type of video of yours!!❤️

During the worst lockdown i used duo of jigsaw puzzle and audiobooks to keep myself sane. I also for ed myself to read at least 15 min before bed. Legit, with a timer. Sometimes it ended up to be much more, but I often was picking the non fiction, to not be kept up all night. Also, having a book or kindle on me at all time helps. I pull it out in a bus, or a line at the doctors office, few minutes here and there and it adds up.

A tip from me would be reading while *digesting* . Reading while breakfast and merienda, also reading after lunch and supper. 😋

i LOVE your humor you're so funny

I was just looking for a routine to read all the books I have pending, I'm sure you'll give us some good advice so we can read our pending readings 🤧

I have the big ol' moomin comic collections and i used to read a comic every morning for a while. I should get back to doing that, it felt like reading newspaper comic strips (which i don't do in the morning anymore because news is just depressing atm)! thanks for the idea!!

I usually love V.E. Schwab books and Gallent was also not for me. I listened to the audiobook as well, and I might have liked it more if I read the physical book, but I just wasn't a fan of the story or the main character. I'll still read everything she comes out with. Love your videos :)

just started back reading 📖

Loved the video! Personally I read quite a lot during the day. I work full time but I often read a bit in the morning and then in the evenings I will also often read. I'm currently looking for another hobby because my options now are either reading or going on my phone and I want to limit the latter, but sometimes I just don't feel like reading. Just like you I tried embroidery and was really into it for one design I got but then I never touched it again so I'm trying that again!

I am someone who has a hard time to fall asleep, Being a night person + bad habits isn't a great mix. So I pushed myself to go to bed one hour before I normally should sleep and read. (Phone notifications also off). It honestly works well :).

your videos are soooo cozy! cheers from California : )

I like reading before bed best! I also have a hard time reading at breakfast unless it's on my Kindle... there's just too much going on lol 🤣

Me watching this video while eating, knowing full well that I could easily read my book instead : ... Thank you for this video, you're amazing ! Love from a fellow (half) Dutch.

I’ve been so busy with studying recently so naturally I’ve been reading a ton 😅 my goal is 50 books this year and I’m somehow already at 24

Listening to fantasy books on audio truly is a challenge hahaha! But I found that it’s better to listen to them probably 1.2-1.5x speed while journaling. 💓

I tried listening to She who became the sun as an audiobook too, but O MY GOD it was so confusing! I ended up just reading it (and restarting it!) because I did not know what happened and who was who. But it was a great read in the end :)

Yay new video 🎉🎉🎉

Just 22 minutes of Leonie making great invention

Thank you very much for the amazing video 😊

it’s the way my book stared at me angrily the entire time i watched this video instead of reading 😅

omg i thought i was the only one who thought that only doing one thing at a time is not productive. i always feel like i should do multiple things at the same time, to get things done. like I'm literally finishing my assignment while watching (mostly listening) your video, to catch up on all the booktube videos. it's kind of become a problem with me lol. btw love this video!

That dinner you had with noodles and eggs looked so good! How do you make that? I am constantly looking for interesting meals as a grad student myself 😅 love this video!

i for one love pomegranates, but they always take so long to peel and it felt like wasted time until i started listening to an audiobook while doing it. this way i can get a couple of chapters in without much of a hassle

Lately I have to spend a lot of time looking into a microscope for my tesis so while I do that I've been going through a lot of audiobooks, specially of books I've heard about but know nothing of, so it's been good! on the downside, I'm too tired when I get home from uni so I don't end up picking up my physical books :(

I do love to read while I eat but I usually do it on my Kindle so that I can hold it in one hand and eat with the other, lol, or even prop it up because I can turn pages with a knuckle and eat with both hands like a savage. 😅

If you want to try out Gallant again, I'd definitely say try the physical book - art is a big part of it, and adds to a fairy tale tone which (for me) worked with it being a bit more plot based. Although, I agree that it is not that original when taken without the art and just looking at the story.

5 pages each day for breakfast is actually really good when you think it adds up to 1,825 pages per year! Thats 4 books around 400-500 pages each

I have been trying to get into embroidery too, but honestly I don't do it as often as I'd like to😩

Bedankt voor de Tips! Ik luister meestal elke ochtend naar mijn audioboek om wakker te worden. Moet best al vroeg op voor mijn werk half 6. Bedankt voor de aanraders van storytel die app heb ik ook.

I've been reading before bed consistently for about the last year, and now I'm to the point that I physically can't fall asleep until I read at least a few pages. 😅

Yeah I relate on too many parts :')

I used to have trouble setting aside time to read but I got some good advice from a RU-vidr Daniel Greene. It was very simple: take a book with you wherever you go and read even if it’s in the line at the grocery store or waiting for your friend to arrive to lunch/dinner

Maybe you can try pomodoro technique. Instead of using 5 mins for rest, you can use it for read. :)