Here is a little confession: I’m a Slow Reader. 

I always have been. I used to envy people who read quickly, devouring books in a single day or thick epic fantasy stories over a weekend. But it’s okay that I’m slow, and there are many reasons why. 

1) Time. With ADHD, I struggle to sit and stay focused for long periods. I get distracted easily, and the slightest thing can pull my mind away. 

2) I’m just slow. My average reading pace with proper comprehension is about 171 words per minute. Most people come in at around 250 words. That means if I read for a full hour, I can get through about 10,260 words. So a typical 100,000-word novel will take me about ten dedicated hours of reading time. 

3) Priority. I have a lot going on in life and wear many different hats. So sitting down to read is much more complicated than it was fifteen years ago. 

However, I’ve learned a few tricks to help me read more. 

1) I’ve learned to read in ten-minute chunks, which has helped. If I can carve about ten minutes here and ten minutes there, I’ve seen a vast improvement in the number of books I can consume. 

2) Audiobooks. I had to learn to listen to books. It didn’t come naturally. A great narrator can hold me for hours if need be. But I stress the “Great Narrator” part. I can consume more through audio than I used to. So I tend to devour them more now. I want publishing to get it together and learn to bundle ebooks and audio at a discounted price. They would make a fortune.  

3) Stop worrying about how much everyone else is reading. Reading isn’t a sport, it’s entertainment, it’s for enjoyment, it’s for disconnecting from an already chaotic world. I don’t need to keep up with everyone else. So, I don’t care if so and so has read ten more books than me this year. Good for them. 

I’m a slow reader. Maybe you are too. Guess what? That’s okay. Just dive in and learn to enjoy.