I’ll be blunt: if you have ten minutes to look at social media, you have ten minutes to read. If you truly, truly don’t have ten minutes in a twenty-four-hour period, then start with five minutes, or even two. When people tell me they don’t have time to read, I always think of my mother, who put herself through nursing school while working full-time as a hairdresser with two kids under the age of eight. She loves to read, but she didn’t have time to read a full book at that juncture in her life. So she read magazines, usually just an article or two before going to bed at 1 a.m. and then doing it all over again. If she can do it, you can do it.
Set a timer. If you’re not used to reading, ten minutes is going to feel exceptionally long. If your mind wanders off the page and you keep checking the timer to see how much time is left, it’s fine. Just keep on reading for the full ten minutes. Give your brain time to settle down. In terms of when to read, that’s up to you, but I’ll recommend the following: any scenario where you’re waiting in a certain place (waiting in line, waiting for an appointment), first thing in the morning before the demands of the day begin, right before bed to wind down, on your lunch break from work. Find a pocket of time.