If you're pulling 60-hour work weeks, the idea of "finding time to read" probably feels like a joke. You're scrolling Slack until 10PM, collapsing into bed with a half-eaten takeout dinner, and your "to-be-read pile" is a leaning tower of shame on your desk that you haven't touched in months. I know this struggle intimately: three years ago, I was working 60+ hour weeks at a high-pressure startup, and I finished exactly 3 books all year. I told myself I was "too busy" to read, that I'd get back to it when work slowed down. It never slowed down. So I stopped waiting for "free time" and built a reading habit that fit into the cracks of my insane schedule instead. Last year, working the same 60-hour weeks, I finished 27 books---no extra free time required. These are the exact strategies that worked for me, no early wake-ups or marathon reading sessions needed.
1. Ditch post-work reading, and steal micro-moments during the workday instead
The biggest mistake people make when building a reading habit on a busy schedule is saving reading for after work, when you're already mentally drained from back-to-back meetings, endless Slack pings, and problem-solving for 10 straight hours. Your brain doesn't want to focus on a book at 9PM when it's been running on caffeine and stress since 7AM. Instead, build reading into the small, unplanned gaps you already have during the workday:
- Keep a physical book or e-reader open on your desk, and read 2 pages while your code compiles, your coffee brews, or you wait for a meeting to start.
- Swap 10 minutes of your lunch break scrolling TikTok or catching up on work emails for reading. If you eat at your desk, keep your current read right next to your laptop, so you don't have to go looking for it.
- If you take public transit, swap your usual true crime podcast for an audiobook during your 20-minute commute---you'll finish a book in 3 weeks without changing your routine at all. These tiny pockets add up fast: 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week, is almost 4 hours of reading a month---enough to finish 2 to 3 average-length books a year, no extra effort required.
2. Make your reading material as easy to reach as your work apps
When you're in back-to-back meetings and your brain is fried, you will always reach for the app or item that's closest to you, no exceptions. If your TBR pile is on a shelf across the room, you'll scroll Instagram instead. If your Kindle app is buried on page 3 of your phone, you'll open Slack instead. Fix this by putting reading everywhere you already spend time during your workweek:
- Pin your Kindle, Libby, or Audible app to the first page of your phone home screen, right next to Slack and Gmail.
- Keep a physical book in your work bag, on your desk, and next to your bed, so you never have to go looking for one.
- If you work remotely, keep a short story collection or graphic novel open on your desktop during focus blocks, so you can flip to it during 2-minute breaks between tasks without even standing up. I used to keep a beat-up copy of Piranesi on my desk for 6 months when I was working 65-hour weeks, and I finished it entirely in 2-minute gaps between sprint meetings. I never even had to set aside "reading time" for it.
3. Ditch the "books you should read" for low-stakes picks when you're burnt out
A lot of people give up on reading during busy workweeks because they try to power through dense non-fiction, classic literature, or the 500-page fantasy epic they bought because it was on a bestseller list. When your brain is fried from 10 hours of work, you don't have the mental energy to keep track of 20 characters or 500 pages of worldbuilding. Instead, curate a separate "swamped week" reading list full of books you can pick up and put down without losing your place, no notes or context required:
- Graphic novels and manga (most are 150 pages or less, and you can finish one in a single lunch break)
- Short story collections (each story is 5 to 20 pages, perfect for 5-minute gaps)
- Cozy mysteries, rom-coms, or the YA fantasy you loved as a kid---no pressure to "learn" anything, just enjoy the story I kept a stack of graphic novels and Heartstopper novellas at my desk for 3 months during my busiest work stretch, and I finished 12 of them without ever feeling like I was "wasting time" on "fluff" reading. It kept my reading habit alive long enough to switch back to denser non-fiction when work slowed down.
4. Build a tiny Pavlovian trigger that makes you want to pick up a book
When you're exhausted and have 5 minutes of free time, your brain will default to the easiest, most rewarding option---usually scrolling TikTok or checking work emails. You can hack this by pairing reading with a tiny reward that you only get when you read, so your brain starts to associate picking up a book with a feel-good hit. Keep it low-effort, so it doesn't feel like another chore:
- Only drink your favorite fancy iced coffee or latte when you're reading, not when you're working or scrolling.
- Keep a small bowl of your favorite candy or snack next to your reading spot, and only let yourself eat it while you read.
- Burn your favorite $5 candle only when you sit down to read, so the smell signals to your brain that it's time to wind down. For me, I only allowed myself to listen to my favorite lofi reading playlist when I was reading, so after a few weeks, just hitting play on the playlist made me want to pull out my book, even when I was exhausted after a long day.
5. Ditch big reading goals, and set a "minimum viable" target instead
If you set a goal of 50 books a year while working 60-hour weeks, you're just setting yourself up for guilt. Some weeks you'll be swamped with a big launch or a family emergency, and you won't read at all---and that's okay. The goal of a reading habit isn't to hit a number, it's to make reading a low-stress part of your life, not another item on your to-do list. Instead, set a tiny, non-negotiable minimum goal: 5 minutes of reading a day, or 1 book a month, whatever feels doable even on your busiest week. If you hit that, you win. If you read more, great. If you miss a day, or a week, or even a month, no guilt---just pick back up when you can. I used to track my reading with a tiny sticker calendar on my desk, and I'd put a sticker on every day I read for at least 5 minutes, no matter what I read. Even if I only read 2 pages of a graphic novel, that counted. By the end of the year, I had 210 stickers, and I'd finished 27 books without ever feeling like I was forcing myself.
Last quarter, I had a 3-month stretch where I was working 65-hour weeks to launch a new product, and I was convinced I'd drop my reading habit entirely. But I kept that copy of Piranesi on my desk, and I'd read 2 pages every time I was waiting for a meeting to start, or while my coffee was brewing in the morning. I finished the book in 8 weeks, even during the busiest stretch of my career. And those 5-minute breaks were the only thing that kept me from burning out completely. You don't need to carve out 2 hours of uninterrupted reading time a day to build a habit. You just need 5 minutes here and there, and the right books in the right places. This week, try putting one book in your work bag, and read 2 pages during your lunch break tomorrow. That's all it takes to start.