30-Day Reading Challenge with an Accountability Partner

What it is

The challenge: read a book, not your phone, for at least 15 minutes every day for 30 days. Paper, e-readers and audiobooks all count if you decide they do; scrolling articles doesn't. Fifteen minutes is roughly 10 to 20 pages, which adds up to several books a month.

An accountability partner for reading works differently from a book club. You don't need to read the same book. You only need someone who asks, every day, whether you read. That small question is what gets the book back out of the bag on a tired evening.

Thirty days usually means one to three books finished, which is enough to prove to yourself that you're a reader again.

How to do it

1. Choose your first book before day one, and keep the next one ready so finishing a book never becomes a gap.
2. Pick a reading slot: the commute, lunch, or the 15 minutes before bed with your phone in another room.
3. Check in when you've done your 15 minutes. Reading the same page twice doesn't count.
4. Tell your partner what you're reading. A one-line note about the book is enough.

Day by day

1. Days 1–3

   Set it up

   Pick the book and the slot, and tell your partner both. Start with something you actually want to read, not the book you think you should.

2. Days 4–10

   The novelty wears off

   The first days are easy because the book is new. Read past 15 minutes when it's going well; it builds goodwill for the days it isn't.

3. Days 11–24

   The long middle

   A slow chapter or a book you don't like ends more reading challenges than busy weeks do. You're allowed to quit a book. You're not allowed to quit reading. Swap, and tell your partner.

4. Days 25–30

   The finish line

   Count the books and pages with your partner, and choose the next one. The reading habit is the most likely to survive the challenge if the next book is already picked.

Where people quit, and how a partner helps

• The book you stopped enjoying

  Readers stall when a book drags, and a stalled book quietly ends the habit. Agree with your partner that dropping a book is fine and missing a day isn't. Having someone to ask “what should I read next?” helps.

• The phone in bed

  Bedtime reading loses to the phone more than to anything else. Charge it outside the bedroom, and check in with your partner before you put it down.

• The busy week

  A week of late nights and the habit is gone. Fifteen minutes fits on a commute or a lunch break, and a partner asking at 9pm is the reminder you'd otherwise skip.

Your 30-day tracker

Print this page, or tick the boxes here. Ticks are saved in this browser only. In the app, you and your partner see each other's check-ins as they happen. One tick a day.

How to start it in the app

1. Create your free account, then install Friends with Habits from Google Play and sign in.
2. Tap New Pact and pick “Read 15 minutes” under Learning & Creativity.
3. Keep the schedule the template suggests: every day.
4. Invite your friend by link, text or email. Once they accept, you both check in each day and see each other's progress.
5. A pact in the app runs 30 days, so this whole challenge is one pact.

Questions