Reading sprints, explained

How long should a sprint be?

Anything from ten to thirty minutes works. Twenty or twenty-five minutes is a common choice, the same length as a work block in the Pomodoro Technique. Start shorter if your focus is rusty and lengthen the sprints as reading gets easier.

Before you start

• Choose the book and find your page.
• Put the phone face down or out of reach, and silence notifications.
• Get water or tea, so you do not have to get up halfway.
• Decide how long the sprint is, and start.

During the sprint

Read and do nothing else. No checking messages, no looking things up. If a thought or a word you want to check comes up, write it down in a few words with the page number and keep reading. You can deal with it in the break.

After the sprint

Note the page you reached and take a short break: stand up, stretch, look out of the window. Then decide whether to do another sprint. Three or four in a row is a solid reading session; one is still a good day.

Sprint with others

Sprinting is more fun together. Some readers host live sprints online, where everyone reads at the same time and checks in at the end. You can do the same with a friend over a video call or in a group chat: agree on a start time, read, then share your page count or a favorite line.

Keep count with Pagetime

Pagetime’s timer counts up, not down. If you want an alarm at the end of a sprint, set a countdown in the Clock app as well, and let Pagetime record the time. Start a session for the book, lock the phone and read; the timer keeps running on the Lock Screen. Pause it for a break, and stop it when you finish, entering the page you reached.

Each sprint you save is a session, and they all add up: two sprints of ten minutes meet a 20-minute daily goal just as well as one of twenty. The Stats tab shows your reading time for each day of the week, and the guide on how to find time to read has ideas for fitting sprints into a busy day.

The free version holds up to 5 books and includes 20 page scans with text recognition in total. Deleting a note does not restore a used scan. Notes and the timer work offline without an account; sync is free after signing in. A subscription removes the book and scan limits and unlocks your full stats history, year in review and folder export. Pagetime is coming to iPhone and Android; you can leave your email below to hear when it is available. Until then, set a 20-minute timer and open your book.

This independent guide is published by Pagetime and is not authorized, sponsored or endorsed by Apple Inc. or Google LLC.