A reading habit tracker that keeps your book in sight

Why a small daily reading goal works

Big reading goals, like 52 books a year, sound inspiring in January and feel crushing by March. A small daily target is different. Twenty pages a day is roughly a 300-page book every two weeks, which adds up to well over twenty books a year, without ever feeling like a marathon.

Daily reading also lowers the cost of starting. When you read a little every day, you never lose the thread of the story, so picking the book up again is easy. That ease is what turns reading back into a habit rather than a project.

Pages or minutes: which should you choose?

DailyWall lets you measure reading either way, and the right choice depends on what you read.

Pages work well for novels and books with a steady pace. They give you a clear finish line and a satisfying sense of progress through the book.

Minutes are better for dense non-fiction, textbooks, or books in a second language, where ten pages can take an hour. Measuring time removes the pressure to rush, and you still show up every day.

If you can't decide, start with minutes. It's harder to cheat yourself with a timer, and easier to forgive a slow chapter.

Tricks that make reading stick

Tick the steps as you go

1. Put the book on your pillow in the morning. At night you have to move it to get into bed, and that's usually enough.
2. Read before your phone. Ten pages before you check messages in the evening is a reliable trigger.
3. Always carry the next read. A paperback in your bag or an e-book on your phone turns waiting rooms into reading time.
4. Let yourself quit bad books. Forcing yourself through a book you don't enjoy is the fastest way to stop reading altogether.
5. Keep the goal small. Five pages you actually read beat fifty pages you planned.

Set up your reading habit in DailyWall

Tick the steps as you go

1. Open DailyWall, tap + and choose Set up a habit.
2. In the Learning category, choose Read a book.
3. Choose how to measure: pages or minutes.
4. Set how many: 5 to 200 pages, or 5 to 120 minutes (20 is the default for both).
5. Type which book you're reading, so the paper names it.
6. Pick the days, a time (evening is the default), whether you'd like a reminder, the paper look, and an optional end date.

Your book, under the clock

Once the habit is set, the reading paper hangs on your wall by itself on the days you chose, with its own book-themed washi tapes and stickers. Because DailyWall's wall is your Lock Screen wallpaper, the book's name and your progress dots are visible every time you wake your phone. Tap + on the paper as you read, then close the app and the Lock Screen catches up.

There's something about seeing the title of the book you're halfway through that makes scrolling feel like the less interesting option. New to the Lock Screen wall? Here's how to put notes on your iPhone Lock Screen.

When you don't read

Some evenings you'll fall asleep after two pages, or not open the book at all. That's fine. DailyWall doesn't carry the missed paper over or punish you with a broken streak; yesterday's reading paper just stays faded on its own day.

If you miss several days in a row, look at the setup rather than at yourself. Maybe the time is wrong, the target too big, or the book isn't grabbing you. Switch to minutes, lower the number, or change the book.

A 7-day reading starter plan

Tick the steps as you go

1. Day 1: Choose a book you genuinely want to read. Set the habit to 10 pages or 10 minutes.
2. Day 2: Put the book on your pillow in the morning.
3. Day 3: Read before you open any app in the evening.
4. Day 4: Take the book with you and read while you wait somewhere.
5. Day 5: If it feels easy, raise the goal to 20.
6. Day 6: Read somewhere new: a café, a park bench, the bath.
7. Day 7: Look back at the week's papers and keep the goal that felt natural.