Little Habits That Help You Scroll Less (and Read More Without Forcing It) Have you ever picked up your phone to check one thing… and suddenly it’s 30 minutes later? I have. Most of us don’t spend hours scrolling because we planned to. We do it because our phones are incredibly good at making the easiest choice feel automatic. I’ve realized something over the last few months: if I want to read more books, I don’t actually need more motivation. I need fewer distractions. Instead of trying to “have more discipline,” I’ve started making tiny changes that make reading easier and scrolling just a little harder. None of these habits are dramatic, but together they’ve helped me reach for a book more often than my phone. Here are the habits I’m trying this season. 1. Make Your Phone Slightly More Annoying to Use One of the best changes I’ve made is installing the One Sec app. Instead of opening Instagram (or another app) instantly, One Sec adds a short pause before it launches. It sounds almost too simple to matter, but that tiny interruption is often enough to make me ask: “Do I actually want to open this… or am I just bored?” Many times I close the app before it even loads. Not because scrolling is bad—but because I didn’t actually choose it. 2. Put Your Phone Somewhere That Requires Standing Up Your environment shapes your habits more than your willpower. When I get home, I try to leave my phone: in a kitchen drawer on the charger across the room in another room entirely even inside a basket by the door If my phone is next to me on the couch, I’ll reach for it without thinking. If it’s twenty feet away? Suddenly grabbing my current book sounds much easier. 3. Keep Your Current Book Visible Books hidden on a shelf don’t get read. Leave one: beside your favorite chair on your coffee table in your purse by your bed in your car while waiting for pickup The easier it is to grab, the more likely you are to read a page or two. Those pages add up. 4. Replace One Scroll With Ten Pages You don’t have to stop using social media. Just trade one scrolling session for ten pages. That’s it. Ten pages usually takes around 15–20 minutes, and it’s amazing how often ten pages turns into thirty. 5. Create a Cozy Reading Ritual Reading becomes easier when it feels like something you look forward to. Maybe that’s: making a cup of tea or coffee lighting a candle wrapping up in your favorite blanket turning on a reading light sitting outside for fifteen minutes You’re not just reading. You’re creating a moment you’ll want to return to. 6. Give Yourself Permission to Quit Books One reason people stop reading is because they feel guilty quitting a book they’re not enjoying. Life is too short. If a book isn’t working after a fair chance, set it down. The best reading habit is continuing to read—not forcing yourself through books you dread picking up. 7. Listen Instead of Scroll Not every reading session has to involve sitting still. Audiobooks count. Listen while you: walk fold laundry drive cook dinner clean the house Those ordinary moments can easily become extra reading time. If you are interested in supporting our independent bookstore and listen to audiobooks, the app Libro.fm works just like audible, but when you sign up online and select Paper & Vine Book Bar and use code SWITCH, we will get a portion of the proceeds from your listens and you will get two free audios. Win win! I've been personally using the app over a year, and I love it. Libro.fm here to learn more if you are interested in supporting local. 8. Protect the First and Last 15 Minutes of Your Day Many of us begin and end the day looking at our phones. Try replacing just one of those windows with reading. Fifteen minutes before bed. Fifteen minutes with your morning coffee. You might be surprised how quickly that becomes your favorite part of the day. Small Changes Add Up Reading more isn’t usually about finding huge blocks of free time. It’s about making tiny decisions that gently point you toward the life you want. One less scroll. One more chapter. One more quiet evening. That’s enough. If you’re looking for a simple place to start, I created a free “Read More, Scroll Less” weekly printable to help you build these habits one week at a time. Print it out, keep it somewhere you’ll see it, and check off the little wins. They may seem small, but over time they can completely change your reading life. Here’s to filling our days with more stories, and a little less scrolling.

Learn more

July 5, 2026

Read More. Scroll Less.

Read More. Scroll Less. A gentle reminder that your attention is one of the most valuable things you own. We keep this blog add free for your enjoyment! Please consider shopping our links if you love these blogs! It helps support our little bookstore and helps me keep writing to you guys! Y'all are the best. Every season of life asks for something different. Right now, mine asks for a lot & I'm sure all of you can relate. I’m a one-third owner of an independent bookstore and wine bar, a full-time engineer in the oil and gas industry, a wife, and a mom to a five-year-old and an almost four-year-old. We live on five acres in West Texas with two dogs, a flock of chickens, and what often feels like a never-ending list of projects. Between youth sports, work deadlines, grocery runs, helping run Paper & Vine, writing this blog, creating discussion guides, Pinterest, emails, and simply trying to keep up with life, there is always something asking for my attention. For years, whenever I found five quiet minutes, I’d instinctively reach for my phone. Not because I truly wanted to. Just because it had become automatic. Sometimes I’d open Instagram looking for a dinner recipe. Other times I’d check Pinterest for home decor inspiration or a fun craft with the kids. Before I knew it, twenty minutes had disappeared, I’d watched dozens of videos and funny reels, and I couldn’t even remember what I’d originally picked up my phone to find. I don’t think social media is the enemy. I still use it almost every day. It’s how many of us discover recipes, find our next favorite book, learn new skills, and honestly, it’s how many of you found Paper & Vine. But somewhere along the way I realized something. I don’t actually want to spend my life watching everyone else live theirs. I’d rather build my own. I’d rather throw the baseball in the backyard. Read one more chapter before bed. Walk outside to check on the chickens. Cook dinner without checking notifications every few minutes. Write something that encourages someone. Create instead of consume. Books have quietly become the thing that brings me back to myself. Unlike social media, a book asks for my full attention and somehow gives it back to me. When I close a book after twenty or thirty minutes, I don’t feel mentally cluttered. I feel calmer. More creative. More patient. More present. I’m a better mom. A better wife. A better friend. And honestly, I just enjoy my own life more. Please don’t hear me saying I’ve figured this out. I haven’t. There are still evenings when I catch myself reaching for my phone without even realizing it. In fact, it’s a little sad how automatic it became. Sometimes I pick it up simply because there’s a spare thirty seconds and the overstimulation can be INSANE. One of the simplest changes I’ve made has also been one of the most effective. When I get home, I put my phone away. At first, it was in a kitchen drawer. Sometimes it was in a basket. Sometimes it was literally inside a Ziplock bag in the pantry because I know I’ll absentmindedly reach for it if it’s nearby. (Now I have a pretty white box that charges stuff that I put it in). It sounds silly. But making my phone just a little harder to grab has made me realize how often I was picking it up out of habit, not because I actually needed it. And every evening I choose a book instead feels…better. Not more productive. Better. Because life feels richer when I’m participating in it instead of watching it happen through a screen. That’s the heart behind Read More. Scroll Less. Not deleting every app. Not pretending technology is bad. Just becoming more intentional with one of the few things we truly own: Our attention. Start with a Book You Can’t Wait to Pick Back Up One of the biggest mistakes people make when they’re trying to read more is choosing a book they feel like they should read. Instead, choose a book that makes you excited to come back. Busy lives need books that fit into busy schedules. Books with short chapters. Books that pull you in immediately. Books you can read for ten minutes while dinner is in the oven or lose yourself in for two hours on a rainy Saturday. Here are a few I’d recommend. If you’re wondering why your phone is so hard to put down… The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt This is the book that made me think differently about attention, technology, and the world we’re raising our kids in. It’s thoughtful, practical, and easy to read in small sections. If you want something completely binge-worthy… Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman Ridiculous. Hilarious. Impossible to put down. The chapters fly by, making it the perfect replacement for an evening of doomscrolling. If you’re craving something cozy… The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna Warm, comforting, hopeful, and exactly the kind of book that makes you want another cup of coffee and one more chapter. If you only have ten minutes… Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt Short sections and multiple perspectives make this incredibly easy to pick up whenever you have a few spare minutes. If you love romance… Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune. Carley does no wrong. Her books are immersive, sweet and just literally THE BEST when you want to get back into loving reading again. If you’re in the mood for an amazing story… Theo of Golden by Allen Levi One of those books that stays with you long after you’ve finished it. Reading more isn’t about discipline. It’s about making books more inviting than your phone. And once you find the right story, that becomes surprisingly easy. Free Printable: Read More. Scroll Less. Weekly Reset One thing I’ve learned is that if I don’t intentionally make space for reading, something else will gladly fill that time. Usually… It’s my phone. So instead of making another complicated planner, I created something much simpler. A gentle weekly reset. Not a productivity tracker. Not another list of things to accomplish. Just a reminder to choose presence a little more often. Weekly Reset Checklist Download the Free Printable Checklist Here Read More. Scroll Less. I’m not trying to read 100 books this year. I’m not trying to become someone who never checks Instagram. I’m simply trying to spend a little less time consuming and a little more time living. To notice the sunset. To laugh with my kids. To read another chapter. To create something instead of endlessly watching someone else create. If you’re feeling that pull too, I’d love for you to join me. Download the free Read More. Scroll Less. Weekly Reset, pick up a book you can’t wait to return to, and let’s reclaim a little of our attention—one chapter at a time. Looking for your next read? Browse our curated Read More. Scroll Less. collection on Bookshop.org to support independent bookstores like Paper & Vine, or listen through Libro.fm, where every audiobook purchase also supports a local bookstore.

Learn more

July 1, 2026

The Monthly Business Dashboard We Use to Grow Our Bookstore (And How You Can Build One for Your Business)

The Monthly Business Dashboard We Use to Grow Our Bookstore (And How You Can Build One for Your Business) Every month, before we start planning the next one, our family sits down with a single dashboard. It isn’t flashy. It isn’t complicated. It’s simply a page filled with numbers, progress bars, goals, notes, and reminders. And honestly, it’s become one of the most valuable tools we have. When people ask how Paper & Vine is doing, they usually expect us to talk about sales. Sales matter. But after opening our bookstore, we realized something pretty quickly: One number can never tell the whole story. A month with record sales might also include higher labor costs. A slower month might be the one where our email list grows the fastest. Pinterest might double while event attendance drops. One department can struggle while another quietly reaches a milestone. Businesses are living, changing things. Trying to judge them by one metric is like trying to judge a book after reading only one chapter. That’s why we built our monthly dashboard. Not to create more work. To help us make better decisions. Our Goal Isn’t a Perfect Month If you look closely at our dashboard, you’ll notice something. Not every progress bar is full. Not every goal was reached. Some sections are ahead. Some are behind. We leave them exactly that way. Because our goal isn’t perfection. It’s progress. Every month we ask ourselves one question: “Is Paper & Vine healthier than it was last month?” That’s it. If the answer is yes, even by a little, we’re moving in the right direction. Why We Track More Than Revenue Revenue is important. But it doesn’t tell us: Are we buying inventory wisely? Are customers coming back? Are we building an online community? Are we consistently creating content? Are we spending our time on the right things? Are we preparing for the future instead of reacting to it? Those questions require different numbers. And together, those numbers tell a much richer story than revenue ever could. The Five Categories We Review Every Month When we designed our dashboard, we didn’t start by asking, “What numbers should we track?” Instead, we asked: “What kind of business are we trying to build?” The answer shaped everything. 1. Store Health This section tells us whether the bookstore itself is operating well. We review things like: Book sales Bar sales Labor percentage of sales Inventory spending Merchandise budgets These metrics help us stay disciplined and ensure P&L stays in the black. Growing sales doesn’t mean much if expenses grow even faster. 2. Growth Beyond Our Store One of our biggest goals is making Paper & Vine more than just a local bookstore. We want someone across the country to discover one of our blog posts. Download a printable. Join our newsletter. Order a book through Bookshop. Listen through Libro.fm. That’s why we also measure things like: Pinterest impressions Website traffic Email subscribers Social media growth Online partnerships These aren’t vanity metrics to us. They’re signs that our community is growing. 3. The Work That Creates Future Results This section might be the most important one on the page. Because it focuses on the things we actually control. How many blog posts did we publish? How many Pinterest pins did we create? How many emails did we send? Did we launch new products? Did we create discussion guides? Those activities don’t always produce immediate results. But they’re planting seeds. Every blog post becomes another door people can walk through. Every Pinterest pin has the potential to bring readers months from now. Every email strengthens a relationship with someone who already believes in what we’re building. Results usually lag behind consistent effort. That’s why we measure the effort too. 4. Reflection One of our favorite sections doesn’t contain numbers at all. Every month we write down: What worked. What didn’t. What surprised us. What we’ll change next month. Sometimes one sentence written in June saves us from making the same mistake in October. Improvement starts with paying attention. News isn't always good, but not knowing leads to red months, no direction and no clear path to success. Financial and growth success for us really means we get to serve more people, get more books in more hands and ensure everyone feels like we are in their community. 5. Looking Ahead Finally, we make notes about the future. Large inventory orders. Upcoming events. Marketing campaigns. Seasonal products. Ideas that aren’t ready yet. Planning ahead gives us margin. Instead of constantly putting out fires, we can spend more time building something intentional. A Small Peek Inside Our June Dashboard We don’t share every financial detail publicly, but here are a few milestones we celebrated this month. Pinterest impressions passed 30,000. Our email community grew to over 2,100 subscribers. Instagram grew past 4,100 followers. We published seven blog posts. We created 100 fresh Pinterest pins. Some goals were met. Some weren’t. That’s okay. The unfinished progress bars are just as valuable because they show us exactly where to focus next, and how big to set next months targets to gain meaningful growth in areas we care about. Build Your Own Dashboard If there’s one idea, we’d encourage every business owner to borrow, it’s this: Don’t copy someone else’s metrics. Build your own. A photographer probably doesn’t need to track inventory spending. A bakery may never care about Pinterest impressions. A blogger isn’t measuring bar sales. Your dashboard should reflect the business you’re trying to build. Start by asking yourself: What are the five most important areas of my business? What numbers actually help me make better decisions? Which metrics show future growth, not just today’s results? What work should I celebrate even before it pays off? If I reviewed this dashboard every month for five years, would it help me build a healthier business? Those answers become your scorecard. Not because someone on the internet said you should track them. Because they’re the numbers that matter to your mission. Small Improvements Compound One extra blog post. A few more email subscribers. Better inventory decisions. One additional five-star review. A stronger profit margin. None of those feel life-changing on their own. But month after month, they begin stacking on top of each other. That’s how we’re trying to build Paper & Vine. Not by chasing perfect months. By making hundreds of thoughtful, intentional improvements over time. And every month, this dashboard reminds us exactly where to make the next one. Download Our Blank Monthly Dashboard If you’d like to create your own version, we’ve included a blank copy of the dashboard we use each month. Whether you own a bookstore, boutique, coffee shop, blog, Etsy shop, or you’re just beginning your entrepreneurial journey, we hope it helps you focus on the numbers that matter most to your business. Downloadable Canva Link Here Because the best dashboard isn’t the one with the prettiest charts. It’s the one that helps you build a business you love.

Learn more

Ditch Big Biz & Listen with us

Love audiobooks but want to support Indie instead of big corp?

Through libro.fm app you can listen to all the audiobooks you love while directly supporting our small shop.

Switch using code SWITCH and get 2 free audios on us!!

Start Listening

Come for the books. Stay for the stories.

We're so glad you're here

Menu

What You'll Find Here

Shop Our Current Favorites

Alchemised

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Yesteryear

My Husband's Wife

The Correspondent

The Night We Met

Swept Away

Mad Mabel

Explore Discussion Guides

Yesteryear : Book Club Guide Printable - Caro Claire Burke

This Story Might Save Your Life: Book Guide Printable - Tiffany Crum

Dear Debbie - Book Club Guide Printables: Freida McFadden

My Husband's Wife: Book Guide Printable - Alice Feeney

Our Perfect Storm: Book Club Guide Printable - Carley Fortune

Theo of Golden: Book Club Guide Printables- Allen Levi

The Correspondent: Book Club Guide Printable - Virginia Evans

Wild Reverence : Book Club Guide Printable - Rebecca Ross

Get Plugged In To Our Events!

Blog posts

Little Habits That Help You Scroll Less (and Read More Without Forcing It)

Read More. Scroll Less.

The Monthly Business Dashboard We Use to Grow Our Bookstore (And How You Can Build One for Your Business)

Ditch Big Biz & Listen with us

Come for the books. Stay for the stories.

Policies

Your cart

Order note

Estimate Shipping

Search

Menu

What You'll Find Here

Join Our Email List!

Shop Our Current Favorites

Explore Discussion Guides

Get Plugged In To Our Events!

Blog posts

Ditch Big Biz & Listen with us

Come for the books. Stay for the stories.

Your cart 0

Order note

Estimate Shipping

Search

Your cart