After years of experimenting with every tracking method, I can tell you this: time goals win for most readers, but the best system combines all three. Page goals feel satisfying because you can see progress, yet they punish you on dense books I once slogged through 20 pages of philosophy in an hour and felt like a failure, while breezing through 60 pages of thriller in the same time. Reading goals (finishing X books per year) motivate completion but encourage rushing and skimming. Time goals, on the other hand, build a sustainable habit because they focus on consistency rather than speed. When I switched to a simple 30-minutes-daily rule, my streak hit 90 days without burnout, and I actually retained more of what I read.

So here’s what works best: anchor your habit with a time goal, track pages as a bonus metric, and set reading goals only for books you genuinely want to finish. This layered approach removes guilt, respects different book densities, and keeps you showing up daily. Start with 20 minutes, log your pages casually, and let yearly totals take care of themselves. You’ll read more, enjoy it more, and finally stop abandoning books halfway through.