My iPad was collecting dust.
I’m serious. It sat on my desk for months, occasionally picked up to watch a YouTube video or play an Apple Arcade game I’d abandon after ten minutes. It felt like an expensive device without a real purpose. I already had my iPhone for quick tasks and my MacBook for actual work. The iPad existed somewhere in between, not quite necessary for anything.
Then I turned it into a Kindle. And everything changed.
I went from reading zero books while traveling to finishing 14 books in 2025. Not because I suddenly developed superhuman discipline. But because I removed every reason my brain had to do something else.
Here’s exactly how I set it up.
The Problem With Reading on an iPad
The iPad is too good at everything. That’s the problem.
You…
My iPad was collecting dust.
I’m serious. It sat on my desk for months, occasionally picked up to watch a YouTube video or play an Apple Arcade game I’d abandon after ten minutes. It felt like an expensive device without a real purpose. I already had my iPhone for quick tasks and my MacBook for actual work. The iPad existed somewhere in between, not quite necessary for anything.
Then I turned it into a Kindle. And everything changed.
I went from reading zero books while traveling to finishing 14 books in 2025. Not because I suddenly developed superhuman discipline. But because I removed every reason my brain had to do something else.
Here’s exactly how I set it up.
The Problem With Reading on an iPad
The iPad is too good at everything. That’s the problem.
You open it intending to read, and there’s Netflix. There’s YouTube. There’s that game you downloaded last week. There are notifications sliding in from Slack, WhatsApp, and email. The colorful icons practically beg for attention.