I used to spend almost three hours a day commuting, and I read a lot during that time, from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to literary masterpieces like Anna Karenina. Those hours felt like a gift: time to dive into books and really focus.
But once life changed, work, errands, chores, meetings, and the constant little demands that steal your attention—reading started slipping away. The time was there, but it was scattered and easy to lose. I wanted something simple and quiet to help me carve out those pockets of focus and stay consistent. That’s how Pagely was born.
I didn’t set out to reinvent reading apps. I just wanted a clean, distraction-free way to track my reading habits. No endless catalogs, no gamification gimmicks, no unnecessary features that look cool in screenshots but don’t matter in real life. Just a way to open the app, add my progress, and stay consistent. That’s it.
The Problem I Wanted to Solve
Most people don’t struggle with starting a book. They struggle with showing up every day. I noticed that the existing apps either:
- Focused too much on cataloging your entire library (which honestly I don’t care about),
- Or they overloaded you with badges, stats, and social features that made reading feel like a competition.
And then there’s the real villain: social media.
Let’s be honest, our attention is constantly being stolen. Every notification, every scroll, every short video makes it harder to sit down and focus on a book. I’ve felt it myself: I open Instagram “just for a minute” and suddenly thirty minutes are gone. Reading doesn’t stand a chance unless you intentionally protect that time.
That’s why I wanted Pagely to be the opposite of social media. No infinite feeds, no dopamine loops, no endless scrolling. Just you, your book, and a small nudge to keep going.
The Pagely Approach
Pagely is designed around three principles:
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Simplicity first
You open it, add your pages, and get back to reading. No fluff. -
Visual progress
Seeing how your pages stack up over time is powerful. It makes your progress real, and that’s often all the motivation you need. -
Accountability, powered by people
This is the secret sauce. Pagely isn’t just about you. It lets you create small groups (pods) with friends, so you’re not reading alone. And here’s the magic: the nudges don’t just come from the app, they come from other people.
When you skip a day, your group notices. When you show up, they celebrate it. That subtle social pressure and encouragement is often the difference between “I’ll do it tomorrow” and “I’ll do it now.”
Why It Matters
Habits are built in small steps. Reading 10 pages today doesn’t sound like much, but stack it up across weeks and months, and suddenly you’ve finished more books than you thought possible. That’s the power of showing up every day, and that’s the heart of Pagely.
In a world designed to steal your attention, Pagely is designed to give it back to you. And the best part? You don’t have to do it alone.
What’s Next
This is just the beginning. My vision is to keep Pagely minimal but meaningful. Every feature has to earn its place. If it doesn’t help you read more consistently, it doesn’t belong in the app.
So, if you’ve ever struggled to stay consistent with reading (like I did), give Pagely a try. It’s built with love, with focus, and with a deep respect for your time.
👉 Check out the landing page and see for yourself.
At the end of the day, Pagely is not just another productivity app. It’s a tool to help you build the habit you already know will make your life better. And honestly? That’s all I wanted for myself too.