Sister Amna4, if you don't mind me sharing something important here. Today, Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed gave a very beneficial talk about preparing for Ramadan. Here is a little summary (my notes) from that talk as it relates to your OP: It is better to get into habits we can sustain in the long-term (i.e. even after Ramadan is over). It is better to start smaller and gradually increase rather than pushing ourselves to a point where we may burn-out or abandon a habit. This goes for all forms of ibaadat - reciting the Qur'an, praying, making du'aa, following sunnah, etc. During Ramadan, insha'Allah, we will also get a chance to experience a 'surge' but this does not necessarily have to be from day 1 (especially if we are not in the habit of doing something). We can build up and then have that surge at some point during Ramadan. It will be different for everyone since we are all at different places in our deeni development - some may already be in the habit of reciting certain amounts of Qur'an and they will increase it by an amount that works for them, others may not be in the habit and so they will start with smaller amounts... anything but 'zero' - it is a time to abandon doing nothing and insha'Allah a time to make the intention to do things we can sustain throughout the year - so that we can re-visit how far we've come from this coming ramadan to the next insha'Allah and increase at that time again. In addition to making an intention, try to pray for consistency after every salaah and after recitation of the Qur'an - ask Allah (SWT) to accept your salaah/recitation and to give you consistency insha'Allah. So, it might be beneficial to start by reciting less and increasing over time with the intention to finish the Qur'an by the end of the month. That said, don't be discouraged if you can't finish by the end of the month... just keep going insha'Allah. Also, Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed recommends setting aside some time after Fajr prayer to recite Qur'an - not only is it more appropriate not to rush back into bed but to spend some time 'lingering' in more worship, it is also a time when we've just entered into the fast for the day so we are likely sharper and maybe have a bit more energy for ibadaat, but also it is the earliest opportunity in the day to erase any zeros we may have and earn multiplied rewards insha'Allah. [Edit: I apologize if I've made any errors in my notes. Those who were listening to the talk, please do correct me if I have erred.]