If you’re anything like me, you really loved reading up until high school where your love for it was replaced by a hatred for the endless required reading you just didn’t vibe with. Getting back into reading can be difficult because it’s such a time consuming task, but these are 5 helpful steps to get back into it without overwhelming yourself.
1. Limit Your Time Online
Adults spend on average between 4.5-6.5 hours a day on their phone. This doesn’t even include time spent on streaming services or on your computer. If you were to dedicate all that time spent doom scrolling on social media to reading, you could finish a 200-300 page book everyday. Now, that doesn’t mean that in order to read more you need to go on a phone detox, but getting your screen time in check can give you more time to actually sit down and read.
2. Read Shorter Books
While jumping right in to Murakami’s 1Q84 or Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive might be tempting, these books are so long it can burn you out before you’ve rebuilt your reading attention span. When beginning to read again, it’s best to start small. Start with shorter reads around the 150-250 page mark. Our attention span is like a muscle. The only way to train it back up is to start with lighter weights. Some suggestions on where to start below:
Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men comes in at around a 107 total page count. Where it lacks in pages it makes up for in substance.
Set in Great Depression era California, it tells the story of a traveling pair- George and Lennie- and their journey to build a better life.
Orwell’s Animal Farm is 144 pages long and again, where it lacks in page count, it makes up for in substance.
The pigs lead a revolution of all the farm animals against their human oppressors and chaos ensues.
These are both excellent books and great places to begin to rediscover your love of reading again.
3. Schedule Your Reading Time
Building habits take consistency. Just like we’re starting small with the size of the novel, it’s best to start small with the amount of time you set aside for reading at first. Aiming for 30 uninterrupted minutes 3-5 times a week is a good starting goal.
4. Consider Listening to Audiobooks
Sometimes we’re absolutely just too busy to dedicate time to reading. That’s the great thing about audiobooks, you can listen to one while doing something else. You can listen while cleaning around your house, during the commute to work or even while working. Audible usually has some kind of free trial available for new members as well if you’re not entirely sure yet audiobooks are for you.
5. Consider Reading Comics or Graphic Novels
People can tend to get uppity about whether or not reading a comic or graphic novel counts as reading. Spoiler alert: it does. They can also serve as a fantastic way to get back into reading, especially when you’re replacing a phone habit. Every social media site we typically interact with on our phones is incredibly visual, as are comics and graphic novels, so you’ll still get that dopamine hit of seeing an image. Jumping straight into a novel can be a bit overwhelming after not having done it for a while, so these are a great middle ground. Some recommendations below:
Watchmen takes place in 1980s New York City where a murder of Edward Blake, aka The Comedian, has been discovered by Rorschach who believes he’s uncovered a larger plot against costumed vigilantes.
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is a 2 volume graphic novel about a 10 year old girl investigating the murder of her upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg. The story is told through her diary entries and is filled with gorgeous art.
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