Building a sustainable reading habit in the digital times

Disclaimer: Dear Reader, this article is a testimony of how I was able to build a reading habit. This said, its also important to acknowledge that what works for me may not necessarily work for you. However, I have gone ahead detailed the measures I took to ensure a consistent reading habit with the hope that if adopted diligently it may work for you too. Hope it helps :)

Humans have transitioned from Social beings to Social “Media” Beings.

In the haste of being the Roman in Rome, we have pushed aside a few precious habits that connects us to who we are. Technology has revolutionized the way we live and that's incredible. However, things begin to change when we lose control over the reigns. Are we to be blamed? - Well, not entirely.

In fact we are just a successful representation of a brilliant business model that runs on an intangible commodity - Our attention. The race to monetize attention has produced some unexpected consequences like lesser attention span and focus. But these business models are so brilliant that the unwanted repercussions are sent back on a feedback loop and tailored to serve you better.

As Catherine Price, succinctly puts it in her book [How to breakup with your phone]:

“Unfortunately, THE WORSE our focus gets , the more valuable we become.”

Given the cautious premise, it goes without saying that our reading process have been as a result altered to the point that we don't move our eyes sideways now, as it is conveniently accustomed to the scrolling fashion(top-down).

An excerpt from an article on Is the Rise in Technology causing a decline in our Reading habits states a feedback given by Sullivan who wishes to get back to reading -

Sullivan has tried and failed reading books and states that when he reads “After a couple of pages, my fingers twitched for a keyboard.” Reinforcing the difficulty many people encounter due to their dependence on online engagement"

So how do we ensure we maintain a good balance and get back to reading. Well, Keep reading to find out -

Starting small and bringing out the child in you

We often forget that reading is not just to consume knowledge rather it's a joyous process of reading stories. ( a source of entertainment that's on the precipice of its oblivion.)

We all were once children, who got thrilled to read stories (remember those Agathe Christie, Harry potter, Jeffrey Archer and the Tin-Tin comics, oh don't forget the Goosebumps series) and devoured them like there was no tomorrow.

Stories capture our attention and activate our curiosity. Starting our reading journey from books that have enticing plots can help expose to reading habit. And as we keep exposing our self's to the reading process, our minds begins to auto adjust to the non-digital form of reading. This is us taking advantage of the Mere Exposure effect, which means the more you are exposed to something the more you like it.

However, in this process, like in any other process, we are bound to encounter few obstacles.

My downfall when it comes to reading is allowing my curiosity over a notification sound to disrupt my reading flow. I have caught myself inadvertently reaching out to the phone out of sheer habit to check for notifications. This mindless activity not only dissolves my focus but also pulls back my motivation.

This is where the second step is of help:

Tweaking the environment:

In our paths towards building a new habit ( in this case reading), we seldom focus on preparing the environment. While, your want to develop a new habit is sincere, the external forces can derelict your path.

Here is the good news, Your environment can be used as cue cards to point you towards your habit.

In my case, my morning coffee was my cue towards sitting down and reading for a dedicated amount of time before I get on with the other tasks.

In order to ensure the reading time goes uninterrupted, I made sure my WIFI was switched off on my phone, my markers, bookmarks and post it notes were at accessible positions and my family knew that it was my dedicated hour for the day.

Although this looks like a strict regimen, its crucial to set your environment in order to get your habit on autopilot. During the first few days, it may seem exhaustive, but as you proceed, you will notice your mind automatically switching to reading mode.

Setting CLEAR Intentions:

One day, you decide to get a book on "Intuitive eating" to help you through your eating habits. As it turns out, few days later, you have completely forgotten about the book and now have have no recollection of the last chapter you read. The only way in front of you is to - start from beginning.

When it comes to informative books, curiosity may not be something you can rely on. Given the absence of a plot, there is no linkage present.

I have noticed that as I start reading an informative book , more often than not, I end up leaving it half way and never come to finish it. The resistance keeps growing as you abandon the reading process. This is when we turn to discipline for rescue.

In Tim Challies words - "[In the digital era]Some people are learning that their love of reading was really just a love of filling their time. With so many fun and convenient ways to fill our time, we may need to regard reading as a discipline. We will need to reaffirm our belief in the value of reading and exercise self-control to ensure we make time for it"

Incases like these, its takes a tad bit effort to motivate your mind to keep reading.

This can be done by setting clear intentions. Lets understand what I mean by clear intentions-

Intention no. 1:

“ I will read the book every day for 30 min”.

While this may seem clear enough, your inner lawyer and well acclaimed procrastinator is probably mocking your naivety. There is a good chance that in your 24 hour period, your 30min never arrived.

Intention 2:

“ I will read the book in the morning along with my coffee from 8:00 - 8:30”

Now your inner lawyer has realized that you are a tough opponent. Using your coffee as an environmental cue was a brilliant game. So his arguing points are limited to derail you. However, you still have made it airtight though.

Intention 3:

“ I will start reading today Date: 28/03/2021. My reading time will be from 8:00-8:30 every morning along with my coffee. Given the pace, I should be able to complete the book in the span of 15 days that is on Date: 12/04/2021”

That's you saying Checkmate outright.

Eliminating ambiguity in your intentions is extremely pinnacle in deciding the adhesiveness of your habit. Any successful change requires translation of ambiguous goals into concrete behaviors.

Keeping Up the Momentum:

The internet has inadvertently trained our minds to new ways of reading. When we “read”, we essentially skim through the webpage, trying to grasp as much information as possible in a limited time frame ducking from the advertisements . This when applied to reading books, leads to a very distorted form of reading.

It is highly recommended that you switch to hard copies (or an dedicated medium for reading like kindle) rather than resorting to reading on your phone or tab.

Here is why :

“ While reading on your phone, every time a notification or ad pops up (however unrelated), our brains must make a split second decision about whether to click on it. These decisions are so frequent and tiny that we often don't even notice that they’re happening. But we can't make split second decisions and think deeply at the same time - the two acts use different and competing brain regions. Every decision no matter how tiny or subconscious, pulls our attention away from what we are reading. This in turn makes it harder to absorb the content of what we’re reading”

Source - How to Break Up with phone

Moreover, feeling the paper as we flip the pages activates a mind body connection. This said, it goes without saying that printed copies can be severely damaging to the environment. Hence borrowing and exchanging books from libraries can be a good alternative.

All said and done, I believe what makes a habit stick is when you thoroughly enjoy creating the habit. Eventually your mind craves to read a few lines as soon as you see the coffee brewing ( which is in my case) and how you can't wait to have your own "Me" time. It is also to keep appreciating your efforts as that's what keeps your momentum going.

Happy Reading folks!

(PS. If you wish to start Reading Now and are looking to purchase a book but don't know where to begin, I have taken the liberty to curate a list of books starting from my favorite self help books to thriller series . Go on! Explore them)

Yes! I would like to explore!