Reading Practices

Been thinking a lot about my reading practice, and how to really “be a reader.” Here are some ideas I’ve been obsessing about. Obviously this is not an exhaustive list. Just some things I’ve been considering.

…but please, understand, this is not me urging anyone to read. If you don’t want to be a reader, or don’t care, or whatever, then don’t. You can still be a good person.

Maybe later this week I’ll write about why I read.

Here we go.

Your Self Image

I hear people say “I’m not a reader”. I think it is important not to visualize yourself as something you don’t want to be. If you think “I’m not a reader” that is not a great motivation.

Now, just saying “I’m a reader” doesn’t make you a reader, obviously, so I’m not saying you should do that. I’m saying if you would like to be a reader, don’t reinforce the opposite in your head — your self image.

Time

People often say they don’t have time. That’s almost a good excuse. The truth, however, is that nearly everyone can spend 30 minutes a day reading. If you spend 30 minutes a day reading, that’s 10,950 minutes a year. 182.5 hours per year. If it takes you, on average, 10 hours to read an entire book (I’m assuming books of reasonable length) that is 18 books per year.

Gonna be a bit harsh here. Would you rather spend that 182.5 hours of your precious and limited time on Earth dicking around on your phone? Gonna guess the answer is no.

Concentration

I know many of us feel like we have lost our ability to concentrate and focus on something like reading. Let’s face it, our society doesn’t exactly encourage focus and concentration.

Here’s the truth though. Most of us still can concentrate for a few minutes. You may need to redevelop your ability to focus on one task, but you can do it. You just need to actually do it. It’s usually a matter of priorities. So honestly, if you want to read a book, or books, or become a regular reader, you just have to start at some point, even if it is 5 minutes a day.

What does it even mean to “be a reader”?

I think it is pretty simple. It means you read books regularly. Probably almost very day. Look there will be days when you are sick or whatever and you don’t get any reading. But in general, I think to be a reader, obviously, you must actually read.

It doesn’t mean you read 100 books a year. Or 50. Or 20. It means you regularly read books, probably because you enjoy it.

Why would you even want to be a reader?

That’s a big question. For that matter, why do anything? In a relatively short time (on the cosmic time scale) we’all all be dead, the books will all be gone, etc etc…

So, I’m not going to answer that question. This stuff is for people who already want to be a reader.