Do you want to be a reader? Do you find that challenging? Is your ability to focus on long-form text (or long-form anything) total shit because of years of social media use?
Don’t let that shit stop you. Get mad! They stole your attention span! Steal it back!
Here are my simple steps create a reading practice. I prefer the term “practice” to the term “habit.” Habits can be bad. Have a practice connotes intention. This is just an example. Come up with your own way of doing this. Whatever works.
- Take all social media off your cellphone. Or at least put the cellphone in another room while you are reading. Even if you are only reading for 5 minutes at first, the cell phone is your enemy. Actually, if you can, just destroy your cell phone. More on that in a coming post. Full disclosure. I have not destroyed mine. It’s a goal.
- Find ONE BOOK you want to read. Something of interest to you. Fiction or non-fiction. Are you interested in soccer? Find a book about soccer that appeals to you. Do you like Star Wars. Buy a Star Wars novel. The goal here is to read for enjoyment. People continue doing stuff that they enjoy.
- Keep the book with you. Take it to work. Take it to the doctor’s office. Take it on vacation.
- When you have a few minutes, read. Don’t worry that you will not finish a chapter and thus not remember what was going on. You can always skim the last page or two you’ve read and you’ll remember.
- Set some small, realistic daily goal. For me it is reading 5% of a novel every day. For you it might be “read page every day” because you aren’t used to reading and you need to rebuild your ability to concentrate.
- Do that goal. Even if it is “I will read, uninterrupted and without checking my goddamn phone, for 5 minutes. Or 1 minute.” If you do this, you will slowly improve your ability to focus and concentrate and immerse yourself in the text.
- While you are reading that book, find another one to read, and start it immediately after you finish the current one. You don’t need a massive pile of “to be read” books that demoralizes you when you see it. You need one book that you are looking forward to.
I’d also say just keep a list of what you have read. Maybe create a journal or a blog where you just note that you finished a book. Celebrate it.