Background:
I’m in my 40s and I’ve always sort of beaten myself up over not being an avid reader. I go through phases where I read a bunch, sometimes I’ll finish a book in a months time, sometimes start a book and forget it, sometimes it seems like I go literally years without really getting into any book at all. But I still accumulate them.
Because of how important reading is and now I “fail” to prioritize it, I’ve always found myself in a poor relationship with reading. I feel this artificial pressure to read things that are only important and will somehow make me more useful. I feel this artificial pressure to start one book and read it to the end. I feel this artificial pressure to become a changed person by fully investing every bit of info from every book.
I’ve been learning that these pressures are untenable.
I’ve also noticed that I partake in all kinds of things without the same expectations: tv shows, games, podcasts, media and news outlets, social media, etc.
Right now I have 6 books that I am actively reading, and I am trying to remember that it’s for enjoyment and not some high level goal. Someone told me if I read 10 pages a day I would finish about 10 books a year. I found this so encouraging.
Taking the pressure off of reading has really helped me get more productive at reading, and I think it will help me convert my habit into a truly fruitful one.
So now I ask you:
- What are your reading habits like?
- What do you like to read?
- What kind of stage of life are you in, and how does that affect it?
- Have you made any changes, positive or negative, to your reading habits?
- What else?
I don’t read much for entertainment. Never have. The focus on “reading is super important” is honestly pretty stupid in my opinion. 99% of the shit people are reading is probably trashier than any other form of entertainment but people act like its a mark of a superior intellect because they are flipping through pages of a book.
I also find the physical act of reading a book to be incredibly distracting from consuming the information therein. I read much more efficiently and enjoyably using digital platforms than I ever did with printed media. I’m in my mid 30’s and probably an outlier for my age group in regards to how I feel about books.
Its just another form of entertainment, should not be put on a pedestal, and is really just as valid (or invalid) as any other form of entertainment—if you don’t find yourself drawn to it then don’t beat yourself up about it. No one is going around belittling people for not watching enough movies during a given annum; why treat reading a book like it’s some great and noble act?