As someone who had the pleasure of slowly wandering through books for much of the summer, and now finds herself stretched between getting ahead on dissertation reading and course texts, I’ve had to be more forceful with myself, often finding myself reading against the clock.
I use the word ‘more’ mostly in the quantity sense, but it’s important not to neglect the quality of reading – by that I mean the challenge of engaging with (for me, a wide range of) texts, and fundamentally, continuing to derive a lot of enjoyment from what sometimes seems a chore. These are some of the ways I’ve been getting better:
Reading multiple books at once
When I’m in the right headspace for it, reading two books simultaneously in one sitting, regularly switching between the two, works a charm. I’d say this is best when they either have some kind of common theme or are very different.
Changing locations
Kind of along the lines of the ‘Pomodoro method’ and taking breaks generally, I like to move around a bit whether this be from the dining table to my desk, in the seemingly never-ending Lidl evening queue, or on a short bus ride from the city. Maybe it’s a distraction from the need to read or gives me some kind of strange adrenaline to whip through some pages down Ilkeston Road. To me, something about the movement and change of setting helps my mind feel less restless. Bring your book out.
Setting timers or goals
It is one of those things in life; we don’t always have the allure of endless hours to sit with our books, gazing away every page or two. If I have a deadline to meet or just want to read more, I’ll often set a timer based on the remaining length of the text to ‘force’ myself into completion. Pairing this with apps like Flora and Forest really guilts you into getting the ‘work’ done – goodbye screen time!
Switching music off / ambient music
It’s so tempting to have your current favourite pop song on, but the sobering truth is, at least for me, I find it hard to lock in properly – there is a reason it doesn’t feel like work! Sometimes the indulgence feels deserved, but usually I find myself pressing pause, or putting on ‘study music’. As a chronic playlist maker, I have dedicated reading playlists that don’t have too much going on, but often find Spotify’s algorithmic stuff does the trick just fine.
Borrowing books from people
I’m not sure this one consistently works unless you have a time pressure to it or have more books you want to borrow (carrot), but to me it’s just a nice way to swap notes on books and try something you might otherwise not – the personal touch goes a long way…
My friend has started setting time constraints on my borrowing habits (not to say I follow them), but I know I can’t browse the rest of her shelf until I finish what I’m currently on.
Goodreads
The truth about reading in this day and age with the glow of a screen only inches away is that reading does feel like something to ‘get through’, and what better way to quantify it than setting a reading goal? Or simply logging books down and comparing it with your friends. Every little counts: when I’m really trying to find it in me to read, you’ll notice me logging even three pages down.
Like other rating/reviewing apps such as Letterboxd, the incentive of course is also to give your so valuable rating of a book and offer the world (that one friend that keeps up with your updates) a witty one-liner, or meandering paragraph ranging from existential and mildly pretentious, to verging on the personal, cringe side. It’s just so gratifying sometimes to see your friends add your books to their ‘To Read’ – influenced.
Reading with friends
When both me and my housemate are in a reading mood, this works (needless to say, often one of us leads the other astray in a conversation about literally anything). I would say the company makes reading seem less overwhelming especially in the hours of darkness upon us now, and the shared act of reading in relative silence with a cup of tea and biscuits is a form of quality time!
At the end of the day, reading should give you something unquantifiable; a book is so much more than a sum of the pages in your hand (or on your screen); just giving yourself the space and time to read is what really matters, so go and put that candle on and let yourself be romanced by a good book (caveat: this is genre dependent).
Often, I find books need to be journeyed with, and so while reading a book quickly may seem impressive and productive, it doesn’t have to be a race – think of how long someone spent writing what’s on the page! The Ralph Waldo Emerson quote really demonstrates the value of reading as a habit; ‘I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me’. I find the real weight of a book is walking around with its characters surrounding you, and letting it seep into your view of the world; in that way, living it.