My goal as I head into the colder months is to reintroduce one of my favorite habits into my life: Reading. Growing up and throughout high school, I read everyday. When I had a few extra minutes, when I was bored or, for 20 minutes before going to bed every night, I would reach for a book. Since being in college though I have seen a shift. In these same situations I find myself reaching for my phone…
I didn’t see this as that big of an issue until one of my classes started talking about the effects of social media and screentime on development. We talked about mood, attention span, and sleep (all things that I have seen changes in). So this was when I decided to implement reading back into my life. It’s screen free, fun, relaxing, and has tons of other benefits.Â
There are a few ways that I am making sure that I am sticking to my goal. Number one, my roommate is doing it with me. I feel like I am more likely to meet my goal if I have someone keeping me accountable. This is also great because when we are sitting in our room and one of us says “I’m bored” we now have something we can do. Second, I am taking a trip to Barnes and Noble, which is one of my absolute favorite places to go. I’m going to grab myself a coffee, and shop around to find books that will get me excited about reading again.Â
If you were looking for a sign to reintroduce reading into your life, here it is. So grab a coffee, put on your favorite playlist, and pick up a new book.