im interested in the books i own, i own both physical books and a kindle and DO like reading when i have actually started, yet the actual starting i struggle with immensely? why could that be and how can i counteract this? do i not like reading? idk how to explain it to myself as i cant put the book down after i get into it but literally the next day ill be struggling to pick it up again lol. at the same time im switching from one book to another because i want to read them all. anyone else deal with this?
by -raito_
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Since a post without a recommendation gets removed I’ll say The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal.
The biggest thing is building a habit of starting. Schedule a time daily with an alarm (or on a fixed lesser routine) to sit down and read for 5 minutes. Do that 5 minutes consistently. Sometimes that’s all you’ll do; sometimes you’ll do more. But the habit will start to be formed and it will get easier to start over time. Don’t worry about how much progress you make. Just focus on building the habit. You’ll make progress.
Struggling to start is a common problem no matter what you are talking about – reading, writing, new shows, exercise, etc. Our attention-addled brains struggle more with task switching than they used to. I have been reading daily for like 42 years or so, and I still struggle to pick up the book. It’s just that I am fully aware of my tendencies, so I know to just do it. Reading or exercise, I tell myself “10 minutes, I can quit if I’m not feeling it.” Guess how often I quit? Never. I keep my books near me so I don’t have to go hunt them down (same with the stuff I need for the gym).
I tell myself “read just one chapter” (or X pages if the chapters are super long). Usually after that I’m set and want to read a little more, but if not, I put it down. I read so much more by allowing myself to read things in small chunks and not putting pressure on it. It’s also ok to not finish a book sometimes, to switch books, to read multiple books at once! There are SO MANY books out there, no one will ever be able to read them all, pick what speaks to you! It’s all good.
Yes, I have dealt with this before. What helped me is not taking reading “too seriously.” I felt like I had to sit down and give it my absolute max attention. I was put off by the pressure I was putting on myself to make sure I finished the chapter to the end, and never ever put the book I’m reading down and grab another.
What helped me was realizing that not every thing you read will be worthy of your absolute best efforts. Now, I will mix between a couple of books at the same time. That way if something isn’t interesting atm I can just switch it up and go a different direction which ultimately allowed me to read more books faster. Also stopped waiting for the right time to read. I think its important to understand that reading is like a muscle. The more you do it the better you get at it. There may be times when you don’t wanna reaad. Just do it anyways, if you can’t get through it then just toss in a bookmark wherever you are and try again later. Start small. Progress is progress even if it happens 10 minutes at a time!
I hope this helps, it worked for me. I will say too that at some point, when you get some practice in, it becomes more fun. You reach a threshold where the size of books wont bother you much. It becomes so much less of a chore.
Reading a book is just reading one page a couple hundred times
Cheers!
Good luck!