Read

There's enough evidence to suggest that reading reduces stress, combats Alzheimer’s and Dementia, helps you sleep, decreases loneliness and social isolation, and helps with empathy, and improves and lengthens your life.

Why wouldn't you read? Bet you can guess, yup, the number one reason (excuse?) given is, "Not enough time."

It's true that we live in an information / disinformation / propaganda rich world. We are surrounded by words, some are spoken but mostly we are a reading species and the World Wide Web is almost exclusively word driven.

And yet we say we don't read, by which I suspect we mean books, or long reads. Now, before we go on, by "books" I don't mean physical paper things, anything that gets you to that story or written content is fine. I am a fairly big reader but nowadays it's almost always through a screen, whatever gets me to that world someone has created - having said that, there is nothing like the smell of a new book!

There's a number of other reasons often listed for why we don't read as much, info overload, expense, not knowing where to start, not making it a goal or a thing in one's life. Whatever the reason given though it seems we all feel sad about not reading.

There's many things in life that we used to do but don't anymore, Wales used to play good rugby but they don't anymore and that doesn't make us sa--- ok, bad example. Well, you come up with the example, but my point being is it's a universal sadness we feel as we don't read as much as we'd like.

Odd, eh.

My advice / approach is to turn off the tech - turn off the TV, turn off / silence / DND the phones, and pick up that book. Don't do it too late at night when you'll feel like you're cramming it in before you sleep, it'll become like work and no-one wants that.

Make it the thing you do when you'd normally do something else. Maybe every other day / evening you lose yourself in that book instead of doom scrolling.

Oh, one thing I've noticed is that before I open the book and get back into it I can feel like it's a hardship. It takes energy to stop doing that and start doing something else, and even though it's a tiny moment it can be the hurdle you can't get over. Force yourself, turn that off and start reading instead.

My last piece of advice for those reading - you can stop a particular book at any point. Just because you borrowed it from the library thinking it was gonna be the best thing ever and it turns out to be absolutely totally not your thing doesn't mean you have to slog through it. Stop, close the book, chalk it up to experience, and move on to the next one.

Libraries, best thing are the best thing humans ever invented. Use the Libby app for access to your local library's electronic bookshelves.

Sources:

• 7 Proven Reasons Why Reading is Good for You
• 10 benefits of reading
• Reading fiction may have more benefits than you realise, particularly in the workplace
• 5 Ways Reading Can Change Your Life
• 10 Brain Reasons To Make Reading a Habit
• 50% of Australians want to read more – but don’t. So what is stopping us?

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