We should be reading more…
We live in a globalized world where before pandemic the world would never stop, we would be on a constant chase for something, a constant run and fight for survival, for more, for better. We live in a world where digital dementia has become a thing, our kids develop ADHD or ADD earlier than ever before, we get bored faster than ever before, we don’t know how to form connections with people anymore and we are continuously hooked to our devices. Nowadays, likes and followers matter more than human interactions and although the internet is filled with ‘content creators’ there is not much content out there. If we stop and analyse what we see on our social media feeds we will all realise that nobody’s showing us anything meaningful. It’s all about consumerism and promoting all kinds of stuff that we don’t actually need. We are what we do and this is kind of sad nowadays considering that we don’t do too much these days. Pandemic and lockdowns aside.
If you ever heard of neuroplasticity you would know that this is the brain’s ability to adapt. Whenever we learn something new, we create new connections between our neurons. Our brains rewire to adapt to new circumstances and this happens on a daily basis, whether we realise this or not. This can happen conscious (by choosing what we feed to our brains) or unconscious (by remaining hooked to our devices and distractions).
‘It (neuroplasticity) refers to the physiological changes in the brain that happen as the result of our interactions with our environment. From the time the brain begins to develop in utero until the day we die, the connections among the cells in our brains reorganize in response to our changing needs. This dynamic process allows us to learn from and adapt to different experiences”. Celeste Campbell (n.d.).
I live in the UK and it was 2 months into the first lockdown when after finishing repainting my kitchen cabinets (yes, by myself) and watching all the new series on Netflix and Amazon I came to realise I can’t concentrate anymore. Even whilst watching something I was still reaching out for my phone from time to time and scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, most of the times without even realising I was doing this. I was reading a McKinsey article about how the current crisis may impact the economy and how businesses could recover from it and I noticed I couldn’t concentrate for more than 2 minutes, although that article was very good. This was my trigger point and it was quite scary. I’m only 30 and I can’t concentrate to read a 10 minutes article?
That’s when I remembered I just got a new Kindle for Christmas last year so I went to check what books I had on it (if any). There I found this book called Limitless by Jim Kwik which I probably purchased a while ago, and I can definitely say it changed my life. That’s where I first read in more detail about digital dementia and I realised that my attention deficit isn’t something that happened over night, but rather over the course of many years. That’s also where I remembered about neuroplasticity and how important it is what we pour into our brains. I’m a finance professional and I really don’t want my brain to stop functioning too soon. Also from there I learned how to concentrate better, how to comprehend more and how to read faster (with better comprehension too).
I always enjoyed reading, but somehow I never made it a daily habit until recently. In the past I couldn’t read more books simultaneously and this worked to my disadvantage. If I’d start a book and didn’t like it, I would force myself to finish it and that sometimes took months, which is also the reason I didn’t read too much from my 20s to my 30s. Looking back, I so wish this was different and I would’ve just found the right books for me all the time. I am now in a place where I read 2 books at the same time and also listen to audio books in between. My current reading list is all over the place, but I mostly read business books, ‘growth’ books as I like to call them, some classics and some fiction now and then, but even so I manage to read one book a week (sometimes more) so for me this is a great achievement. The more I read the more I discover what I like to read. We get hooked to social media because with every scroll our body releases dopamine and this makes us feel good, but it isn’t necessarily in a good way. The same goes for books. The moment you discover books that you enjoy reading, whenever you will read them your body will release dopamine and you’ll be happy. But please don’t force yourself into finishing reading something you don’t like. It’s perfectly fine to not finish a book and start something else. You may return to it in time, but if one book holds you from reading you’re missing out on so much already.
I’m not sure what’s the reason why we don’t read anymore. For some of us it may be that we didn’t see this in our families (it’s not a secret anymore that kids do what parents do, not what we tell them to do), or we didn’t find the books that would keep us hooked to reading or we don’t have the time (which in my opinion this is the biggest lie we’re living now, but it’s a topic for another story)… Why don’t we read anymore? I know a few people who are reading on a daily basis, but I could count them on one hand, whilst the rest of us are simply not doing it. Are we too fed up from school that when we grow up we say ‘never again’? Are we really not realizing that reading gives us new horizons with every book we finish? I’m not saying we should read 1 hour per day, but I believe 15–20 minutes is achievable for everyone. And yet, we’re spending 1–2 hours on average per day on social media and we say we don’t have time to read… Like many other things we want to do or should do but it’s just easier to procrastinate or cave to other things first, reading is probably one of them.
The reason I wrote this article is because I have a big desire to inspire people. I believe in helping each other and I believe that we can grow together. I believe this world has become so superficial that we need more quality content and more quality information. So I started posting on my Instagram account what I was reading and some commentary about the books when I finished them. Since I don’t want to go public with my personal life (and my account is private), but I do want to reach as many people as possible with my posts, this afternoon I created a separate Instagram account called @reading_ideas. I also remembered about another dream of mine: to write. So here I am, writing my first article ever (and possibly the only one) on Medium.
If you are like me and want to make reading a daily habit but don’t know how to do this, I would suggest to start with the following books (but please bear in mind that reading tastes are personal and if I was in a point where these books clicked for me, it may not necessarily be the case for you):
- Limitless by Jim Kwik — this book changed my life. The brain is probably the most important organ in our body and yet so much of what we do or don’t do affects it’s capability. This book covers a lot of what there is to know about how we can remember things easier, read faster, comprehend more and generally develop a quick brain.
- Atomic Habits by James Clear — In case you’re wondering when is the best time for you to read, this book might help you. I just finished it and I must say I already have two new habits into my daily routine. It’s also a very easy lecture.
- The 5am club by Robin Sharma — I strongly recommend the Audio book for this one. The story is utterly long and not too great, but the main idea and motivation inside the book is quite good. This may be very useful for all the people who never have time for anything — waking up earlier is not very hard to do and it can give you that extra time you desperately need.
I hope this article will trigger your desire to read (or read more) and if it does, make sure you pay it forward.
Happy reading!
A.
