Background:
I’m in my 40s and I’ve always sort of beaten myself up over not being an avid reader. I go through phases where I read a bunch, sometimes I’ll finish a book in a months time, sometimes start a book and forget it, sometimes it seems like I go literally years without really getting into any book at all. But I still accumulate them.
Because of how important reading is and now I “fail” to prioritize it, I’ve always found myself in a poor relationship with reading. I feel this artificial pressure to read things that are only important and will somehow make me more useful. I feel this artificial pressure to start one book and read it to the end. I feel this artificial pressure to become a changed person by fully investing every bit of info from every book.
I’ve been learning that these pressures are untenable.
I’ve also noticed that I partake in all kinds of things without the same expectations: tv shows, games, podcasts, media and news outlets, social media, etc.
Right now I have 6 books that I am actively reading, and I am trying to remember that it’s for enjoyment and not some high level goal. Someone told me if I read 10 pages a day I would finish about 10 books a year. I found this so encouraging.
Taking the pressure off of reading has really helped me get more productive at reading, and I think it will help me convert my habit into a truly fruitful one.
So now I ask you:
- What are your reading habits like?
- What do you like to read?
- What kind of stage of life are you in, and how does that affect it?
- Have you made any changes, positive or negative, to your reading habits?
- What else?
What are your reading habits like?
Reading for work related issue and for leisure daily from waking up to going to bed. light article reading to complex peer reviewed journals. That said, I let my mind guide what i am inerested in reading for the day or week. I usuallu would not force myself else everything gets fuzzy and it becomes a waste of time.
What do you like to read?
Autobiographies of people that cut across all walks of life across the globe. Politics, law, finance, Medicine and Agriculture. Amazon cart is constantly getting added to.
Journals like Lancet, AVJMR, etc. Once in a while if a caselaw in a country interest me i source it out to review. Daily journal or Justia can be helpful for US related ones.
What kind of stage of life are you in, and how does that affect it?
Mid-30’s, same leaning for books or materials of interest to read since i was a teenager. Not a fan of fiction since Harry potter and Otherworld series.
Have you made any changes, positive or negative, to your reading habits?
I have included audiovisuals to my repository . I listen to Podcast (Wondery Plus is the Goat!!!) and documentaries (History Channel) if the material i am trying to read or study is in that form.