Tap into more reading with seven simple steps from Go With Me Magazine
Reading allows us to explore new places, travel to new places and meet new people from anywhere in the world. Distractions are nothing new, and no doubt even our best loved writers of yesterday were troubled by the occasional background noise.
But the digitally accelerated world makes it ever more difficult to keep up reading and nourish the ravenous imagination. It can be hard to pay attention to a conversation with Mr. Darcy while the person on the bus next to you is talking loudly on the phone. The team at Go With Me have compiled a list of tips to help you step back, slow down, and shut this world out for a while.
Here are seven ways to feel immersed:
1. Find time and read daily
Your favorite Netflix show may be 30 minutes long and, temptress as it is, will lull you to watch again by playing another automatically. But switching off (for now) and reading every day for only 30 minutes, whether in your lunch break or before bed, will be enough to create the habit of reading every day. Ezra Pound wrote:
‘And the days are not full enough
And the nights are not full enough
And life slips by like a field mouse
Not shaking the grass.’
The days might be not long enough but optimizing time into chunks can help you squeeze more out of each one and establish productive habits.
2. Pick up a favourite author
Everyone has their favorite authors and genres of books. Picking up one author and going through the books he or she has written will help you get into the habit of reading more and a sense of accomplishment is inevitable when working through an oeuvre. Paulo Coelho’s, The Alchemist, is a joy, and a perfect place to start.
3. Play background music
Reading, studying or working on a background music is so helpful to get things done during the day and can increase your productivity. Whether nature sounds or Mozart is your thing, music often says what words can’t and the combination will make the imagination soar.
Music is meant to boost your brain functions and keeps it stimulated. Listening to music can help you remember easier any new information that comes with a book. Listening to a favorite song several times can give you motivation to spend more time reading.
4. Be present
The best thing you can do for yourself, if you want to finish a particular book within a few days, is to turn off any distractions. Social media can be a big distraction and you can spend so much pointless time on reading other people’s posts that simply do not serve you in a positive and productive way.
If you can spend that much time on your phone, why not take a book and learn something useful for your personal development? It is a lot easier to not pick up a book, and that’s why not every one does it. Really committing to something and immersing yourself is a challenge, but that is what makes the reward so sweet.
5. Listen to audiobooks
In his video Alex Ikonn, an entrepreneur and co-founder of several businesses, discusses the topic of how some people are readers and some are listeners and why reading can be so difficult and time consuming. Alex explains that some people can’t concentrate fully when they read a book and that is simply because some people are born listeners instead of readers.
Have you been in a situation when you can pay full attention to someone reading from a book or telling a story and you manage to understand and remember it much better when you basically listened to it? That is absolutely normal and that is why there are so many audio books out there which you can listen to while you are driving or travelling, cooking or washing the dishes.
And the best thing about listening to books is that you can do it while you are doing something else. Sometimes burying your head in a book on the train means that shocking yellow rapeseed fields can blur across the sky, missed. With an audio book, listen without missing.
6. Make a reading list
Creating a reading list can get you into the habit of reading more and more books. By picking up some books you want to read next, you will put the effort to find them and actually start reading them. Tick them off and keep a reading journal. One good way to do that is to write a plan of all the books you want to read for the next few months and place it somewhere you can see it daily.
7. Sign up at your local library
Create an account for yourself at your local library and do some research if they have what you are looking for. Many public libraries have a variety of books on different topics. Reading doesn’t have to be expensive.
You can also try to spend time reading in the library as it is one of the best places to be away from outside noise and distractions. In that way you can create some time for yourself and simply enjoy your own company while you get into the habit of reading more!
What was the last book you read?
