Your top tips on how to get back into reading (after phone addiction)

Have a go at Lee Child. They're proper page turners. I am addicted to doom-scrolling but I can read a Reacher in two days. Conversely I have been trudging through Wolf Hall for weeks and weeks.

Audiobooks would be a good way back in. Stephen Fry has recorded several Sherlock Holmes books, Wilde's Dorian Gray, most of P. G. Wodehouse and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Can't recommend him highly enough. Personally, my all time favourite audiobooks are Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall, Tolkien's The Hobbit, and Lewis' Narnia books. If you've got a bath, buy some relaxing bath foam and lay back and listen – 100% bliss.

Also, give up TV. It's like giving up alcohol – you can't believe it's possible, then you try and regret not doing it earlier. Best thing I ever did was swap newspapers and TV for books. I hoped it would reduce my anxiety and depression, and boy did it work.

I go bed every night just kindle stopped my phone time in the night a while ago and now back into reading and thoroughly enjoy it. Won't mention how many times my kindle lands on the floor with a thud as it falls off the bed when I fall asleep reading it lol 😉

I would do lots of prep that makes it nicer or easier to read. I would consider:
Setting insights on phone to see how much time I'm spending on Insta/social media (SM) > then aim to reduce it each day
Sit & think about what you're actually doing on your phone. Do you get much from doom scrolling? Give yourself x2 30 min slots per day on your phone & see how you feel.
If the TV distracts you, only turn it on to watch specific programs.

Consider the type of books you like - what themes/genres do you like?
Look up recommendations for books & authors.
Think about where you want to read. Can you set up a lovely, cosy reading corner with a nice chair & soft blanket. Make it a nice experience that you really look forward to. Make a nice coffee/tea in your favourite cup/mug & light a candle. Create a great environment to read in. It will make you want to do it more.
If you have kids/distractions, plan to read when the house is quiet. I wake early & read between 5-6am.
Buy a book & plan to just read 10 pages per day. If you want to go past the 10 pages, then great - keep going. We need to train the brain to focus on concentrating. The more we do it, the better the brain becomes at it. It stops being a struggle to read & becomes difficult to stop reading!
Good luck & let us know how you get on.

Audiobooks!! I put them on while cleaning and pottering. I find I can't browse my phone while listening as it's too distracting too

I've started with deleting social media from my phone. Mumsnet isn't as addictive but I spend more time here without the socials. WhatsApp is a problem as I'm in a few groups so silence that where possible. I'm speaking from past experience as I am trying to get back into it myself. My baby is 11 months and for 11 months I've not read and made excuses whilst going down a smart phone hole and feeling crap about it... the year before I made a pact to do this and had my best reading year yet and felt really fulfilled and I want to get back there.

Good luck, Op I'm with you!

Don't forget that if you want inspiration you can find the 50 Book Challenge thread. 50 is an aspirational number not a compulsory one.

Thanks for starting this thread, op

Hey well done OP!
There's nothing better than finding a book that really grabs you so I hope you have that experience soon

I remember seeing a hypnosis session aimed at stopping scrolling. I think it was on YouTube (sorry for being vague). It might be an idea to focus on your mindset to help you break the habit.

This also might be a bit counterintuitive but I'm in Facebook groups for my preferred book genres. I find I'm always adding to my TBR list so always have something on the go.

I have kindle unlimited so I don't worry if I don't like a book, I just return it and find something new. I always try to read 70 pages before giving up but sometimes I just know when it's not for me so I return without guilt and crack on with a new one.

Good luck

This is really interesting. I have noticed that as an ex-avid book reader, I now have the attention span of a gnat. Often wondered whether it's linked to persistent scrolling and reading most things in tiny snippets. So sick of being on my phone!

Start with easy, plot driven stuff that makes you just want to squeeze in another chapter. American Dirt is a great suggestion, or Three Hours, or Magpie Lane. Once you're back in the habit of regular reading then it's far easier to get stuck into just about anything.

@stirling

I was a former avid reader with a Netflix and internet addiction.
I actually set myself a timed task of 1 hour per day, and I used a reading app. It didn't take too long for me to have a breakthrough and I ended up reading 200 books that year (largely due to COVID and lockdowns)

Thank you 😊

I joined a book club for this very reason. I thought it might force me to read again.

But no. I had to resort to getting audible and listening to it whilst doing other stuff. No concentration at all.

Promise yourself you will read 20 pages a day, it's a realistic amount and will help you get back into reading.

Buying a kindle (not app as you’re then on your phone) was a game changer for me. It does nothing but books so you’re not tempted to go down the rabbit hole of social media or whatever sucks you in. I love it, and you can change the typeface and size, look up words, bookmark, and even get recommendations for other books

@GeorgeorRuth for a real page turner you could try American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, or the Chronicles of St Mary's time travelling series by Jodi Taylor are good fun. Just One Damned Thing After Another is the first one.

Kindle and Amazon Prime, which gives you thousands of books for free. I've tried loads of books I'd never usually buy because they were free on my Kindle.

I also got one for my 8yo daughter and we sit together and read for 30-40mins every night at her bedtime. I do it to set an example to her but actually really enjoy the time too.

Phones and the Internet can really suck you in eh?? I'm a reader not a huge amount of books a year by any stretch but I would say 1 or 2 a month but I go through stages of not picking a book up for weeks and then getting annoyed at myself because I've not finished the book. Once I get started I'm fine.

I agree with previous comments of putting your phone in another room, taking a book anywhere where you can read a few pages rather than scrolling through social media etc. I have a regular once a week appointment straight from work. The place is just around the corner from work and I have 20/25 minutes between finishing work and my appointment so I've started taking my book or listening to an episode of a podcast.

It is sometimes hard but just allocate a number of pages or a chapter as a daily target.

I read stuff after I've seen the film if I'm going through a phase where I'm really struggling to concentrate. It helps that I already know the characters, key plot points and ending so if I lose focus I might miss a bit of description or something but nothing major.

-make time for reading e.g. half an hour in the morning rather than when you get into bed

• don't read on any device that connects to the internet!
• take a book with you everywhere so you can read at the bus stop rather than getting out your phone
• join a readalong on mumsnet. I read War and Peace this year - a chapter a day is very doable.

I ended up finding books which were about to be shown as a film/tv series and trying to ‘beat’ the release date so I could watch it once I’d finished reading it. I seem to be reading maybe trashier books than I used to but it’s got me reading again.