What can I do to get back into reading? Struggling a lot.

[KoreanBeauty]

I used to be a reader in my 20s. Never been the sort of person that reads several books a week all the time but I had got into a nice habit of reading about a book every week fairly regularly. Over the years, my habits have changed a lot. Work, relationships, social media, kids etc have totally changed my day to day life habits and now that I am in my early 40s, I barely ever read. It makes me quite sad. I still love books and continue to buy them with the intention of reading them. I usually start a few pages if for example I am on a plane but then always leave them and never finish them as life gets in the way. I am tired at night, my eyes hurt after a day looking at a screen and yet I seem to "prefer" scrolling social media before bed instead. I feel trapped in habits I am struggling to change and I don't like it.
Does anyone have any tips to help with this? Has it happened to you?

I had managed to break this cycle for a few months a couple of years ago - got a book I really liked and bought a few more from the same author and was getting into reading as a daily habit again. Not sure what happened but it didn't last :(

I’m the same, used to read loads 20 years ago but life kids and social media have wrecked it. I’ve gone down the audio book route now, I listen in the car, when I’m walking anywhere, and at night in bed.

Someone gave me a couple of books. They were short ones so not overwhelming but so easy to read. I read one yesterday on way to and home from work and finished it last night. Was so much more pleasant than endless scrolling.

It was Water by John Boyne. He also wrote the Boy in the striped pyjamas.

The is 100% about your phone. Leave it downstairs and get an alarm clock. Get into habit of reading at bedtimes which will be easy to do with no phone to look at.

Well first is you need to find a book you can't put down as a gateway drug. What kind do you like? I'm sure mumsnet can recommend something. Maybe a twisty thriller?

Other than that put phone away in the evening after supper as a routine. Get out the habit of scrolling.

For what it's worth books I'd consider good gateway books (ie: really easy to read / impossible to put down)...

• Anything by Stephen king - try the shining. Got a rep for being so scary but it's actually beautiful
• Anything by Gillian Flynn - she wrote gone girl but also has written others
• The rosie project
• The hunger games
• Anything by Robert Harris
• Anything by Ken Follett

Constant scrolling messes with your attention span so perhaps something that doesn't require you sustaining interest over many hours might be the answer.

Our library has a section of Fast Back books which have to be returned earlier than the norm. They're short books that you could read in an hour or so.

I love the short books. They're often all the story with no waffling on about the decor in the key character's camper van or the contents of the pie the hero eats before sweeping the heroine off into the sunset.

Absolutely put your phone down. Im an avid reader so need no excuse to pick up a book, but I still always put my phone on charge around 8.30 in the evening and then I read for a couple of hours before bed. You need to force yourself to put your phone out of reach for at least an hour.

I read every night in bed and now can't fall asleep until I have so it has become a habit.
I'm so tired though it is taking me weeks to finish a book because I'm literAlly falling asleep with my kindle in hand after a couple of pages.
You just need to be a strict with putting your phone away

To all those putting their phone away - do you use an alarm clock? I use my phone as an alarm in the morning so it naturally stays on my bedside table charging at night.
mindless scrolling is addictive and I hate myself for this.

I'm similar OP, huge reader in my 20s. I agree, find a really gripping book. I'm currently reading the Game of throne books and loving them.

Some ideas:

Switch your phone off for an hour in the evening and read then.

Read in the morning, at lunchtime, or right after work.

Set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes and just read for that long every day.

Go somewhere pleasant that you associate only with reading: library, cafe etc.

Join (or start) a book club.

Keep a list of what you have read to motivate yourself to read more.

Im the same but getting back into reading. Definitely put the phone down. Also, I set myself a goal to read for 15 minutes a day 3 times a week. Once I've picked the book up I'm away

Look on this board for shorter easy reading books.

I set out to solve the same problem last year. Got myself an analogue alarm clock, started dipping into my out of control To Read pile. Set myself 20 minutes every other day before bed and just kept going. By the end of the year I was reading 3 books a weekend (if not busy) and find myself preferring to read then scroll now.

I have a DAB radio in my room and love settling in with it on in rhe background while I pick up a book!

Trick is to treat it like a habit that you have to work at - like when you start getting fit, it takes more effort to start with but gets easier.

Also dimming all screens and using the blue light filter on your phone makes it much easier to put it down at night! Some people switch to greyscale too.

Whenever I hit a dry spell I get back into reading two ways:

1. sign up for audible for a few months to get back into the swing of slowly engaging with characters and stories
2. Order paperbacks biographies of people who interest you from the library.

Before you know where you are you’ll be all bookish and readerly again

That’s the thing, it feels like a chore currently. I want to know if I put work towards it it will get better! I need to look at clocks. For some reason I am scared they are not reliable and my alarm won’t go off🤣

Alarm clocks were around for a long time before mobile phones were invented. If you decide to get an alarm clock perhaps practice setting it on a day when you don't have to be up early

Yes! This was me. I started reading a little bit more (like 3 books a year), realised how much I loved it.

A colleague was saying they were doing the 50 books a year challenge and I remember thinking how on earth would you have time.

Then my screen usage pops up at like 5 hours a day.

So last year I downloaded the app 'good reads' and set myself the 50 books a year challenge.

I really struggled with concentration at first and found I didnt take in what I was reading etc but still did it.

I completed the 50 books a year challenge last year and am doing it again this year (I have 4 books left to read).

To do it i:
-Took my book pretty much everywhere with me (to work- would read if I was early to an appointment , or during screen breaks)

• when i find myself mindlessly scrolling i put the phone down and reach for the book.
• I read things like poetry-much quicker to read and opened my horizons.

-I read a couple of 'that's not my/little miss' books to top up the numbers -this year I've also added audio books to it (1 a month is included with prime and I listen on the Alexa while pottering around the house)

• I watch less crap telly-the things that take up so much time eg married at firstbsight etc

Honestly I feel so much better for doing it. I can call myself a reader. I have a few friends that read a fair bit too, we swap books and chat about books. Feels like a much better way to connect than gossip or talking about shot TV

The beginning bit was tough- when I had no attention span and was reading books and the info wasn't going in but get past that bit and you'll be flying x

Good luck

Read something short and easy going! An easy win is always a good start.

Just got a kindle after a 15 year hiatus from being a vociferous reader. I’ve just finished my second book in 4 days and can’t believe it. It’s like a stepping stone from screens. I simply didn’t have the stamina to read but this has been an absolute game changer!

I started reading a series of books which made me want to finish the book and onto the next. That kick started my love for reading again.

I agree that it is hard with phoned and social media though. When I have a precious hour or two when kids go to bed, I want to scroll first then read but end up scrolling for longer!

Would it work if you were accountable to someone?

For example, I'm in a library bookgroup. We meet once a month at the same time in the library. I always read the book (even if I don't enjoy it!) because I like going to the group and it's pointless if you haven't 'done the homework'.

Reading is a habit and the more you do, the easier it is, so even if I have to force myself to read a book I'm not enjoying, I think of it a bit like practising my scales. Then, when I find a book I do like, it's a huge pleasure.

And yes, we always choose books that are portable - (not heavy hardbacks for eg) so you can read on the go - waiting for the bus, on the train, waiting for your kid to finish an activity. Also choose a physical book rather than an electronic device, so it kicks you out of the habit of looking at a screen.

With me it was getting a Kindle, I just find it easier to pick up and read, read in bed in the dark, get comfy, enlarge the text etc. I discovered this while on holiday, had more free time that I'd thought and no book so I downloaded the kindle app on dc's tablet and never looked back. I also need my phone by my bed for alarms, elderly parents and teens during the night etc..

Join a book club. Nothing like a deadline to focus the mind.

If you're worried about using an alarm clock, get two of them and set them 5 minutes apart. I agree with the Kindle and book club approach. But allow yourself to skip a month of the book club if you really don't think you'll enjoy the book, in exchange for reading a book you really want to read instead. Where I live we have a book club where you read what you want and then everyone talks about the book they've read. It's good fun. Choose good books that make you feel really glad you've read them. I'm finally tackling War and Peace, which is very long, but I'm taking it slowly, reading a bit at a time and then reading something else.