Quarantine thoughts: Exploring why it is harder to read these days
Can you read like you used to?
Two months into quarantine and I have already binge-watched quite a long list of Netflix series and movies. Yet, I have only been able to finish just one book and that too the one that I had started about five years ago. No, it wasn’t complex non-fiction explaining the toughest physics concepts that would require a lot of time to understand, nor was it a long read that required days of dedication such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was a simple YA novel by John Green written in plain modern-day English with just the right level of amusing to keep you interested.
I’m not particularly a poor reader (although the above description clearly makes me sound like one but hear me out first!). As a child, I had probably read more books than I had watched cartoons. When it came to reading, I devoured everything — from quirky stories like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid to fantasy novels like Percy Jackson to teen romances such as The Princess Diaries to even more adult (and probably age-inappropriate for me back then!) novels such as The Godfather. In fact, this one time in fifth grade, I practically finished the entire kid section of my local public library!
Yet, as of the present, I haven’t finished a single novel or read a single book in the past five years. I’ve bought books, yes. Every once in a while, a hardcover beauty at the corner shelf of an old bookstore in the city had caught my eyes, and I just had to bring it home, where I neatly stacked them in my bookshelf to be a part of my ever-growing pile of unread books.
If we’re playing the blame game, my fingers would automatically point at the crazy work schedule that leaves me far too exhausted to do some quality reading. Reading a book definitely is a time commitment. Depending on your reading skills, it would take you at least a few days to get through a book, while the same movie at best would take only two hours of your time! Perhaps, our tight schedules demand that we switch to movies and series. It simply seems like the more efficient option.
Yet, the same thing happens to me while trying to finish a 5-min medium read (Yes, this is coming from a writer! Don’t judge!). No matter how interesting the topic, I find myself, reading one paragraph and taking a five-minute break. At other times, I’ll get distracted by a text or call and would just skim through big chunks without actually reading it (Any of you guys find this relatable?).
So maybe it’s not always just about time. For many of us, it’s more about how we use and manage our time. I, for one, often find myself constantly multitasking and just trying to get done with things without actually doing any real work. It becomes more of a quantity-over-quality kind of situation where I’m probably reading ten articles a day, but at the same time, not actually reading any of the content.
Moreover, many people find it easier to process and retain information when it is presented in the form of visual cues. This naturally gives movies, series, and comics (and even memes) an advantage over traditional books or articles. Almost all renowned newspapers and online portals acknowledge this and are now trying to make articles more interactive. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just…for the lack of better words…a thing.
Nevertheless, reading is an important habit, and it is essential that we don’t let our brains get rusty. Initially, I had to force myself to get through 15 minutes of reading every day. It was hard the first day. A little easier the second day. And much easier the third day. On the fourth day, I finished two chapters! Just like most habits, the trick was to keep at it! I’ve now set aside some time every day for reading. I just hope that this sticks and isn’t just a quarantine phase!
