When I’m getting to know someone, I ask what they like to read. Unfortunately, this sometimes gets an embarrassed reaction, with people mumbling some excuse about why they haven’t picked up a book since high school. A lot of people say they want to read every day, but these excuses get in the way. Let’s take a look at some of these excuses and how to eliminate them.
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“I’m too lazy.”
You know what lazy people like? Sitting! Want to sit down for hours and have people think you’re hard at work? Keep a book in your hand! Reading a book is the perfect excuse to be lazy for an entire day, or even an entire weekend.
If you have parents or a partner who are always hounding you to do chores around the house or otherwise keep busy, seeing you with an open book might just convince them to leave you alone. (And if it doesn’t, you can always try throwing books at them until they go away.)
In all seriousness, most self-described “lazy” people are actually just very selective about how they spend their energy. I know plenty of people who are “too lazy” to read or study, but suddenly develop a strong work ethic when they’re training for sports, working on their car, or building something with power tools. If this sounds like you, your first step is to stop defining yourself by your character flaws. Admit that you can work hard when you really want to. Your next step is to find a book that makes you want to read every day.
“I can’t find anything interesting!”
What do you do with your free time? Do you have any hobbies? Whatever your hobby, the library has books about it. Even if your “hobby” is just watching television or scrolling through Instagram, there are books out there just for you.
Check out GoodReads. Rate some titles and you’ll get recommendations, just like using a music app or a video streaming site. You’re sure to find something you love.
Read the classics. They’ve lasted for a reason. Ignore A Farewell To Arms or Moby-Dick. Check out fun classics, adventure novels like Gulliver’s Travels or A Tale of Two Cities, or the first science fiction novel.
If you feel like every book is boring, perhaps your problem is really your attention span.
“I can’t focus!”
Often when people say they’re “too lazy” to read or nothing is worth reading, this is what they really mean. It’s not that they don’t have the willpower or interest to pick up a book, it’s that when they do, they can’t keep their mind focused on it.
Fixing a short attention span is possible, but it takes work. Your attention span is like a muscle: you have to exercise it to make it strong. And just like a muscle, you have to start with small exercises and build up slowly, or you’ll just make yourself tired and want to quit.
Start off with a small reading goal. Start with one page a day. Pick some light reading, like humor or a book of trivia. You can try a graphic novel or a trashy romance and see if that holds your attention.
Try keeping a book by the toilet and leaving your phone in the other room. The average person spends around 20 minutes a day on the toilet, plenty of time to get some reading done. If you’re trapped in the bathroom and the only thing to do is read Cat’s Cradle or memorize shampoo ingredients, the book is an easy choice.
Build up slowly. As you feel your attention span improve, add extra pages and gradually move on to heavier reading.
If you continue to have trouble with your attention span, consider a visit to your doctor. You may have attention deficit disorder or other medical issues. Fortunately, there are many excellent treatment options available.
If there isn’t a medical issue standing in the way of your reading, the only thing you need to do is set aside some time to do it. Cracking open a book at the same time each day will help you form strong habits and read every day.
“It takes too much time!”
How much time does reading really take? Let’s compare reading novels to the most popular alternative, watching television.
- The average reading speed of an adult is 200 to 250 words per minute.
- The average novel length is 250 to 300 pages.
- Novels average 250 to 300 words per page.
- Let’s assume the worst case scenario: a below-average reader wanting to take on a long, wordy novel. At 300 words per page for 300 pages, we have 90,000 words. Let’s round that up to an even 100,000 words. It would take a below-average reader (150 wpm) roughly 11 hours to read a novel.
Eleven hours is a long time, right? But wait…
An “hour-long” action/adventure show like The Flash or Supernatural is actually around 40 to 48 minutes, after to take out the commercials. Let’s assume only 40 minutes per episode, and 22 episodes. That’s 880 minutes, or over 14 hours per season.
If you watch a TV show instead of reading, you are actually spending three hours more than you would have if you’d read a novel instead. If you have an average or above-average reading speed, you would save even more time.
Work on your attention span, watch less TV, and you’ll be able to tackle the longest novel in no time. It takes a bit of work and willpower, but you’ll be glad you did it.
Do you have another excuse not to read that I haven’t addressed? Leave a comment!
