Why You Shouldn’t Aim to Read More in 2021
By: Julia G.
Tags: New Years Resolutions, Books

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2021 does not hold the promise of a fresh start that the turn of the year usually does. Experts have been quick to warn that despite promising vaccines, the coronavirus pandemic will continue to restrict our lives at least all the way through spring. While we cannot know when exactly the pandemic will end, when we will be able to return to normal and how that “normal” will look like — there is reason for cautious optimism. Yet, making New Year’s resolutions feels somewhat futile when the future feels so uncertain. If we have learned anything from this year, it’s that life is largely unpredictable right now. Many people will, therefore, revisit one COVID-safe New Year’s resolution they may have made countless times before: To read more books.

It’s easy to see why that would be an appealing goal. With socialising discouraged or outlawed, events cancelled, with bars, restaurants and gyms closed and travel made incredibly difficult and at times impossible, those who are good at staying home and entertaining themselves have a clear advantage. Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu offer an endless source of entertainment, sure. But I personally find it hard to concentrate on a twenty-minute sitcom, let alone a longer series episode or an entire movie. I’m always at my phone at the same time, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or depressing headlines.

With books, however, I don’t have the same problem. Maybe it’s because I got into a habit of reading at a young age, when social media wasn’t even around (yes, I’m that old). I realise it’s cliché to talk about our ever-shortening attention spans — but isn’t there some truth to it? When I was a kid, the happiest day of the entire year was when the new Harry Potter novel came out. I was the biggest fan ever and with Harry always being roughly the same age as me (again, I’m old…), I felt a bit as if we were growing up together. I would get up before sunrise, drag my parents out of bed and force them to drive me to the local bookstore, where I would patiently wait in line. As soon as I held the book in my hands, I would lock myself into my room, only resurfacing when I had finished it — regardless of how long it took. I wouldn’t eat, I wouldn’t go to the bathroom. I would simply read, completely engrossed in the story. Some time late at night I would come out my room, tired-eyed, descend into the kitchen for a snack, then go to sleep, only to wake up next morning and immediately start to re-read the book from the very first page.

I realize that I might sound like a bit of a freak. But I cannot help myself but admire my younger self’s dedication, my ability to get lost in the story without taking note of the outside world. Of course, in our modern lives, it is a complete luxury to spend hours and hours reading. We are always doing several things at the same time, obsessively checking our emails, forever fitting a 15-minute youtube workout in while dinner is in the oven, listening to a self-help podcast when we are hanging up the washing. Reading, for many of us, is now limited to the 30 minutes before bed when we turn off our laptops and put our phones on flight mode because we read in some magazine that the blue night might be interfering with our sleep. It makes me wonder whether we as adults have collectively lost our ability to immerse ourselves into a story so completely.

Reading, for many of us, is also somehow associated with a feeling of obligation rather than joy. With articles like “Warren Buffett reads 500 pages a day, every day” it is all about obtaining knowledge — whether it be about business, politics, history, ways to get happier, more successful, more organized… you name it. There is this pressure to read. Not any books, but only those considered to make you a serious reader (either non-fiction or critically acclaimed literature — nobody is going to be impressed if you announce you finished six Nicholas Sparks novels on the weekend). After all, we associate reading with being smart, educated, and intellectual. Why else would people like their background in a Zoom conference to be shelves overflowing with important-looking books?

Many people I know keep saying: “Oh, I wish I could read more.” What they usually mean is that they wish to be a person that likes to read a lot of books. But in the end, it comes down to this: You make time for the things that are a priority to you. If you claim to love reading, but the bookstore gift certificate that your aunt gave you for Christmas 2013 still sits on your bedside table , where the politician’s memoirs with glossy covers keep piling up — maybe you do not actually love to read, you would just love to be a person who loves to read.

And that’s okay! Not everybody loves to read — and not everybody has to. Hell, I wished I were the kind of person that enjoyed a 5k run before breakfast, but I’m simply not. I believe the conception that you must read a lot to be considered smart/intellectual/knowledgeable is outdated. In the age of audiobooks, podcasts and Blinkist, there is many other ways to obtain information than to read entire books. If you really don’t enjoy reading that much — why not get your information in easier ways and focus on the things that you actually do get joy from? Not in a mild, I-am-doing-something-valuable-for-myself-way (such as when you clean the bathroom or finally finish your taxes), but in a I-forget-everything-around-me way, in a reading-Harry-Potter-as-a-kid kind of way. This really is the yardstick against which you should measure your hobbies. In the words of Marie Kondo: Does it spark joy?

So, should you aim to read more in 2021? Yes, absolutely, if reading is an old love of yours of which you’ve lost sight of in the general business of life. There is no better time to rekindle that love than during a pandemic with stay-at-home-orders. And if the best way for you to escape the current grim reality is to pick up the full Twilight book series instead of delving into Kahnemann’s technical “Thinking, fast and slow”… then go for it. You are not doing this to impress others, you are doing this for you (maybe don’t post a reading picture on LinkedIn though). If you really love reading, do not let the world take it away from you. But of you really don’t like reading that much and it’s just one of those things that you feel you should do — than don’t waste any time on it. We already have an endless list of things we should do in our responsible grown-up lives because they are supposed to be good for us. You really don’t need any more pressure.

Instead, I invite you to think about what brings you so much joy that you forget everything around yourself. What did you love thing as a kid? Take that and make it your new resolution. You might not be able to do this right away in the new year… but the day will come when you can get back to what you actually love.