There’s a silent world struggle underway.
It’s Tweets, information, TikToks, countless emails, Instagram thirst traps, and clickbaity newsletters — versus — our consideration.
From 2.5 minutes 20 years in the past to 75 seconds in 2012 to a measly 47 seconds in 2021, our consideration spans are dropping.
To maintain up, creators and corporations “optimize” their content material with juicier hooks, flashier cuts, and sexier thumbnails.
Chopping long-form content material up, they spray it all around the web. Podcast snippets as Shorts. Books as summaries. Weblog excerpts as Tweets. Tweet screenshots as Li posts.
Consequently, our consideration spans shrink much more — triggering additional content material optimization — the vicious loop feeds itself.
That is turning our data into whipped cream with no stable cake base — obscure (often-inaccurate) details with out deep understanding.
In our more and more shallow world, cultivating deep data is an unfair benefit — and studying good outdated books is the perfect long-term solution to obtain this.
This is why:
- Sure, podcasts and interviews are additionally deep, however advertisements, feedback, juicy thumbnails, notifications, and 100 additional tabs rend your focus.
- In contrast to digital media, you may’t “scroll” a ebook or skip to a specific timestamp — you both learn or don’t. Even a 10-minute studying session places the typical content material consumption sample to disgrace.
- Most good books will maintain you flipping pages for hours. This deep focus carries over into coding, finding out, and different deep actions.
- Years of expertise, analysis, and writing go into books — not like the few hours that go into podcasts, interviews, and YouTube deep dives.
- Studying boosts your knowledge-grasping velocity — which will increase all-around productiveness — liberating up time for household, hobbies, introspection, aspect initiatives, and extra studying.
However taking the trip of at this time’s busy schedules every day to learn is a herculean process — commitments and obligations change into excuses.
From mother’s bedtime studying in preschool to thriving in library alcoves, I grew up with books.
However even I barely discover “energetic” time to learn now!
But, I devour 10,000+ pages a 12 months — all due to “passive” life-style, atmosphere, and mindset tweaks that put studying on auto-pilot.
P.S. I measure studying progress in pages and never the variety of books — as a result of studying one 1000+ web page ebook >> Studying ten 100-page ones. My ebook picks span 500+ pages on common.
I wish to share the identical with you — relatively than making it attainable to learn, the following pointers make it inconceivable not to learn.
Listed here are 4 tricks to passively learn 10,000+ ebook pages yearly:
1. Insurgent in opposition to typical knowledge
Whereas sheer consistency can forge habits like chilly showers, waking up early, and journaling — you may’t “brute-force” the behavior of studying.
The one solution to change into a lifelong reader is to fall in love with it. Regardless of being well-intentioned, typical studying recommendation falls quick right here.
So, reject inflexible typical knowledge and serenade studying:
- “Have a hard and fast studying length” — Repair a leisurely time to learn, however don’t cap or restrict the length. Let your curiosity and temper take the rein.
- “Ease into the behavior with ebook summaries” — Summaries don’t result in books, they result in extra summaries. Begin with easy-to-read, attention-grabbing books.
- “Set studying objectives and milestones” — The added stress will make studying really feel like a chore. To take pleasure in studying, rejoice milestones, however don’t chase inflexible objectives.
- “Full each ebook you learn” — Give up books in case you don’t take pleasure in them. You may at all times decide them up later.
- “Be a part of studying golf equipment and discover studying companions” — Studying golf equipment are inclined to power books on you. As a substitute, get a library membership and frequent bookstores. A studying associate to debate and alternate books may help, although.
- “Don’t learn a couple of ebook at a time” — 3 to five parallel books can maintain issues contemporary and set off distinctive cross-book insights. Guarantee they’re not all fiction — so that you don’t confuse Gandalf with Dumbledore!
This rebellious strategy may decelerate your wishlist tick-off and Goodreads flexing — however it’ll allow you to ingrain the behavior of studying quicker.
Professional Tip: When you marry Miss Studying after serenading her, you may re-embrace typical knowledge to “optimize” the behavior of studying.
2. Spatial mood-matching ebook placement (SMBP)
SMBP makes it inconceivable to overlook studying. The system’s easy:
- Unfold sufficient books round the home so that you naturally attain for one (or extra).
- Plant them within the areas you frequent on a every day.
- Make sure the positioned ebook matches the exercise and temper related to the situation.
Along with auto-pilot studying, you’ll mentally affiliate the locations with their ebook genres
To maintain observe of pages learn, use bookmarks (highlighters/pens work) or relaxation the books facedown.
Be extra-mindful of the location-book-type matching to maximise the advantages of SMBP:
Don’t overthink the ebook placements — even a unfastened correlation with the temper/feeling of the areas is nice sufficient. Putting the books is extra necessary.
With SMBP, you’ll “unintentionally” flip pages — even on the busiest and grumpiest days. It’s a “Set-It-Up-As soon as-To-Reap-Infinite-Dividends” system.
P.S. Don’t neglect to “refill” the placements — swap out present books for brand new ones as and once you end them.
Professional Tip: You may amplify the impact of books being in sight by chucking your cellphone out of sight — because the adage goes, “Out of sight, out of thoughts.”
3. Chew your meals and concepts slowly
One of the best factor to do when consuming is nothing — which we don’t observe.
The second best choice is conversing with family and friends — however we are able to’t cease scrolling even then.
As a substitute, we do the worst attainable factor: binging Netflix, Anime, YouTube, or Instagram Reels which results in overeating, elevated threat of diabetes, and poor digestion.
Studying throughout meals is a sensible compromise — not 100% conscious, however leagues higher than TV-binging and phone-scrolling.
By selecting the correct ebook (SMBP-style), you may positively affect your consuming as effectively:
- Fast snack? Select fast-paced thrillers — to keep away from overeating and dilly-dallying.
- Lengthy meal? Go for thought-provoking self-help books — so that you eat slowly and completely chew the meals (and concepts).
- One thing in between? Fantasy fiction will be the right midpoint.
Even then, attempt to alternate high quality household time and solo-thinking area in no less than one meal every day — each are essential, however our suffocating schedules go away barely any time for both.
4. The smartphone ubiquity swap
The smartphone is nearly an additional limb — it lives in our pocket, accompanies us to the bathroom, sleeps with us, and offers solace throughout commutes.
No surprise we verify our telephones 144 instances a day — the worst half is it could take as much as 23 minutes to regain focus every time!
Whereas optimizing your cellphone may help to an extent, it doesn’t handle the basis downside — the unconscious omnipresence of the smartphone in our minds, pockets, and soul.
Leverage your smartphone-linked auto-behaviors to your profit by swapping them with books:
- Get a Kindle. Get a Kindle. Get a Kindle — it’s been the greatest funding of my life. Interval.
- Pop the Kindle in your pocket and your cellphone within the bag — to rewire your urge to verify your cellphone. If you happen to’re a male, this can even protect your testicles from cellphone radiation. The friction of unzipping your bag for the cellphone is deliberate — bear with it.
- Make your cellphone as “boring” to make use of as attainable: gray mode + uninstall all non-essential apps + disable push notifications + don’t disturb (use generously).
- Caught in a protracted queue, ready lounge, or delayed date? Pull out your Kindle as a substitute of your smartphone. If it’s solely 5-10 minutes, admire the world round you — discover others caught of their cellphone worlds, oblivious of the sheer fantastic thing about actuality.
- Maintain your cellphone facedown on the far finish when working. Sleep together with your cellphone on don’t disturb in a unique room. When conversing, don’t contact your cellphone. Domesticate revulsion in direction of your cellphone — by cussed insistence, my darling mom drilled this distaste into my head.
Few go the intense route — ditching the smartphone for a flip cellphone.
However in case you progressively wean your self off your smartphone and substitute the check-my-phone itch with studying, statement, introspection, and conscious conversations?
Such an excessive measure gained’t be needed.
Bonus — 3 extra tricks to reinforce your studying behavior:
Whereas not as “passive” or measurable, the following pointers will bulletproof your studying behavior — and love for books.
1. Favor bookstores when window purchasing
Be it impulsive shopping for on-line or window-shopping on a resplendent Sunday — our consumerist society tickles us into swiping our bank cards.
Direct this impulse towards books — they price much less, repay extra, and higher satiate your looking/window-shopping urge.
Are too many books piling up at house? Present, give away, lend, or multi-read them with the SMBP system. Or allow them to keep — you’ll inevitably decide them up sometime.
2. Studying isn’t restricted to books
Articles, blogs, newsletters, analysis papers, mini-ebooks — the web is an ocean of writing. Taper off video content material and devour the written digital phrase.
Too hooked to your units? Head out for a stroll. Decide up {a magazine} or a newspaper from Walmart. Learn the meals labels. Peruse the billboards.
The extra you learn, the extra you learn.
3. The opposite aspect of the studying coin
The whole lot you learn at this time was written by somebody yesterday — or 30 seconds in the past.
Be it on Twitter, Linkedin, Substack, ConvertKit, or the wonderful platform you’re studying this on, it’s by no means been simpler to jot down (on-line).
In a optimistic suggestions loop, studying feeds the drive to jot down, which stokes the starvation to learn extra.
Don’t want to write in public? Write in a private diary. Write to vent. Write to precise.
Write for the sake of writing.
AI’s making it magnitudes simpler to investigate developments, produce content material at scale, and repurpose present content material.
It gained’t be lengthy earlier than this avalanche of AI-powered content material turns at this time’s ocean of content material right into a world-flooding tsunami.
To thrive in such a world, bulletproof your consideration — with a lifetime behavior of studying:
- Insurgent in opposition to typical knowledge — prioritize enjoyment over ending books, studying objectives, and milestones. Filter studying recommendation accordingly.
- Spatial Temper-Matching E book Placement (SMBP) — plant books within the spots you frequent at house. Vibe-match the books with the areas.
- Learn Whereas Consuming — fast-paced books for fast snacks and thought-provoking ones for meals.
- Swap your smartphone with a Kindle. Pop a ebook or Kindle in your pocket. Put the cellphone within the bag. Wean your self off your smartphone.
- The bonuses? Window-shop books. Don’t restrict studying to books. Write.
That’s the way you “passivize” studying — so that you pay homage to the written phrase even in your busiest days.
“A reader lives a thousand lives earlier than he dies. The person who by no means reads lives just one.” — George R.R. Martin
Neeramitra Reddy is a 12x Medium High Author, Chief Editor/Columnist for In Health And In Well being (IFAIH), and a Columnist for Wholistique.
This text was initially printed at Medium. Reprinted with permission from the writer.
