Reading is enjoyable because it takes us to many magical and mysterious places we haven’t been to in the physical world. It leads us to introspection as well as new perspectives and analyses of the conditions—human or not—of where we live; not to mention the sense of accomplishment it provides whenever we finish a book.
However, reading can at times become an arduous, painful task. We must have heard of writers struggling with “writer’s block,” but readers can also grapple with “reader’s block”—a state where we can no longer stick to or concentrate on a book; or worse, can’t even pick up one. This may continue for weeks, months, or even years, and despite our best efforts, we still can’t seem to rekindle that love for reading, which can be frustrating and can somehow make us feel unproductive.
So here are some tips that might be helpful in overcoming reader’s block:
- Choose another book. Drop the book you’re not enjoying. If you can’t relish reading it no matter how hard you try, then it’s a sign that it’s time to read a different one.
- Mix it around. If you’re too stressed and a book might be too much for you to handle, why not read newspapers, short articles and stories, magazines, or blogs? Besides, something new can refresh and reboot your brain.
- Start small. Some other tasks can exhaust you, resulting in sluggishness and much lower energy when you start reading. Well, that’s alright. A page or two is not bad. You just need to form that habit of daily reading. Eventually, you’ll be able to level it up and add more pages.
- Listen to an audiobook. Debating with yourself on whether to clean your room or read? The good thing is, you can actually do both. Listening to an audiobook saves you time and provides a different feel and experience.
- Reread your favorite book. Do you remember how it felt like reading your favorite book? You can relive those pleasant emotions to be motivated or inspired by rereading it. If it’s not your thing, you might want to try one of your favorite author’s books that you haven’t read yet.
- Choose a new spot. Perhaps your senses have subconsciously grown tired of the same place and now you need a different spot to get stimulated. It’s worth moving to another suitable location in the house, library, café, or wherever you normally read that could satisfy you.
- Listen to music while reading. Listening to music can improve your mood and help you focus. If you’re that type of person who can still concentrate with music on in the background while reading, then this might work magic for you. All you need to do is choose the genre of music you prefer, select the songs you may want to listen to, and press Play. Meditation music for focus, relaxation, and studying is equally effective.
- Spend less time watching TV, Netflix, or YouTube videos. The content on TV, Netflix, and YouTube can be so good that you spend so many hours watching it and end up feeling drained. How about allocating some of this time to reading something light?
- Be gentle with yourself. Forgive yourself if you relapse, unable to achieve your reading goal. Drop some of that perfectionism ingrained in you. Instead of beating yourself up, just keep going and try again. Tenacity beats fastidiousness.
- Reward Yourself. You deserve a reward after managing to complete that reading task of yours. It can be as simple as a high five or as fancy as treating yourself to a sumptuous meal. Swamp yourself with congratulations!
