Reading > Scrolling: How Reading Heals Your Soul and Social Media Shatters It
Raise your hand if you set yourself the challenge to read 12 books this year, but you find yourself in March and not a single book in your growing collection has been touched.
Yeah, you in the back! I see you. It’s time to take accountability.
As new generations slip into our societies, our presence online has only gotten bigger. It’s been reported that on average the entire world spends 720 billion minutes per day using social media platforms, and with the rate at which more platforms are being created, this number can only increase.
What’s more frightening is that children as young as 12 years old are getting access to these platforms, opening accounts and beginning their crawl into phone addiction. The new generations are missing the world of reading and the importance that it has on not only our level of literacy, but how it shapes us as human beings.
In a survey it’s been found that people have invested less time into reading for pleasure and the number has since declined from 2021. I think the biggest reason for this decline is that many see it as a task. They see a book with hundreds of pages and think about the time it will take. What we forget is the time we spend on social media and how we can actually utilise that time for an activity that will allow us to grow.
Climbing Out of The Reading Slump
We’ve all been there. It’s been a year or two (or more!), of zero reading and you find yourself in a hole of where to begin.
My personal favourite way of fixing this issue is selecting a book within a genre you are guaranteed to like. Whether this is an autobiography of your favourite celebrity, a Sophie Kinsella romance novel or a short and sweet book of poems. Get lost in a library or step foot in a new bookstore and remember the feeling and smell of a new book and the excitement you feel for it.
Secondly, it’s important to reserve the time to get invested. Even a quick 10 minute read per day allows for a routine to build. Setting a rule of reading 10 pages per day or a chapter per day creates an unbreakable habit in your mind — reminding yourself to pull out of reality and submerge yourself into the alter universe that reading provides.
Finally, consider listening to an audiobook. Those who have not read in long periods of time sometimes feel that they cannot remain still. The very act of remaining in a space is difficult, which is why listening to a book can be incredibly helpful. The beauty of it is that you can multitask. You could be cleaning, cooking or even getting ready and driving to work without laying a finger on a single page.
Replacing Scrolling for Turning
The rising problem social media has brought to the world is this never-ending loop of comparison. We open our phones, tap on the apps, and are suddenly bombarded with images of strangers from all over the world. People supposably living ‘better’ lives than us. This very infiltration of memories stalls us. We get lost, but not in an imagined world that makes us feel good, but rather one that negatively affects us mentally.
Books don’t offer the same as phones. Perhaps we cannot communicate with a book but a book excludes all distractions. We are able to fully focus and invest in a book rather than pulling our attention away with a phone when a notification pops-up.
Book Benefits
Finishing a book is greatly satisfying, but the positives don’t stop there.
Although many turn to social media usage to unwind after a long day, researchers from The University of Sussex found that reading is a much better form of stress relief. Participants within this study who read for just 6 minutes found that their muscle tension had reduced and even had a slower heart rate. That’s less time than it takes for you to get out of bed in the morning!
Reading is also hugely beneficial for our sleep. Instead of staring at a bright screen that mimics daylight to our eyes, reading before bed with dim lights can prepare us both mentally and physically to unwind and relax. The sleep that we do have, ends up being better quality, as the act of reading alone helps us de-stimulate our brains.
Additionally, reading can actually aid us socially. When we read, we spend a great deal of time understanding characters, emotions and various environments which help us emphasise with different peoples experiences. We can also become better listeners and even develop and practise gratitude more. Not to mention the comfort we feel from reading about certain experiences that match with what we feel and have undergone.
Whether this influences you to enter a bookstore, open that dusty book on the shelf or simply start reading or listening to a book. I hope that this new endeavour leads you to a whole new world that is yet to be explored.
