Banishing Reader’s Block: This Is How I Got Back To Reading Again

As a child, I devoured books like hotcakes and needed new reads like oxygen. Over the years, my taste evolved from Sidney Sheldon crime thrillers to bone-chilling scares by Stephen King, to hot-blooded teen romances and maturing into political satire and non-fiction. But within two years of slipping into a 9-5 job cycle, I grew disillusioned and hardly found time to read. Picking up books off shops just became an exciting retail therapy and I rarely ever got to finishing most of them.

With the pandemic compelling us to stay home, leaving a lot of time on our hands I decided to tap into my old hobbies, and dedicating time to reading more actively.

Here are three patterns I embraced to banish what I call my ‘reader’s block’. 

1)  Don’t set lofty reading goals

If that book is taking forever to finish but it gets you reading, don’t abandon it. Even if you manage to read a total of five pages in a day, read relentlessly. And you will find your capacity for reading stretching on its own accord. 

Are you indecisive about which book to pick from the shelf? Follow a simple blueprint; choose an author whose writing style is appealing and easy to read at the same time. Even if you come out of the quarantine with just two finished reads, this will be a big progress, since it puts you right on the reading track.

2)  Put books on your phone, not just on shelves 

An army of bookworms would argue that there is no imitating the comfort of physical books. However, if you are having a difficult time sifting through a book, try swiping. The internet is full of Ebooks and downloadable PDFs of your favourite books. Although switching to reading from a digital device increased my screen time, but I somehow inexplicably managed to finish my books faster. Also, with being confined to our homes and with no impending trips to a bookstore, reading from Ebooks is an incredibly good idea.

3)  Turn to audio books – game-changer for readers

Virtually replacing the vocal art of storytelling and physical books are audio books, making for a great alternative for those who can’t concentrate on reading or simply can’t find time. My chosen time for audio books are even when I am doing chores around the house which in an odd way makes household works less mundane!