It’s easier to scroll than it is to read. It is difficult to prioritise reading above, say, watching TV. It is easy to scan through tweets and comments—but quite difficult to focus on a worthy book or article.
Here are my thoughts on why reading is hard and what to do about it.
Reading requires presence and equanimity
Reading requires presence of mind. It is impossible to simultaneously read and think. To some degree or another, we are all plagued by our own unconscious mental noise. But reading requires you to first be silent. This is partly why people find it difficult to read.
Secondly, your emotions affect your focus. Notice that it is difficult to read when you are angry. It is difficult to read when you are emotionally unsettled. And it is difficult to do anything when you’re grief-stricken. This is why emotional work is so important.
Watching TV, scrolling and surfing doesn’t require the same level of presence and emotional equanimity that reading does. As a side note, scanning through comments and tweets doesn’t count as reading. This type of behaviour often serves as an avoidance of our inner turmoil. It is an escape from presence.
How to achieve equanimity and focus?
So, how do we achieve equanimity and consequently better focus?
Recognise and embrace that which you do not want to feel. Stay with the discomfort. Try to do this for a set amount of time before you escape by grabbing your phone, or making tea, or whatever else. Do this daily. One can improve this skill of containment over time.
Reading is a skill that is rewarding
Reading becomes easier over time. And we can become better at it. This is rewarding. Books are more expansive than most things on TV. You’ll find it difficult to compare the average sci-fi on screen to something like Seveneves or Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Exceptions to this are movies like Interstellar, Dune, and Contact. These come around only once or twice a decade.
It is not only fiction that is rewarding but non-fiction too. I’ve learnt more from books than I ever did in formal education. This is wild if you think about it! Can formal education really be that useless? Well, I’ll rather not answer that. At least I learned how to read in school.