How I enjoyed reading again

Common Narrative

As you probably already know, YouTube is full of content from productivity and self-improvement YouTubers, people such as Hamza, Iman Gadzhi, Ali Abdaal, and Matt D'Avella to name but a few. There's one piece of advice they recommend frequently, and that is to read books.

The problem is that while a lot of people consciously know why reading is beneficial, a lot of the time it's hard to actually pick up a book and read it. Even I have a ton of books that I just haven't even read yet. Why is that?

Is reading work or pleasure?

In my opinion, there are two reasons why people don't enjoy reading:

  1. Reading is not as stimulating as watching a film or playing a game.
  2. We've sort of been conditioned to view reading as a form of work rather than a form of leisure.

For GCSE English, I had to study one novella and two plays. A Christmas Carol, Much Ado About Nothing, and An Inspector Calls. Some of these stories are actually quite entertaining, but 15 year old me did not see it that way as I wasn't reading for the sake of entertainment, I was reading for the sake of memorising the story so I could complete my exams.

Many of us view reading as boring not just because we're used to overstimulation from things like social media and video games, but also because most of our exposure to books has been for the sake of work. So if you pick up a book like "Deep Work" or "Think Like A Monk", don't be surprised if it seems boring (even if it isn't).

Humans don't hate learning

If anything, humans are very curious and want to learn more about the world around them, hence why channels like RealLifeLore are so popular. The problem is we tend to see reading purely in terms of extrinsic value rather than intrinsic value.

Extrinsic motivation is where you're motivated to do a task because of a goal or reward, while intrinsic motivation is where you're motivated to do a task because of the task itself. In this case, people on self-improvement read books because they ultimately wanna start a business, make money, find a spouse, and not because they enjoy reading.

Find books you will enjoy reading

The first book I read as an adult was "1984" by George Orwell. Even if you haven't read this novel, the chances are you've at least heard of it. I won't spoil too much, but essentially it's about a man named Winston Smith who rebels against the extreme totalitarian party (Ingsoc) that rules over Oceania (a superstate in a permanent war). Long story short, Winston ultimately fails and is subject to a horrifying fate.

While this is a fictional story, the lore of the novel (e.g., how the party manipulates the population) is incredibly deep and I found myself just wanting to keep reading it to find out what happens next. Once you find books you think you'll genuinely enjoy reading, it becomes less and less of a chore.

Books I recommend

Books I have read

Books I want to read