This is basically the core principle of habit building: you want to build consistency. In other word, it should feel easy and ingrains into your life.
I've recently taken taking a French out to 7 years of leaving it aside to study English (which is worth it because I am now an English teacher), and this time everything feels so much easier because from my language teaching experience, I know that building consistency was all I needed to do. I didn't wait for the perfect day, I didn't wait until I had hours of free time to sit down and grind. I just did whatever I feel like in the moment, as long as it helps me learn a bit more of French: reading graded readers, doing a Duolingo lesson, chatting in French with ChatGPT (had it set up to correct my mistakes and come up with different topics to talk to me like a friend would). Now, I can confidently say I am at B1 level, which means I can pretty much read and understand a fair bit of the language and use it to hold a long conversation with a native (this I did during a recent trip to a coastal city in my home country, where I ran into a French tourist)
My point is, it's not that you should not make a serious effort or have a dedicated session for something even when you can. It's just that the "perfect conditions", as you can probably imply already, do not come by frequently, said if you keep waiting you will never be able to build the level of consistency needed to make whatever it is you are trying to do a habit.
Thank you for the post! I feel like reading some French now 😄
"If we give reading too much weight and reserve it for sanctified occasions, then it’ll paralyse us into adopting all kinds of absurd standards (the weather has to be perfect, the book has to feel right, and the beverage needs to be nice). But at the end of the day, reading is just what it is: comprehending words from a page"
This is really good. I learned this lesson out of necessity when I was working on two simultaneous MAs and I just had to read on the L and between appointments and on lunch breaks. When people were 15 min late to meet me I'd almost kiss them because they gave me extra time to read what I needed. But somehow I've fallen into the sanctified occasions habit for fiction. I only read it when things are perfect and it sucks. I can and do still read non-fiction all the time and wherever but I need to have a break through on fiction.
I loved reading this article, and it helped articulate my exact experience in grad school. I would bury myself in keeping up with project deadlines, endless meetings with group members and faculty advisors, and constant research and articles. By the time I had a moment to myself, I barely had the energy to read from my TBR pile. Now that I've graduated, I've slowly started to associate reading more for pleasure instead of something that needed to be done for a paper. Thank you for such a lovely article, Robin!
I love this. I've tried reading on a Kindle, but I find myself annotating a lot, and I still find it more convenient to have a pen in my hand, despite the fact that it adds to the inventory of things just to be able to read.
Other than that, I think trivializing things is important even the most important ones. It’s like what you said in one of your videos about going to the gym: to really stick to working out, you have to trivialize it and not make it the ultimate goal of the day. Reading, too, follows the same basic concept.
During my teenage years, when I used to read, my mind was often more focused on the idea that look (to no one in particular) I am reading. I’d get caught up in the smell of the book, the image of it. I did read my fair share of literature, true, but this sort of performance happened a lot back then, especially when I had just gotten into reading.
Heck, i started to get interested in more classical and "heavyer" books thanks to you and Ted Gioia talking/writing about it. There is a sort of freedom where you can just read for leasure and aren't gonna get evaluated, graded or need to give a report.
I tend to read on an e-book reader and if i really like the book - i get the physical version.
P.s. you can get a lot of classics (especially in english) on "project gutenberg" as those books are in public domain. And you can get e-pubs of them.
Exactly this! Thank you; you have inspired me to read more casually! I didn't even realize how I had been treating reading like "an imposing judge issuing [me] sentences." Trivialize reading is my new motto.
For those looking for an alternative to Kindle and Remarkable, I'm not sure if they ship to Australia, but the customer-oriented, anti-Amazon, and more durable Supernote is a great one, though expensive (but you can also write on it :D). I don't drink alcohol at all (coffee might be my demon), but I get what you mean, and an e-reader can definitely help with this! Have a blast living and reading, sunny greets from Belgium.
I also buy a second hand kindle which I used upon a long ride from university to my home and at night before I go to sleep can I ask what kindle model do you use ?
This is basically the core principle of habit building: you want to build consistency. In other word, it should feel easy and ingrains into your life.
I've recently taken taking a French out to 7 years of leaving it aside to study English (which is worth it because I am now an English teacher), and this time everything feels so much easier because from my language teaching experience, I know that building consistency was all I needed to do. I didn't wait for the perfect day, I didn't wait until I had hours of free time to sit down and grind. I just did whatever I feel like in the moment, as long as it helps me learn a bit more of French: reading graded readers, doing a Duolingo lesson, chatting in French with ChatGPT (had it set up to correct my mistakes and come up with different topics to talk to me like a friend would). Now, I can confidently say I am at B1 level, which means I can pretty much read and understand a fair bit of the language and use it to hold a long conversation with a native (this I did during a recent trip to a coastal city in my home country, where I ran into a French tourist)
My point is, it's not that you should not make a serious effort or have a dedicated session for something even when you can. It's just that the "perfect conditions", as you can probably imply already, do not come by frequently, said if you keep waiting you will never be able to build the level of consistency needed to make whatever it is you are trying to do a habit.
Thank you for the post! I feel like reading some French now 😄
"If we give reading too much weight and reserve it for sanctified occasions, then it’ll paralyse us into adopting all kinds of absurd standards (the weather has to be perfect, the book has to feel right, and the beverage needs to be nice). But at the end of the day, reading is just what it is: comprehending words from a page"
This is really good. I learned this lesson out of necessity when I was working on two simultaneous MAs and I just had to read on the L and between appointments and on lunch breaks. When people were 15 min late to meet me I'd almost kiss them because they gave me extra time to read what I needed. But somehow I've fallen into the sanctified occasions habit for fiction. I only read it when things are perfect and it sucks. I can and do still read non-fiction all the time and wherever but I need to have a break through on fiction.
Thanks for this!
Thanks Parker! Huge fan of your work and thank you for this generous comment!
Man, that's so cool. I like your work too! We'll have to collab sometime, maybe I can get you on my podcast to talk sometime
Without a doubt! DMed you let’s make it happen.
I loved reading this article, and it helped articulate my exact experience in grad school. I would bury myself in keeping up with project deadlines, endless meetings with group members and faculty advisors, and constant research and articles. By the time I had a moment to myself, I barely had the energy to read from my TBR pile. Now that I've graduated, I've slowly started to associate reading more for pleasure instead of something that needed to be done for a paper. Thank you for such a lovely article, Robin!
I love this. I've tried reading on a Kindle, but I find myself annotating a lot, and I still find it more convenient to have a pen in my hand, despite the fact that it adds to the inventory of things just to be able to read.
Other than that, I think trivializing things is important even the most important ones. It’s like what you said in one of your videos about going to the gym: to really stick to working out, you have to trivialize it and not make it the ultimate goal of the day. Reading, too, follows the same basic concept.
During my teenage years, when I used to read, my mind was often more focused on the idea that look (to no one in particular) I am reading. I’d get caught up in the smell of the book, the image of it. I did read my fair share of literature, true, but this sort of performance happened a lot back then, especially when I had just gotten into reading.
Absolutely with you on this, Robin
Heck, i started to get interested in more classical and "heavyer" books thanks to you and Ted Gioia talking/writing about it. There is a sort of freedom where you can just read for leasure and aren't gonna get evaluated, graded or need to give a report.
I tend to read on an e-book reader and if i really like the book - i get the physical version.
P.s. you can get a lot of classics (especially in english) on "project gutenberg" as those books are in public domain. And you can get e-pubs of them.
Ted is an absolute gem! Glad you’ve discovered some value in my work!
Exactly this! Thank you; you have inspired me to read more casually! I didn't even realize how I had been treating reading like "an imposing judge issuing [me] sentences." Trivialize reading is my new motto.
For those looking for an alternative to Kindle and Remarkable, I'm not sure if they ship to Australia, but the customer-oriented, anti-Amazon, and more durable Supernote is a great one, though expensive (but you can also write on it :D). I don't drink alcohol at all (coffee might be my demon), but I get what you mean, and an e-reader can definitely help with this! Have a blast living and reading, sunny greets from Belgium.
So did the kindle help reading feel more casual for you?
I also buy a second hand kindle which I used upon a long ride from university to my home and at night before I go to sleep can I ask what kindle model do you use ?