I have always enjoyed reading. There is something so relaxing about being engrossed in a book. Sometimes when I find a book that I love, I can’t put it down because it is so intriguing, but it is not often that I find a book that I am excited to pick up after a long day.

Reading is far more calming and enjoyable to me than scrolling on my phone, but picking up my phone instead of a book when I am bored or stressed has become habit. My excuse for not reading is always that I have no time, and although that is typically true, the hour that I spend on my phone when I come home from school could most definitely be filled with reading or writing.

I think that it is often a struggle for me to want to read because it feels like more homework that needs to be completed. When I think about picking up a book I say to myself that if I am reading I might as well be reading my history textbook or completing homework. And then by the time I complete all of my homework I want nothing to do with reading. 

I find it hard to read books because the story stays in my mind the whole day. It seems like just another thing keeping my mind distracted and keeping me up at night. When I can’t sleep I will often pick up a graphic novel that I have read before because there is nothing to anticipate and continue thinking about, as I already know where the story is headed. 

I want books to be the thing that I pick up in my free time, and to be able to say that one of my hobbies is reading, like I had done when I read every day over the summer. In my opinion, there is no better feeling than finishing a good book and feeling bittersweet that the story does not continue further. 

Reading has always come pretty naturally to me, and I think I take advantage of that. My brother never wants to read unless it is a school assignment because it takes him ages to read just a couple pages. I, however, can read fairly quickly and don’t have the struggle of putting together the words or stories of books. If I can read so easily, why don’t I read?

I think that the main reason I don’t read more often is because I feel like I don’t have any motivation. When I was in fifth grade, me and one of my best friends started an online book club with our grandmas. We would meet every month on zoom and talk about our previous book then pick a new one to read before the next meeting the following month. This gave me the motivation to read one book a month and think deeply about what I was going to reflect on at “book club.” It was also lots of fun to read books that other people are interested in or recommended.

Replicating this type of motivation by setting goals for myself or reading the same book as a friend, will help me reach my yearly goal of reading more books. Not having my phone as an option to reach for will train my brain to lean out books over the mindless staring at electronics.