Returning to your studies this winter, you might find it easy to slip into a routine. You head to class, socialize throughout the day, have dinner, study, hit the hay. But it’s a schedule like this drives some of the concern that pleasure reading is an endangered activity among university students. After all, you’re probably pretty engaged on social media, and there’s so much written material online, from the most distracting Twitch! channels to the best new short stories, that you might wonder whether today’s students will turn away from novels and poetry for their scarce free time.
Don’t let this happen to you! Keep in mind these easy tips for incorporating for-pleasure reading into your scholarly routine.
Make it a habit
With exercising, class timetables, or essay writing, you know when you need to do it—and when you’re skiving too often. Indeed, scheduling is a problem we hear so often from our clients who are looking for essay writing help. So treat reading like you do these other habits: pick a half hour each day for your own book, and stick to it!
Look forward to it
For those who spend a lot of time on academic essays, which of course entail loads of research, it can be tempting to pick a novel or nonfiction book that aligns with your studies. Try to avoid this temptation. It can make your pleasure reading seem like it’s part of your study routine, transforming a way to relax into just another task, almost like reading a tutor’s recommended materials in addition to the required readings. And we all know how easy it can be to brush off those if you’re short on time.
Not too close to bed
It’s easy to aim to read before bed; after all, you have the free time. But I recommend avoiding this, if you can. I don’t have empirical research for this claim, but personally I have always harbored the fear that I would spend a few months reading only before bed and then suddenly find that novel reading put me to sleep. Frankly, I can’t imagine much worse of a fate than feeling sleepy whenever I open the pages of my favorite book, like an awful episode of Black Mirror. So share in my (potentially irrelevant) fear and make your reading time earlier in the day. And that said, there is plenty of evidence that this advice is genuinely relevant if you do your reading on a tablet. Any screen time right before bed is a no-no.
