Book Ponder

What Is a Reading Slump?

Most of the time people do not realize that they are in a reading slump until a few weeks pass and they notice they have not finished a book awhile, or they get an email from Goodreads saying “Hey…you’re falling behind on your reading goal, want some recommendations?”.  My favorite one is when your friends ask you if you’ve read anything good lately and you have no response.   The reading slumps sneak up on you, it may take a book that is taking a long time to gain interest in or just a streak of mediocre books that has taken the reading fire out of you.  Doom scrolling on social media, YouTube, video games, and binge-watching Netflix are always at the doorstep ready to take reading’s place in your life, but we must be strong!

Reread an Old Favorite

Rereading one of your favorite books that you haven’t jumped back to in a long time is a great way to get back into the reading zone, preferably try to make it a light read also that you can finish within a week. 

Read Something Easy

Just like any good habit, sometimes completing something gets the ball rolling again.  When we get a good run or workout in, it gets us back on track and the same goes for reading.  We may just need to get that next book “read” in order to get us back in the groove and nothing fills that void better than an easy short read we can knock out in a couple of hours.  A regular classic like “The Great Gatsby” can do the job where the reading is light and can be finished in 2-3 hours depending on your reading speed. 

Don’t Finish Your Current Book

Nothing will put us in a reading slump faster than the obligation to finish a book we started, yet this is one of the biggest flaws we have as readers.  I get it, reading is a big commitment and takes more time and effort than laying back and binging a tv show, but we still should not continue reading a book that we are not enjoying.  For most avid readers we will read a couple of thousand books in our lifetime and there are over 100 million different books in the world, with thousands more added every year.  There is no time to be wasted on a book you are not enjoying.  Ryan Holiday has a good rule to give a book 100 pages minus your age before you give up on it. 

Try a New Reading Format

This might be an expensive solution, but reading is the gift that never stops giving, and investing some money into it will go a long way.  If you only read physical books, changing it up to a Kindle or E-Reader can help your reading by switching it up, and sometimes the change of devices can open more locations where you can read.  A Kindle can be easier to read while lying in bed or going to a different location.  Another trick that has worked for me is starting a book as an audiobook while doing chores or driving.  This can also help finish a book that got a bit boring but it’s more interesting than listening to nothing while driving or mowing the lawn.  A change in format may be the solution that works for you.

Find a New Reading Location

In one of my most recent reading slumps, the problem was that I kept nodding off when reading regardless of if I was well rested or not and this is because my brain started associating reading with falling asleep. My main place to read was in bed and I would read every night until I dozed off, unfortunately, my brain started associating my reading with sleeping and even if it was the middle of the day, I found myself dozing off after a couple of pages.  To beat this, I still read before bed but not lying in bed, I would either read on my reading chair or in my office, and once I had read for the desired amount of time, I would go to bed…to go to bed.  Once I was able to break the habit of dozing off during reading my slump also went away.

Final Thoughts

A reading slump can vary widely on the person and perhaps the solution for you was not listed but I have faith you will find your solution and you can share it with me so I can include it to help others. 

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