Is deep reading a lost cause?
Dust off the book shelf to retrain your brain
Digitally Exhausted came to be because I wanted a place to share my thoughts on tech’s societal impact. My writing covers social media’s spaghetti-like complexities, Big Tech, and action steps to balance digital life.
Reading (or listening) to Digitally Exhausted, I hope you become inspired to design the digital life you want, not default or “opt-in” to one.
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Pssssst… To the listeners tuning in, I talk slowly. If slow talkers are not your thing, I suggest increasing the voiceover speed to 1.5x.
Growing up, I was not an avid reader at all. There was never a phase where I curled up on the porch to soak up prose of a mysterious adventure—However, I did read the Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Grey trilogies in high school.
I want to blame my busy ballet and rehearsal schedule, but I somehow always managed to rush home to catch the new Pretty Little Liars episode that aired every Thursday night.
If you don’t know, I am currently taking an in-depth (and quite intense) digital wellness coaching course, and one of the topics we are covering is deep reading.
From scanning Tweets, social media captions, and news bites, deep reading is a skill slipping away due to our internet culture. Our brains have learned to read keywords over sentences—we are cognitively impatient. This risks digesting knowledge, comprehension, understanding thoughts and feelings, and even empathy.
Deeping reading is not a lost cause but I would argue it will be a future sought-out skill by employers. But how will our impatience affect future generations? Well, it already has.
In high school, I was thrilled to learn that our school was making it mandatory to have an iPad for the upcoming school year—my mom, not so much from what I recall. The school wanted to slowly transition textbooks to be a digital resource. Little did they know parents would be paying for their kids to be distracted in the classroom.
We would sit in class playing Words with Friends or messaging each other during the day’s lesson. I feel bad about it now… but here I am repaying my debt (trying not to think about the learning I missed) by writing about the effects of technology and the importance of digital wellbeing.
Part of me wonders if the school did its homework about the benefits of reading physical text versus reading on tablets. I believe they had good intentions, but part of me wonders if the initiative was just a marketing tactic to add to its list of attractable characteristics.
The iPad is a tool but there needs to be education on how to use our devices effectively.
My pitch… let’s have digital wellbeing taught in school. However, I have little hope for the U.S. since personal finance is not taught in school. But hey, I am a dreamer.
My favorite initiative for classroom distraction is based here in Ireland, a principal put plastic boxes on lockers for students to put their phones in while they are in the classroom. This won’t fix iPad distractions, but perhaps we need to be curious and question the tech we put inside the classroom.
Trying to unlearn skim reading
I am a skim reader. I want to be able to read fast so I can move on to the next article or email.
If speed reading was passed on, I would have it. My mom is a wicked-fast reader thanks to her Florida education during the Apollo era. If only…
With the course I’m taking, skim reading is NOT an option. The resources we are given are hefty research papers and articles that my millennial brain gets overwhelmed by sometimes.
But I find rewarding myself with a sweet treat and a fun book helps me slow down—the topics we are covering are also fascinating, which helps me stay engaged.
Developing deep reading
It’s hard! If you find yourself skimming paragraphs for keywords, this is normal. How we consume content online has made us speed through things at a rapid pace.
If you want to train your brain to slow down and absorb the beauty of sentences, here is a challenge for those interested in getting back to deep reading:
Grab a book. No, not on your Kindle or iPad. Dust off the bookshelf and grab a physical book.
Developing my new reading habit was extremely difficult— to say goodbye to bedtime Netflix was painful because I love crime shows, which I know is not the best before bed viewing experience but what can I say, I love Forensic Files.
Make it easy and attractive. Every night I make a cup of tea, light a candle, and snuggle up in the duvet with my phone hidden on the shelf under my nightstand.
Remember, out of sight out of mind will help you focus.
There is just something about a physical book that tablets can’t compete with. The crispness of a new book, the smell of fresh pages, and the satisfaction of each page turned.
How will you make deep reading attractive?
Wherever you are, be there ✨
Nothing extravagant happened this week. I worked, cooked, danced, and enjoyed parting the pages of new book I’m reading, Orchid and the Wasp. It’s fun, full of witty humor, and Irish, so it keeps me engaged as I turn the pages.
Until next time,
Wherever you are, be there