Perhaps you’re like me. Perhaps, as a kid, you could easily tear through multiple 300-page novels in a week – and now find it difficult to sit through a 25-minute TV show without instinctively checking your phone. Perhaps you’re also like me, in that you find yourself regularly wandering used bookstores and buying new volumes – only for them to accrete unread in mocking piles. Perhaps you’re yet again like me, in that passing through the malebolge of years and years of education has sapped your enthusiasm for recreational reading. If so, first allow me to offer my genuine sympathies, and second, some advice on regaining the habit of reading for fun.
Consider why
When trying to find motivation, give some thought to what it is you’re trying to gain by reading. Nostalgia for that childhood wonder? Are you trying to develop discipline, or just develop a hobby that’s screen-independent? Whatever it may be, narrowing down on a specific goal will help you set a focus and goals to move you forward.
Form habits
We are, above all else, creatures of habit. The instinct to routinely check your phone is a habit, and one that can be overcome or replaced. With habit-forming, the most important, and most difficult tool is consistency. There are many things you can try to develop consistency: checklists, reminders on sticky notes, sending texts or emails to yourself, Pavlovian rewards (A piece of candy after finishing a chapter? It’s simple, but effective). Whatever works. Finding a little time every day can be a challenge, but it is the most valuable single thing you can do to form habits.
As an aside, this advice obviously can apply to almost anything, not only reading.
Cultivating a healthy solitude can be helpful. Find someplace quiet, free from distractions (or create such a space by silencing your phone). University libraries will always have places for quiet reading.
Unless you are blessed with godlike powers of discipline, years of habit forming will not be reversed overnight. But, a little effort every day can go a long way.
Keep a journal
Not to invoke the academic horrors of reading responses and essays, but keeping some sort of reading journal can be a great help, both in forming and maintaining a habit, and in keeping ahold of your reading amid all the business of life.
After you’ve finished reading, try to summarize what you’ve read in a single paragraph, in language suitable for a five-year-old. It’s a small, perhaps silly, but effective practice that can help you keep track of your reading amid the thousand other things clamoring for your attention.
Find a book club
Reading can be a social activity. Your university likely has many book clubs for you to join. These can help you find entirely new books (or even just to choose one, which can be a difficult task), help with your comprehension and enjoyment, and also with encouraging consistency. There may also be clubs organized off-campus, perhaps through a public library, and also many, many that can be accessed online through various forms of social media. Consider checking with your university library to look for any listings.
Read a little during free moments
If nothing else, try to read just a little in the spare moments you have. Consider genres that lend themselves to brevity, such as poetry or short stories. Or, if you can countenance the heresy of non-print media, e-books and audiobooks are especially accessible nowadays
To reiterate and summarize: the essential key to developing any habit is consistency.