“READ 20 MINUTES A DAY” is a sign that flashes in front of each elementary school in the school district in the city I live.
It makes me happy that the local schools are placing an emphasis on reading for a set amount of time each day for the kids.
But it makes me think... what about the adults?
Do you take at least 20 minutes a day to read?
If not, you definitely should.
Here are some brief reasons why...
Reading is a way to cultivate attention.
Previously, I have written about the ways in which sustained attention creates a cumulative effect. The definition I gave sustained attention is simple.
“Sustained Attention is having the ability to focus on an activity or stimulus for a long period of time. It's what enables us to fully concentrate on an activity as long as it takes from beginning to end, even if there are other distractions at hand.”
- From “Sustained Attention is Cumulative”
Devoting time to reading is, in essence, devoting time to sharpening our attention.
It is channeling our energy towards the words in which we are striving to read and promoting a sense of exploration as we seek to understand what is being described to us.
Reading is the attempt to connect with the ideas being presented before us as our eyes shift from left-to-right on each page.
For a brief moment in time, reading is exiting our heads, and letting someone else direct our thoughts, as well as seed our imaginations.
Reading when done right, is us connecting with the author’s words and entering their world of ideas. Leaving plenty of room for interpretation dependent on how focused we are, while also encouraging exploration within.
Reading is an exploration.
In an early piece I wrote on my personal website “Journey to 1,000,” I detailed my journey of how I went from being someone who hated reading to someone who loves reading. Leading me to declare that I am determined to read 1,000 books.
“Bear in mind, I was a senior in college at the time. 0 books completed on my own in the past 7 years or so... one would think that being in college.. would be the ideal time to delve deep into books. But that was not the case for me at the time.”
- From “Journey to 1,000”
Adam, who at that time read 0 books in the previous 7 years versus Adam who has read 237 books the past 4-5 years. (You can see my list of completed reads here).
I think of the person I have become, as well as the person I continue to strive to be, due to my incessant reading and reflecting on the words in which I read.
Then this led me to discovering Readup.
“Readup is a one stop shop for reading articles online. The platform essentially acts as a safehouse for articles you would like to read now, tomorrow, or even next year, as you build up your library of articles using the "My Reads" function on the Readup Platform.” - From (Change the way you read online)
Reading articles in bed, reading articles at the gym, reading them everywhere. I have found that reading has permeated my less-exploratory habits such as scrolling endless social media feeds or watching repetitive tv shows with predictable plots.
Reading has led me to probe deeper into topics that previously seemed way too intimidating for me to initially look into.
Such as working on creating a debut album, writing this newsletter, learning intensely about a complicated subject in cryptocurrencies/web3.
Reading about a topic, is the prerequisite for getting acclimated to its contents and understanding what it is you are reading. The words written within the text, are containers for concepts.
When you read something, it is the first stepping stone in understanding a topic. Understanding the language, enables you to understand the complexity of a rather tough and/or dense concept.
Want to understand music? Take the time to understand the language utilized to discuss it.
Want to understand crypto? Read until you find a word/concept you don’t understand… find the definition for it, and try again.
THIS IS HOW LEARNING HAPPENS.
Reading is a great introduction to any topic, and the start to the exploratory process that is learning.
Reading is a way to practice patience.
I have a story for you.
About a month ago, my Google Chromecast stopped working. Naturally, I was quite upset by this, as there was really no explanation as to why it stopped… leading me to to parse through the Google FAQ’s looking everywhere for advice on how to troubleshoot my device. After a night filled with trying everything to reboot my Chromecast, I gave up.
I unplugged my Chromecast and put it far away and out of sight, for fear that I would dismantle it out of frustration at the situation.
I had it out of sight and out of mind for a month until this morning, after doing my morning meditation, reading for about an hour, and taking time to write my morning page... suddenly, I felt the motivation to try and troubleshoot this rather annoying device. First, I had to find it.
Seemingly, I had misplaced it due to my desire to have this Chromecast in a place where I couldn’t find it. This led me to searching all corners of my apartment. Patiently, and calmly, unlike the state of mind I was in while trying to fix it last time.
BOOM! I found the device, however, I also disassembled the plug from theCchromecast, so this still needed to be found. This led to about another twenty minutes or so of searching.
Until I ALSO FOUND THE PLUG. This was the easy part.
I had to then plug my Chromecast into my TV’s HDMI port, then fire up my Google Home App to pair my iPhone with the device, as well as getting my device connected to WiFi. (this was the part that led to my frustration the first time).
To my surprise, it was a HELL of a lot easier than last time, and I found success in connecting my Chromecast to WiFi, as well as to my phone.
This is a story that has to do with patience.
Tending to activities that enhance your patience and ability to focus in on the tedious details, enable you to push through in rather arbitrary activities. Even for troubleshooting Google Chromecasts.
Need to do something that you are dreading in your day?
My advice: read 20 minutes beforehand.
This will instill a mindset of a patience, exploration as well as attentiveness preparing you for anything to come in your days adventures.
Conclusion
Set a timer for 20 minutes after you read this and see what happens. (if you read this you can subtract 6-7 minutes).
Read 20 minutes a day... and you'll be drastically surprised by the amount you'll read in a week, month, year, let alone your whole life.
Reading daily has dramatically improved my patience and attentiveness, as well as promoting the ability to explore complicated topics.
You may just be surprised how a simple habit such as reading will alter your life.
I sure know it changed mine.
Cheers to lifelong learning,
Adam Bartley
PARTING NOTE
If you're enjoying “The Freelance Graduate Student” newsletter, I would really love it if you shared it with a homie or two. You can send them here to subscribe. I try my very best to put out creative ideas each week, and I hope you have as much fun reading them as I do writing them.
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