Make 2021 your year of reading

Check Linkedin, check Facebook, check instagram, check Whatsapp, check news, check twitter, put phone away for a minute, check Linkedin, check Facebook… repeat.

This is a horrible loop centred on dopamine rewards. Apps designed not to revolutionise, democratise, connect or liberate, but rather to sell ads.

I’ve been off social media for close to 5 years, the only exception is Linkedin, and my life is absolutely better for it.

If you “don’t have time” to read, have a look at your app usage on your iPhone or Android, they will both tell you your screen time. If you’re like the average person it will likely be around 2.5 hours per day, for many it will be much higher. If that instead said 2.25 hours per day, and you spent the other 15 minutes reading per day, you’ll finish an average of 13 books this year. You’ll have an abundance of new knowledge, new topics of conversation, things to spark curiosity and insight to take to your daily life.

It makes you smarter, it’s fun, you get to decide what you read, and it’s also a great way to fall asleep.

Give 15 minutes back from your screen time this year and read.