Put your phone away. Perhaps you have a system in place for this already: Do Not Disturb or Airplane Mode or app blockers or a secret cabinet under the stairs. Whatever it is: use it. If you don’t have a system for putting your phone away, establish one now.
Make it a ritual. Reading, like anything else, thrives on ritual. Maybe a reading chair. Maybe by a fire. Maybe in bed way too late with a rechargeable reading lamp so your beleaguered partner can get some sleep. Maybe in the car pickup line. Maybe first thing upon waking with a cup of coffee. Read at the same time in the same place for a few weeks and see what happens.
Put your phone away. Hmmm, is that pesky pocket-sized computer still giving you trouble? It’s calling you, isn’t it (not literally, because, I mean, who makes phone calls anymore?)? Perhaps you could turn it off. Perhaps you could get one of those pouches now being forced upon the youth in schools. Perhaps put it somewhere it’s very annoying to get to: the garage, the freezer, your mother-in-law’s mailbox.
Give yourself permission to read free-range. I want you to read whatever it is you want to read. Pick a genre, any genre. There are no guilty pleasures. Reading is reading is reading is reading. Follow your nose or your fingertips or your eyeballs around the bookstore or library. Pick books up, flip the pages, read a few lines. What do you like? No, I mean, really, WHAT DO YOU LIKE? Remember, no one’s watching you read, it is (can be) a private activity, an activity you do not need permission for. READ WHAT YOU LIKE, END-STOP.
Put your phone away. It’s still there, isn’t it? It’s still singing its siren song of false connection, isn’t it? It wants to grind up your attention and sell it for profit! Which reminds me: have you tried the garbage disposal? (Not your phone, that would be dangerous. But you could slip the charging cord in there. Just for a night’s peace.) Some other possibilities include: “accidentally” leaving your phone under your car’s back wheels and then running out to the store; the good ol’ toilet drop (make sure you flush before the phone “slips” in); the anger throw (brick walls are good for this execution).
Keep a physical log of what you’ve read. In a year, in ten years, you’ll be able to look back at what you’ve read and it will be awesome. Better than a list of reels you’ve watched or hacks you’ve discovered (and never implemented) via tiktok. I promise.
Put your phone away. Yes, keep trying. It is possible. Even for an hour. You are still a human, despite the machine.
