How To Read When You Are Anxious

As social isolation hit, many readers went out and panic bought novels the way others hoarded toilet paper. But as the days have turned into weeks, something else has started to happen: even avid bookworms are finding it hard to motivate themselves to pick up a book or to concentrate for long when they do.

We want to read, or at least we want to want to read; we know it’s good for us to escape our real lives in normal times, let alone this whole — thing. And we miss it. We don’t feel like ourselves when we’re not immersed in books. So how do we get back into reading?

Only read what you actually want to read

The first thing to do is to seek out joy. We love reading, and we need to remind ourselves of that to get our motivation going again. The best way to do that is to read something we will genuinely enjoy, and not just feel virtuous about having read. This moment is for self-care, not ambitious goal-setting.

Now is not the time to pick up that book you’ve been telling yourself you will definitely read at some point, unless it brings you delight and excitement. Now is not the time for books you wish you wanted to read. If you don’t want to, genuinely, from your gut, don’t even try.

Lean into the change in your reading habits

Now might not even be the time for the sort of book you usually love. “But I usually like this kind of thing, what’s wrong with me?” is not a fun thought to have going through your brain the entire time you’re reading a book.

But it might be the perfect time to pick up something that’s never appealed before and discover a whole new genre. Maybe you’ll find yourself drawn in by graphic novels, or chick lit, or airport thrillers, or poetry. Maybe you’ll find something new to take with you into life after this, or maybe it’ll be something to look back on fondly when you think about 2020 — goodness knows this year could do with a redeeming feature or two.

Be quick to put down a book

If a book hasn’t grabbed you, or at least made you smile, in the first few pages, put it down and try something else. Otherwise, you won’t be inspired to go back to it, and it’ll just sit there accusingly, making you feel guiltier and guiltier and under more and more obligation until you resent not just that book but all the books. And that’s the opposite of what we’re aiming to do here.

Read books with short chapters

Any book in bite-sized chunks will do. It could be a book with super short chapters, like Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld. It could be an epistolary novel, like my own comfort read, Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Re-read some of your favourites

There’s something so comforting about hanging out with characters you love, and reading a plot whose resolution you already know. Plus, if you still care about your Goodreads goal, re-reads count now.

Only plan to read for a few minutes

It’s much easier to stay motivated when you’re succeeding at something. So tell yourself you’re only going to read a couple of pages or a chapter or for fifteen minutes — whatever you think you can reasonably do without pushing yourself. If you want to keep going after that, that’s great! But if you don’t, you can stop, and you’ll feel like a success, which will help you to want to try again next time.

Put your phone out of reach

There’s evidence that phones distract us even when we’re not using them. That’s certainly borne out my own experience. Mu phone being within reach means that I’m less likely to ignore random thoughts while I’m reading, and more likely to pick up my phone to screenshot a quote and text it to a friend or to make a quick note to remember to buy cucumber.

And once the phone is in my hand, I’m suddenly checking all my social media accounts, which, even if normal times, takes a good fifteen minutes. By which time, I’m totally yanked out of the world of the story and it’s twice as hard to get back into my book.

Put your phone on airplane mode

Our phones are tiny but powerful bombs of anxiety and panic, poised to repeatedly explode at any given moment. If you’re, say, in bed, and your phone is charging next to you, it’s almost impossible not to be attuned to the possibility of those explosions. Instead, switch the small monster to airplane mode and signal to yourself that this time for you, to enjoy a much-needed reprieve from all that’s going on.

Twitter will still be there when you switch your phone back on, I promise — and if not, maybe that’s better for all of us.

Read first thing in the morning and last thing at night

Isn’t that a better way to start or end your day than scrolling through the latest statistics?

Try audiobooks

If your podcast feed is anything like mine — full of a dozen daily takes and updates on the news — it’s not the best place for an anxious person to hang out. You’re probably not commuting anymore, but we could all do with a change of scene from time to time. If you’re healthy and you live in a place where walks are appropriate, plug in a story and get in your steps. This can also be a much needed reprieve from the family under your feet or an opportunity to see other human beings, from a distance, out in the wild.

You might not be able to concentrate on an audiobook for long, but that’s okay. A few minutes at a time will eventually add up to a book.

Plan to talk books with a friend

If you’re regularly Zooming with someone or a group of someones who like books, why not plan to regularly discuss what you’re reading? You can choose the same book, or just share your experiences and recommendations. Bonus: it’ll give you something to talk about that isn’t, you know, this.

Be gentle with yourself

I know it feels like this will last forever, but one day, it will be over, and your reading mojo will eventually return. If reading is just not happening for you right now, that’s okay — books will be waiting for you after all this.