How to get over a reading slump and make reading fun again?
A slump is no joke - in fact, many readers often hit a wall and stop reading for long periods of time. Luckily, there are ways to prevent this.
What is a slump? It is life's way to challenge us by occasionally sending us into one. You start feeling like getting out of bed itself is a chore and everything from work-related tasks to guilty pleasures seems too much of a hassle. If you find yourself in a country with long winters, like I am, you probably already know that the grey gloomy skies you have to contend with day in and day out don't exactly help the situation. And if you feel that your life has been set to "automatic" mode and some of your favourite activities no longer bring you joy, you my friend, might be suffering from a serious one.
A slump is not easy to get over, especially if you’ve never faced one before and don’t know what signs to look for. But there are ways to make it go away faster.
What is a reading slump?
A reading slump presents itself in a very similar manner to it's bigger cousin. Suddenly, the book you're reading becomes too heavy to pick up and too hard to finish. It no longer holds the same appeal to you, even though the story is still as interesting as ever. So you leave it somewhere around the house in what is literally a perpetual limbo - it's not returned to the shelf, but nor is it being used in the manner intended. You might also convince yourself that picking up another book instead isn't an option, as first you need to finish this one. I know I have, during one of my own stints.
To put it in layman's terms, you might be suffering from a reading slump if you suddenly start thinking of reading as a chore rather than something fun.
Is reading no longer fun and makes you feel overwhelmed? This is an almost certain sign of entering a reading slump.
Common causes of a Reading Slump
Being forced to read for work/school
In my experience, any reader has suffered through a reading slump at least once in their lives. Personally, I've had a few run-ins with it myself and, surprisingly, the cause of each one was always different. My first time was in high school, when I had to read a very intense list of titles in a rather short period of time for my finals. I was speed reading through multiple titles a week but there was no joy or satisfaction from it. Almost from the onset I saw my reading list as a task, a chore given to me by somebody else, which I needed to complete as soon as possible. I finished the entire list and didn't pick up a book for several months afterwards.
Forcing reading deadlines upon yourself is a sure way to get into a reading slump!
2. Forcing a deadline upon yourself
My second time, was when I first decided to do a "reading challenge". You've definitely ran across at least one of these, especially around the start of every new year - "52 books in 52 weeks", "100 books in a year" & "5 books a month" are just a few examples of the most common ones.
I was so hyped to push myself to do this that I started reading like my life depended on it. While it was relatively on my own terms this time and I was making good pace for a while, eventually life caught up to me and other things like work, family and responsibilities got in the way. After a few more months I began to panic about completing my challenge and when it became apparent that there was no way I would finish it, I simply gave up. But I was so exhausted by the whole ordeal that again I didn't pick up a book for a few months after.
3. Pushing yourself way too hard
The third, and as of yet, final time I entered a reading slump, came when I decided I was going to tackle a few of the longest (and thickest in terms of individual volumes) book series out there. One. After. The. Other. Looking back in retrospect, probably not my smartest decision, but hey - live and learn, right?
I picked the first one and by the 7th 800 page book I was already feeling a tad sluggish. But I pushed through and made it through about 15 books to finish the first series I had set my mind on. So what did i do afterwards? I immediately picked up the first book in the next series. And halfway though it, I just couldn't go any further.
Thankfully, I already had some experience with getting over slumps, so I knew what to do to get rid of it, and therefore this third instance only lasted about a week and a half.
The road to success is having less stress!
How to prevent a reading slump?
As I mentioned above, my last slump lasted much shorter than the previous two, mainly due to the fact that I had take the time to reflect on why it was occurring in the first place. So let's look at a few tried and tested ways to help you get out of that reading slump:
Take a break from reading
This one should be rather obvious, but still I had to say it. While the brain itself is not a muscle, it still can get over-worked like one. What do you do when you've over-trained? Exactly, you take some time off to let your body recover properly. The same principle can be applied to your brain and it's reading capacity. The time off depends on each individual, but what I've found is that 1 week at the minimum and 1 month at the maximum works as a rough guideline for most people.
Try doing something else that pumps dopamine levels up in the meantime - play some sports, play video games, draw, learn how to cook, etc. You might find escape from your reading slump (and a new hobby) faster.
Variety is the spicy of life! The old adage stands true for reading too!
2. Add Variety
Let's go back to our muscle analogy. To work and develop properly, your muscles require all sorts of minerals, vitamins, carbs, proteins and fats. A healthy diet is a varied diet. Also, can you imagine eating the same thing every day for the rest of your life? Even your favourite dish would start to look like pig slop after a month or two. So why do we think that things should be different with our reading diet? Much like our body, our minds require a varied and balanced intake. Variety, then, is truly the spice of life.
There are three methods I use to bring variety to my reading diet when I feel close to hitting a reading slump.
Variety in books
Pick up a different book. Seriously, sometimes all you need is just a change of scenery. This was one of the things that helped me get over my last (and shortest) reader's burnout. Even if you're in the middle of a long book series or you've created ten TBR lists - ignore them and follow your mood for a change. In my case, I've found that if I'm to tackle a big series, what works best is to read one shorter, non-related book, after every three or four instalments in the same franchise.
Variety in genres
We all have our favourite genres and can often become completely engrossed in them, to the point that a majority of our library consists of books with similar tones. Remember what we said about eating the same food over and over? Try picking up a different genre for a change. I've found that what works for me is to figure out which side-story elements from my favourite books I find most interesting and just go from there. In my case, I'm a massive fantasy buff but I love when my fantasy books have side-story arcs on solving mysteries or doing heists. Hence, picking up a mystery, detective, thriller or heist novel will be something I'm likely to enjoy.
Perhaps you love the romance side-plots in your favourite genre? Or the historically-accurate aspect of it's battles? Figure out whatever that is and just switch it up.
For those brave enough, you can also try plunging head first into a completely random genre and see what happens.
For those that are not sure what else to pick, you can never go wrong with reading a classic.
Are you overwhelmed by the size of a book? Maybe try reading it on a Kindle?
Variety in storytelling mediums
Perhaps the problem lies not in your chosen book or genre, but in the act of reading itself? Maybe you feel frustration at not having time to read as much as you'd like, or you literally have no more place to put new books in your house? Try switching things up a bit.
E-readers are an amazing alternative to printed editions, where you can have literally thousands of books in your digital library stored safely and easily accessible through your hand-held device. Personally, I love the convenience of carrying an entire book series in my pocket when I'm traveling, as well as being able to find digital books whose paper-printed editions have long been lost to memory.
And if you're too busy to sit down and read altogether, try an audiobook. There are dozens of rich and credible platforms out there to choose from and you don't need to carry an extra device - everything is done through your phone. Listen out loud, or plug in some headphones, and you can go about your daily tasks while still learning the fates of your favourite fictional characters.
Have you ever experienced a reading slump? How did you get over it? Let us know in the comments below.