Reading a good book is one of life’s simple pleasures. But you might struggle to find time in your busy life to sit and read.
Smart technology also means that more and more people are spending their free time scrolling, with short, bite-sized content diminishing attention spans and making it harder to concentrate on the more focused task of reading.
The Department for Education (DfE) and the National Literacy Trust have launched a campaign, the National Year of Reading 2026, with the aim of getting people to enjoy reading for pleasure.
If you’d like to reduce your screen time and get back into a love of books, read on to find out how.
Reading has been replaced by screen time, but you can reverse this trend
In our age of distraction, it’s all too easy to pick up a phone or tablet and spend a few minutes here and there online. But when those few minutes start to stretch into hours, you might find yourself wondering if there is a more productive way to spend your time.
Research from SQ Magazine found that people aged 55 – 64 spend just over five hours online a day, while those over 65 reported just over three hours of screen time daily. While these figures were lower than those of the younger age groups, they still represent a significant portion of free time spent scrolling.
And it seems that time spent reading is being neglected in favour of this screen time. The Reading Agency reports that 55% of UK adults read less than they plan to, and 61% of lapsed readers struggle to read because there are too many distractions.
While some screen time might be useful and productive, if you find yourself “doomscrolling”, it could mean your attention span needs some work. Retraining your brain to enjoy longer, more focused periods could restore a love of reading.
1. Start small
Rather than trying to ditch your screen time altogether, start by replacing one session with reading. If you’re prone to scrolling just before you go to sleep, try setting yourself a reading target of, for example, 20 pages a night.
Using a screen just before going to sleep can trick your mind into staying awake and disrupt your natural sleep-wake cycle, so you might find reading also helps you to enjoy a better night’s sleep.
2. Track your progress
There’s a certain irony here, but there are some ways you can harness your smartphone to support your reading goals. Apps like Goodreads and StoryGraph can help you track your progress, giving you a sense of achievement.
You can also share recommendations and progress with like-minded communities, giving you a more focused use for your smartphone.
3. Focus on quality, not quantity
Setting yourself a hard target of 52 books a year, for example, can start to feel stressful. You may start choosing shorter books simply to tick them off your list or find yourself speed-reading rather than absorbing the narrative.
Rather, give yourself more gentle targets, such as 10 minutes a day or a certain number of pages. Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t finish a book: you could set yourself a 50-page limit, for example, and if it’s still not grabbing you, move on.
4. Expand your horizons
Your challenges to yourself can be anything you want: the whole point of the National Year of Reading is simply that you’re reading for enjoyment.
You could try reading the back catalogue of a favourite author, challenging yourself to try a new genre, or even reading in a different format. Audiobooks and e-readers are still ways to enjoy books, or you could treat yourself to some new magazines.
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Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.