One of my best friends inspired me to start reading a few years ago, just by talking about what she was reading and different authors. It reminded me of how much time I used to spend in libraries and reading books at home as a kid. I didn’t realize how quickly all of my fun reading turned into learning more about software or leadership or something else career-related.

Now that I’ve had time to touch grass and feel comfortable stepping away from the laptop more, the joys of reading have been overwhelming.

It’s a good interest gauge

I get excited about learning a lot of things. Now my new way of deciding what sticks and doesn’t is to buy and read a book about it. For a while I was super into capentry, so I read The Complete Guide to Home Carpentry. I haven’t used most of it, but ocassionally knowing about types of screws and bolts is helpful.

Then there was the time I was obsessed with essential oils and started making mixtures based on different reference books. That actually led to taking a couple of classes and making products I gave away to friends and family.

It doesn’t always go that way though. Once I was really into EEG signals and processing them. So I did a deep dive into an incredibly technical EEG Signal Processing and Machine Learning book. I did not finish that and have no intentions of doing so. I learned that I’m not interested on that deep of a level.

It invites more whimsy into life

Reading opens you up to new ways of thinking and gives you new perspectives on life. I like older sci-fi books like The Sirens of Titan, The Invisible Man, and Fahrenheit 451. They give me a chance to dream and imagine things I never would have thought of.

Books that involve historical events like 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History or have autobiographical contexts like Skunk Works, The Fighter’s Mind, Fate is the Hunter, and Book of Five Rings have made me really think about what people are capable of and have inspired me to do even more.

Then there are some books that just tell really good stories like the entire I Shall Seal the Heavens series and the Alex Rider series. Others point out some of the really obscure things like The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance and What If? that make you wonder what was going on at the time.

All of these completely different books unite in your mind and life to make it a little more colorful.

It’s better than anything online

When you pick up a book, it’s intentional. Even if you end up surprised with the content and decide to stop reading it, that’s still an intentional decision. Screen time for all of your entertainment is bad and books help break that up. You might read on your phone or tablet, but you’re not mindlessly consuming whatever is thrown in front of you at the time.

Starting a new book means you at least had to look at the title and make a split second decision that you should check it out. Any app or website is probably pushing content that you don’t really care about into your face so that you never stop scrolling. But a book will never show you ads or new material that you weren’t thinking about.

Spending hours lost in a book will likely leave you more refreshed than spending that time online. We all need to get offline more and do things that don’t require another screen. If you want to sit around and not do much, why not read? What’s really stopping you? You have the time for a book if you have time to do any social media, play games, or watch shows.

I have very strong opinions about moving more offline after work. It’s weird that we bounce between screens for work and fun, right?