5 Tips for Reading in a Time of Pandemic
My family and I are four weeks into lockdown in New York City, one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 epidemic. Outside the sun is shining, cherry blossom trees are bursting into bloom, and the air coming through the window has the sweet-new-clean-fresh-floral smell of springtime. But there are also sirens—endless sirens, so many sirens, including several that blared through my neighborhood while I drafted this post. Each siren is the signal of another family’s sorrow and fear. My heart is heavy.
Reading is a balm for life’s big and small challenges for me even in the best of times, and especially now. But I’m hearing from many people who usually love to read that they are struggling to focus on books in the midst of all this. I can relate. During the first two weeks of quarantine, I was also in a serious reading slump. I managed to overcome it by trying a few different tactics.
Set a timer
I love this method for many things. It’s really just the Pomodoro Technique, in which you set a relatively short timer (say, 25 minutes, but anything, even 5, would work) and focus on a single task during that time. I use this method frequently when my mind is wandering too much while writing. It really works for me.
Set goals
This one is very satisfying. Decide on a certain number of pages and don’t stop reading until you get through them. You will feel like you accomplished something, and maybe you will even want to continue on past your goal.
Turn off your wifi, hide your phone
Lest you be tempted to hit refresh on a pandemic live blog (or three), remove the conduits from easy reach.
Read short stories
The shorter the better. You will feel great when you complete one, and they are usually easier to absorb if you’re too distracted to follow a long plot or a detail-heavy work of nonfiction.
Keep a list of books you’ve read
I keep a very simple yearly list broken down by month, and it’s a lovely thing to look over as time passes. It’s also good motivation to finish books and keep adding to the list.
I hope you’ve found this list helpful! I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested, you can also check out my middle grade novel, Coo, which came out in March from Greenwillow/HarperCollins.