I have spent 2017 having the same conversation with my husband at least once a week. It goes something like this:
Me: I think we need to put our phones down at home. We are both spending our days scrolling through crap and it’s not good for our mental health.
Beloved: I agree.
Me: Constant connectivity is rude, it is breaking down our connections, it is distracting us from what matters.
Beloved: I agree.
Me: It sets a bad example for the monkeys and is turning us into idiots.
Beloved: I agree.
Me: Ooh, just let me check my phone to see how many steps I’ve done.
Seriously, it is a wonder to me that I’ve not been bopped on the nose.
One of my major problems with my own mobile phone use is that it has ruined my attention span. Reading has always been my biggest love and I could get through a few books a day when I was younger. This year I’ve managed to read about thirty. Now, I get that life changes. Reading has given way to a marriage (yay!), monkeys (yay!) and running a house (boo!) but my biggest problem is distraction. Give me half an hour to read and I will get approximately two minutes in and reach for my phone to check Instagram. Quick scroll and back to the book. Then I should check my emails. There is no need to check your emails constantly on your phone. The sale notifications can wait. Back to the book and re-read the paragraph I read before I was rudely interrupted by my own idiocy. Then a quick look at Twitter to see who is outraged by what. Get outraged by their outrage and get stressed. Chuck my phone down pick up my book and then realise it’s time to make lunch having read four paragraphs, three of them twice and have a twitchy eye from all the rage.
Enough is enough. I would like my attention span back. I would like to lose myself in a book. I would like to be inspired by someone’s story or awed by the things I learn. In 2018 I am setting myself a challenge to read 50 books from start to finish. Anything I’m part way through and finally get round to finishing doesn’t count. My starting ten looks like this:
- The Sellout by Paul Beatty
- How To Be Champion by Sarah Millican
- Legacy of Spies by John le Carré
- Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
- Hit So Hard by Patti Schemel
- A Room With A View by E M Forster
- La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
- Avid Reader by Robert Gottlieb
- Roots, Radicals and Rockers by Billy Bragg
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
It’s a start. Once I’m on my way the next ten will appear, then the next and then the next. I’ll review the fizzy inducing ones on here. Recommendations are welcome, please let me know what you love and wish me luck.