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Addicted to smartphone, unable to read consistently

Asked by Female, 25, Single

I am 25 years, studying political science. Since childhood, I've always aspired to read a lot, but have not managed to do that ever. I keep on buying booms that attract me but they just remain stacked on my shelves. As soon as I begin reading I lose interest. , One of the reasons is my smartphone, which I am almost addicted to, even if I'm not talking to anyone, I'd keep surfing the net or something. But for reading, I procrastinate. Its painful because in my area of study which I want to take up as a career, i require a lot of reading. I make plans, write down a schedule, and end up following nothing out of it. Whenever I keep my phone away i start fantasizing usually, which i fail to understand why. I'm involved in an unstable, temporary relationship, which bothers me but I like the person i'm with. I don't see myself settling down with a sound career anytime soon and that really worries me. I remain lazy, demotivated and waste my days.

Answer

Syed Omer Farooque

Counseling Psychologist

Answered almost 5 years ago

Hi!
Thank you so much for trusting and writing to us. I see that you have mentioned that you lose interest in reading, and are almost addicted to your smartphone. I can imagine what you must feel while you think that you have procrastinated reading, which you have to do for your studies too. First of all I must appreciate you for the fact that you have realized the smartphone coming in your way to read more. So one of the areas that we have work on is to gradually reduce the usage of it. Also, the fact that there is a strong desire in you to work towards your studies and career is commendable.
You have mentioned that you lose interest in reading although you have aspired to read a lot. How about starting with smaller books, or articles that could be completed in lesser time and then gradually moving to bigger books. Do you think you could dedicate some time to just read a few articles in the newspaper or related to your area of specialization? Start off with, lets say 10 mins each day for a week, gradually moving to 15 minutes, then to 20 minutes and so on, see if this works for you.
As for the mobile phone, see if you could simultaneously reduce the time spent on it. How about deleting the apps you spent more time on (eg: Facebook, Twitter, etc) and using these only on your laptop? This way, you have a dedicated device for browsing which would be used in the set time frame only. See if reading the books and articles on the phone helps you.
Relationships can immensely affect us. You have mentioned that you are in an unstable and temporary relationship that bothers you. It would be helpful if you could tell us a little about it in detail; that is only if you would want to talk about it in detail. Do you think this relationship is another reason for you to lose interest in your studies?

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