About Screen Fatigue, Reading More Books and Being Sustainable

It's a classic symptom among those who like to read: we have more books than we read. And the desire to buy another book never ends.

The E-reader, a savior

When I moved to Noida, India, I worked on a bad shift, and there were no public libraries near my house.

Living in another country, the e-reader was my solution for reading: not accumulating on the physical shelf and maintaining the habit of reading. Because if I needed to go back to my country, I wouldn't be able to bring all the books with me.

Reading time with Chandelle, my reading partner

It helped me for a long time. However, with a tiring work routine and the pandemic, I couldn't read anymore. I read, again and again, the same sentences. I thought it would be better if I had books in my native language. But nothing helped. Reading from the screen made me nervous and tired. And it seemed I wasn't the only one.

I finished a book!!!

When things calmed down, I decided to go back to reading, but with physical book in a very simple language. The feeling of finishing a book was so incredible like "I am back!". And I started reading with physical books again.

But that triggered the desire to buy a lot of books. And I ended up buying a bunch.

Being sustainable or reading more books?

Each year I add a new sustainable habit and buying fewer books or none at all was the habit for 2023. But I decided to do a literary challenge and I don't have so many Latin American books that aren't Brazilian. And reading in the ebook is still a bit tiring. And books from countries like Suriname are not easy to find where I live. And I don't want to give up any of those points. and... and... and...

Dilemma successfully installed.

But everything that seems big and complicated can always be broken down into smaller parts. So I broke it down into questions and then into actions.

Questions

1. What is my situation at the moment regarding books? Do I take any sustainable action?

2. How important is reading these books to me?

3. What can I do to make the habit of reading more sustainable?

4. How much can I reduce the screen time in other activities to read more fluidly on my Kindle?

If I don't do anything sustainable, any action will be a step forward, right?

So I got to know that reading e-books is not the only sustainable way. In fact, according to different studies, you need to read a lot during the year so it can be more sustainable than a new paper book, more than 33 books of 360 pages a year.

Using library books is the most sustainable way and I decided this would be the priority. What is not available in libraries, I will opt for used books, which is also another very sustainable and cheaper option.

Actions

1. Check which books on my shelf are useful for the challenge - physical and digital ones

2. Check which books on my TBR are available at public and nearby libraries

3. Check if there are books by other authors pre-selected on TBR in libraries.

4. Renew my public library memberships

5. Check used book options in physical and online second-hand bookstores

6. Check eBook options for the titles on my TBR

7. And finally, if this is the only option: I will buy a new book.

8. At the end of the challenge, I will check the library donation requirements and the best condition books will be donated.

I also decided to reduce screen time on social networks to rest and be able to read with the e-reader. Balancing 3 or 4 physical books with 1 on Kindle.

Will it be difficult? Or tiring? Perhaps. But I believe that this way I can do the best I can regarding these two goals.

One step at a time.