Books
I Swapped my Screen Time for Reading Books For a Week
Here’s how it went
You read that right!
As part of my summer bucket list, I wanted to take on a Booktube reading challenge where you swap the time you spent on your phone with adequate reading. For a week.
Each day, I attempt to match my screen time of the previous week. So if I had 5 hours of screen time last Thursday (totally not from experience), then I’ll try to read for the same time this Thursday. You could also try to match your average screen time for the week, but I wanted to torture myself in the most delightful way.
With my phone locked except for the bare essentials and a book selection ready — let the pages be turned.
Day 1 — Monday
Reading time: 3hr 10 min out of 6hr 28 min
Screen time: 3hr 1 m
Books read: Started two books, I Can Jump Puddles by Alan Marshall and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury as an audiobook
Thoughts:
I started off on the right foot, it seemed. It was 3 am in the morning when I put 30 to 40 minutes of reading under my belt.
Sounds impressive? Well, in reality, I couldn’t sleep that night (summer sleep schedules are wrecked) so I decided to get some reading done while I’m at it.
I began reading a memoir by Alan Marshall called ‘I Can Jump Puddles’, the first book of a trilogy, detailing his childhood. The beginning pages established his diagnosis of polio and living in the hospital during the 1900s in rural Australia.
Later in the afternoon, when I was to do my chores and eat brunch, I switched to listening to an audiobook and multitasking. This is when I read (or you know, consumed) the classic Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It had an interesting premise of firefighters burning books instead of putting out fires, and have been on my TBR list.
I switched reading between the two books that day and while I didn’t complete the full 6 hours, I was glad to at least reach halfway and lower my screen time (even if it’s 9 minutes lower than my reading time, it’s a win!)
Day 2 — Tuesday
Reading time: 3hr 49 min out of 8hr 22 min
Screen time: 1hr 58 min
Books read: Finished Fahrenheit 451, continued reading I Can Jump Puddles, and read a children’s book with my brother
Thoughts:
Today was challenging, with 8 hours of reading as my goal. To no one’s surprise, it is harder reading for that amount of time in one day than idly scrolling on your phone.
So far, I was trying to ‘time-block’ my reading time into my schedule, like I would when it came to studying. But I realized it was impractical because it’s not like we’re scheduling blocks of hours to go on our phone, you know? High screen time often happens from all the minutes of picking up our phone instead of doing something productive (like reading) and it builds up over time.
I learned to try to change my phone habits. That includes turning it off at night, not picking it up the second I’m bored, and redirecting my attention to something else. Oh, and keep limits on social media. Do I always follow these rules? No, but this challenge sure helped me realize the impact that it has.
With that being said, I finished Fahrenheit 451 and rated it around 4 stars. I honestly thought well of the book; I liked the premise and stopped to highlight many parts. But after, I read book reviews noting all its faults…yeah it shattered my view for a hot second. Realised early not to do that!
Day 3 — Wednesday
Reading time: 20 min out of 3hr 51 min
Screen time: 1hr 45 m
Books read: Continued I Can Jump Puddles
Thoughts:
I know what you’re probably thinking. Only 20 minutes of reading, what happened?
A girls’ night, that’s what!
Look, I tried. I woke up early and was ready to lock in at least an hour of reading or so, but I had preparations to do for the hangout that I didn’t finish because of — hm, I don’t know — the 8-hour reading challenge yesterday lol.
I brought my book along with me and managed to read a few pages in between. At least my screen time went down, right?
Day 4 — Thursday
Reading time: 4hr 47 min out of 5hr 26 min
Screen time: 3hr 47 min
Books read: Started and finished No Safety in Numbers by Danya Lorents, continued I Can Jump Puddles
Thoughts:
Today, I was determined to finish a book and finish a book I did.
I first continued reading I Can Jump Puddles, but if I’m honest, it was slow-paced for me. There was no chance I was finishing it that day.
So I opted to start and finish a new book (totally logical) and that book was No Safety in Numbers by Danya Lorents. Thankfully, it is a young adult, thriller book that easily had me flying through the book. It consisted of an engaging premise where people were quarantined in a mall after a bomb was discovered in the basement.
I didn’t love it, though. There were many major plotholes (like why is their first reaction staying and not evacuating the mall?) and the middle of the book included high school drama plotlines that don’t make sense in a life-or-death situation. But props to the author for foreshadowing covid-19 (published all the way back in 2012). In the end, I gave it around 2.5 stars.
I was pleased to finish the book in one day but realized later that I still didn’t complete the reading goal? Sigh.
Day 5 — Friday
Reading time: 5hr 3 min out of 3hr 44 min
Screen time: 53 min
Books read: Finished I Can Jump Puddles, sort of started The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
Thoughts:
Well, I obliterated my reading goal today. I finished my first book, I Can Jump Puddles, and I grew fond of it. I loved reading about the people in his life and the author did amazing setting the atmosphere. It also ended in a sweet way, with how Alan learned to ride a horse despite his disabilities and demonstrate it to his parents for the first time, too. It set up the next books in the trilogy well and made me ecstatic to read the rest of his life story. 3.5 out of 5 stars overall.
With that being said, it was still quite slow-paced for me (vocabulary was a bit too rich there) and I spent a good chunk of my reading time eating away at this book. When I finished, it was around 10 pm or so. The euphoria of finishing a book stayed with me, though, and I continued reading a new book, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave.
I already read a few pages before the challenge. But once I continued it, I couldn’t put it down and kept reading past midnight.
Day 6 — Saturday
Reading time: 3hr 35 min out of 3hr 8 min
Screen time: 4hr 8 min
Books read: Finished The Last Thing He Told Me
Thoughts:
Wow, wow, wow. This book was a new five stars for me, and I’m extremely picky with my five stars (exhibit A: the two books I’ve only rated 5 stars the past year).
It was another Thriller book but it had a more mystery tone to it. There were plot twists I didn’t see coming, and what sold the book to me was the endearing storyline behind family relationships, specifically between the stepmother and stepdaughter, Hannah and Bailey. A good book for me makes me think and cry, and this book definitely did both.
Note: this was a digital book I read on the app, Libby, so my screen time did go up. I was reading though, I promise lol.
Day 7 — Sunday
Reading time: 5hr 15 min out of 6hr 10 min
Screen time: 6hr 11 min
Books read: Started Death on The Nile by Agatha Christie as an audiobook
Thoughts:
Today, my screen time did skyrocket. Honestly, I went lax on myself, perhaps because it was the last day or I was away from social media for some time. All I know is I did splurge on my screen time late at night when I should’ve been sleeping and…that made a dent.
With that being said, I started a new book by Agatha Christie, Death on The Nile. I enjoyed it thoroughly and managed to read it for around 5 hours, which is still close to my reading goal.
Summary
Final Stats
Number of books finished: 4
Average screen time: 3hr
Total reading time: 25hr 59min
In the end, I am grateful for doing this challenge as it did demonstrate how better I can use my time and the habits behind what contributes to it.
It made me pick up alternatives to mindless scrolling (like doing crossword puzzles at bedtime) and led me to check off books from my TBR list at the same time (truly a win).
Here’s to more reading!
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