Develop a good reading habit – for good.

In this article:

• Why I got an e-reader
• What are e-readers?
• Why I love my Kobo e-reader
• Use an e-reader to change your phone habits

Why I got an e-reader

I’m a book lover. I love the look, the feel, and the utility of books. Like many, however, somewhere along the way I lost my habit of reading I had as a child and teenager.

I decided that I wanted to change this in early 2022, and I tried my best to encourage my reading – I made books a very accessible alternative to my iPad and iPhone. I kept physical copies everywhere in my home.

While those things definitely helped (and I’d encourage you to try them too), I felt like something was missing.

• My eyes would start hurting after a while of staring at my iPad screen.
• Physical books took up a lot of space in my purse/bag.
• The latter issue compounded if I wanted to bring multiple books.
• I didn’t want to risk losing my iPad and all its data while traveling.

I knew that there was a simple solution to my problems. So, after many years of skepticism, I finally decided to pull the trigger and get an e-reader.

Spoiler alert: This e-ink reader completely changed my relationship with books.

What are e-readers?

E-readers, short for electronic readers, are portable devices specifically designed for reading digital books and other text-based content.

They typically use E Ink (electronic ink) technology for their screens, which resembles the appearance of printed text on paper.

E-readers are not tablets. While there are tablets with e-ink technology, like the BOOX Note Air2 or ReMarkable 2, here I’m specifically talking about bare-bones, can-only-open-books e-readers.

Why I love my Kobo e-reader

If you search up “getting an e-reader changed my life” or “getting a kindle changed my relationship with books”, you’ll see a plethora of testimonies of people who swear by their new book-reading gadget. I’m now one of them. Here’s why:

Reason 1: Small footprint / portability

E-readers are very easy to carry around. Your average e-book reader has a lower footprint than a small notebook.

I can fit mine in pretty much every purse I own – and some pockets too.

Bonus: My hands are also smaller than average, so even my iPad Mini 6 causes fatigue after a while.

Reason 2: A reading-specific device

While you can store and read on an iPad, there’s something satisfying about having a single-purpose device like this.

My iPad is always connected to the internet, because I need it for lots of things: work messages and emails, streaming services, note-taking, drawing, etc.

On the other hand, my Kobo is offline 99% of the time. I only briefly connect it to the Internet in order to buy more books, or to sync articles through Pocket.

This kind of set-up allows me to get into a mental state where I’m ready to focus, read and thus enter a flow state. When I put the e-reader down, my mind is allowed to be scattered again.

Reason 3: An entire library in one device

I no longer have to worry about missing out on reading while traveling and on-the-go (I take 20-30 flights a year). I like to read multiple books at the same time, and normally this would mean that I’d have to bring multiple physical books with me.

With an e-reader, I can go back-and-forth between books, and pick up a second book immediately after finishing the first one.

What’s more, all of my highlights, notes and bookmarks are stored in one place, where I can easily find them, rather than scattered across many different notes and pages in physical copies of books.

Reason 4: Adjustable text

One of the best perks of e-readers is the accessibility. You’re able to:

• Increase or decrease the letter size
• Change the font (serif, sans-serif, etc.)
• Increase or decrease the paragraph width
• Adjust the screen light’s intensity and color

While this functionality exists on the iPad, the e-ink screen contributes a lot to the overall experience. For me, even perfectly adjusted text on the iPad doesn’t come close to the eye comfort of an e-reader. Which brings me to my next point…

Reason 5: Less eye strain

LCD’s are known to cause eye-strain after prolonged use.

Like many others, I’ve noticed that my eyes strain less when reading on an e-ink display than on LCD screens. After doing some research, it appears that my subjective experiences were confirmed through various studies over the years:

“[C]ells accumulated ROS two to three times more slowly on exposure to frontlit electronic paper displays compared to backlit liquid crystal displays”
_______
Note: ROS stands for “reactive oxidative species”, and they reduce energy producing cellular components used in eye cell repair and maintenance.

X. Wang, D. Hertel, L.C. Garone, R.A. Rogers (2023)

“Results from both objective (Blinks per second) and subjective (Visual Fatigue Scale) measures suggested that reading on the LCD (Kindle Fire HD) triggers higher visual fatigue with respect to both the E-ink (Kindle Paperwhite) and the paper book”

S. Benedetto, V. Drai-Zerbib, M. Pedrotti, G. Tissier, T. Baccino (2013)

How an e-reader can help you break up with your phone

If you’ve read everything up until now, you’ll probably be able to infer how an e-reader can help you give up some of your phone screen time in favor of reading more books.

The answer is simple: reading becomes your default pass time activity.

The challenge

Lots of people nowadays fill the gaps between their daily activities with social media and mindless tapping on their phone. Here are some numbers by a Reviews.org 2023 report on adult Americans’ smartphone usage:

• 89% of Americans say they check their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up
• 75% use their phone on the toilet

These numbers are just some proving that our default state has become “always on, always alert, never bored”.

How to solve it

To change your phone habits, you need to change the defaults. How do you change a default? Make the state you want to be in more desirable.

A small, portable, accessible device dedicated solely to reading makes the option of reading a lot more appealing because it’s easy and you don’t have to think about it.

This change can be done in two steps:

1. Put your phone out of reach.
   • If it makes you anxious, it doesn’t need to be buried underground – just keep it out of sight so that you have to consciously put in effort to take it.
2. Keep your e-reader on you (or close to you) at all times.

It won’t take you long to start reaching out for the e-reader before grabbing your phone. It works!

If you’d like to also learn how to make your phone less distracting, check out this article.