I need to start by clarifying that reading is not a competition or that I think it should be. Reading is a hobby, a source of entertainment, therefore, should never be a competition. And in the golden age of online sharing, I know it can be hard to avoid comparing our reading with others, especially when some are capable of hitting double digits every month. But this post isn’t about reading more than other people. Every time I mention competition or competing, I’m talking about doing it against myself, challenging myself, and pushing myself as a reader, not comparing myself with others. Keep in mind this is purely an experiment to get even more enjoyment of reading.

To be completely honest, I decided to make this post on a whim. I had a couple of ideas left for reading experiments to do this year when I came across a video announcing a readathon I’d never heard of before. Let me just say YouTube is booming right now with so many different readathons, 24 and 48-hour reading challenges, read-a-longs… It’s a great time to find the motivation to read and entertainment. A two-in-one bundle. Online right now! And I love it!

Back to the task at hand, I found the announcement of Whateverathon II (because it was the second year) that ran for the entire month of June. It was hosted by Maddie at book browsing blog and a lot of other BookTubers. But this wasn’t an ordinary readathon. It had a bingo board with reading and non-reading prompts, there were teams, and you could collect points. Everything was set so I could challenge myself to get as many points as possible and help lead my team to victory (which we did!). And with a points system as a form of reward, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try turning reading into a competition and see if it could act as motivation or quite the opposite.

The Experiment

My initial plan was to log in alongside the readathon to speak my mind on how the experience was going. Although I never felt the need to do it. The prompts allowed me to freely pick what I wanted to read, and it was smooth sailing once I got into the mindset of reading, reading, reading. In past readathons, the prompts tend to be more strict. For example, pushing you to read that book forgotten in the TBR pile for years. It’s supposed to act as motivation to read something left behind. Although that usually gets me stuck in a book I don’t want to read anymore. So this time, I was surprised by how many books I could choose from that could hit multiple reading prompts.

As the month progressed, it became easier to keep reading. Seeing how many books I was finishing, how quickly I was doing it, and the progress I was making was motivation enough to keep going. I had a tab saved on my phone to add my progress and collect points for my team. Every day, I was eager to update. I wanted to finish more books so I could add another entry. I was highly motivated, and it showed. I read a total of 9 books. NINE books! This is so surreal to me. If I can read five books, I’ll be happy and excited for such a great reading month. But doubling that amount? It makes June an exceptional month. I’m beyond happy and excited. I’m overwhelmed by how much I was able to accomplish. And at that moment, I realised how I could read more. I have to put in the time.

The Conclusion

I know it sounds stupid to say: “to read more, you need to spend more time reading”. Duh! That’s obvious! If you spend more time reading, obviously you will read more. But by putting in the time, I’m not talking about one or two hours of reading every day, I’m saying prioritise reading over everything else. Netflix? No, pick up a book. Watch a movie? Nope, pick up a book. Play some games? Nope, pick up a book. Browse Instagram? No, pick up a book. During June, I think there were only two days when I made the conscious decision to watch Netflix. I only did it because I had already read a few good hours that day, so I allowed myself a break.

Then I remembered BooksandLala, a Canadian BookTuber that reads more than 100 books a year. And how does she do it? Other than being a fast reader, she doesn’t watch much TV. She has shared that about herself. And if I look at my days and see how much time I dedicate to watching TV (or YouTube), maybe I would read more too if I cut it out of my life – I wouldn’t get to 100 though. That’s in another league. And June came to prove just that. I minimised my time in front of a screen and switched it for a book instead, which caused me to double the number of books I usually read. Will this mean I’ll stop watching TV? No. I find movies and series also a source of entertainment, something I enjoy. And the same thing happens with YouTube. Although, I’m picky with what I watch, so maybe I can cut back my viewing time while I wait for the next season to drop.

The deadline was what really pushed me to prioritise reading above all else. And, in a way, it was one downside of the experiment. Even if I really wanted to watch a movie or a series, I wouldn’t do it. I had to progress a little more in the book. In normal circumstances, I do what I feel like doing, whether it’s reading, watching something or playing games. But if I can dedicate as much time to reading as I did back in June, and some days allow myself breaks from reading, I can fly through books and still do all these other things. And those tiny little breaks might be all I need to avoid burnout or get stuck in a reading slump. It’s all about finding a balance. Something that I’m now trying to accomplish.

The Aftermath

Even though I was a happy reader throughout the month, when July came by, I didn’t read anything for the first 3 days of the month. I deliberately decided to not pick any book and use my time to do all the things I avoided during June. Like playing video games and watching a series on Netflix – Peaky Blinders is my new obsession BTW. And it felt good! Being able to finally do something that I enjoy when I denied it to myself for so long. Although I also miss the grind because it was fun. And since then, things have been getting rougher.

I was caught in a reading slump, and the happy reader I was just a few months back isn’t much of a reader now. I don’t blame the amount of time I dedicated to reading while shutting everything else down. I believe the problem was a lack of a goal. Why should I pick up a book right now instead of watching another episode of Peaky Blinders? I can finish the book anytime now, I don’t have a deadline or points to collect or a bingo board to fill. There’s nothing to push me to finish the book sooner other than my own free will – which is taking a break at the moment. So maybe, just maybe, I was competing after all. And having points to reward myself and a shared deadline with a whole community were things that pushed me to read more.

Looking back on June, I’m still not quite sure what was my biggest motivation. Maybe the short time it took me to go from book to book. Maybe the community aspect. Maybe the reading sprints. Maybe the bingo board. Maybe all of it combined. I don’t know. I would have to do more experiments to be able to figure it out. I was expecting this experiment to go in a different direction. I wanted to see if reading in a competitive setting would be better or worst for me, and I don’t have a clear-cut answer to that question. I was actually expecting it to be a bad experience. To hate how much I was forcing myself to read. And none of that happen, not even once.

Whether I consider I was competing or not will be down to what defines a competition. But I’m not going to do that. In all honesty, I don’t care if I was competing. It never felt like it. Not against others and not against myself either. I was having fun and was motivated to keep reading more and more. I proved to myself how much I can accomplish if I put in more time to reading. I was having the time of my life! I had an extraordinary reading month that I want to repeat in the future. And even though I was craving other things to do, reading never felt like a shore. It is a true form of entertainment for me. So all the time I spend reading, it’s a fun time.