When I was younger, I used to tear through books — in some cases, reading full novels from cover to cover in a day. As I got older and moved on to college, the opposite of what would be expected happened. Instead of reading more in college like I expected, I read less. The truth is, the only reading I do anymore is required reading in my classes.

So what happened?

Why is it that I am reading less now than I did when I was 13?

I do not want to sound whiney, but the truth is I am just too busy.

College is demanding, and after long days of class work, with the addition of working, it is easy to find yourself mindlessly surfing the internet or watching Netflix rather than sitting down with a decent book.

My lack of reading has had some negative effects on myself however. One of these effects is that I have found myself unable to read as quickly as I used to and retain the information I read. Like any skill, if you do not practice, you will lose some of your ability.

Another issue is that I struggle to spell. Thank the lord for autocorrect because I have never been a strong speller, at the same time I feel like I struggle more than I used to.

After realizing that my literacy was slipping, I decided I needed to make a change this year. So a few of the things I decided to do were the following three resolutions:

First off, try and fit four pleasure-reads in this year. I figured that if I could fit at least four books into my reading schedule along with my required reads it would at least be a start as I try to immerse myself back into a reading schedule.

Secondly, use audiobooks more often when I am driving and working. It may not be as beneficial as physically sitting down and reading a book, but at least I am still able to use the information in these books for the expansion of my knowledge. Plus, it is great for when you need to multitask.

Thirdly, try to implement other sources to broaden my horizons. The source I decided to use was podcast. There are great podcasts out there like Startalk and Stuff You Should Know, that converse on a variety of topics that can be insightful and open your world up to new ideas and knowledge.

So although I may not be reading as much as I would like to, I have made the resolution to at least try to do more. Not to sound cheesy, but there is a world of information and ideas I am missing out on by not reading more. So this is why I have decided to force myself to attempt to read more than I have.