Could a couch-to-5k for books get you back into reading? — SkimNews
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- The author, a novelist and BBC presenter, has launched an 8-week "couch-to-5k for reading" program with three tracks for people who feel their reading habit has fallen away, working back to 30 minutes of daily reading with two or three longer weekly sessions.
- Smartphones are blamed for the decline, with the author comparing their addictive shape and size to cheap mass-market cigarettes and drawing a public health parallel to how WWI-era cigarettes took hold before their lethality was understood.
- A 2024 OECD report found literacy has declined or stagnated in most developed countries, while students are reportedly arriving at university unable to read a whole book.
- James Marriott's forthcoming book "The New Dark Ages" argues that declining literacy leaves people more swayed by cartoonish figures with simple slogans than by complex arguments, weakening society's ability to follow nuanced political or business ideas.
- Early participants report morning routines feeling quicker without scrolling first, feeling calmer from reading instead of anxious as scrolling made them, and being able to watch long films without reaching for phones — with some rediscovering the joy of a gripping book after just two or three days.
- The program is currently running, with teachers already asking how to introduce the concept into schools and fans creating homemade digital and printable trackers to stay motivated.
Why it matters: For people whose reading habit has slipped, this offers a structured 8-week re-entry path, and early reports of calmer mornings after just days suggest the barrier is habit disruption rather than willpower. Governments aren't acting because regulating phones means confronting tech giants, leaving readers to rebuild attention one 10-minute session at a time.
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