Stop Wasting Time Reading

Everyone can and should behave in optimal and predictable ways, it’s easy, just look at me. I am the epitome of logic and aware of cognitive biases (and always avoid them). I love neuroplasticity and conscious habit change. Annually, I take a personal off-site to reflect and concoct life plans with intermediate steps, weekly time budgets, and deadlines.

I am what iconic behavioral economist Richard Thaler would like to call an Econ — my world and life are run by optimization. Algorithms can’t hook me, a salesman can’t pressure me into buying something which is clearly overvalued, I never overeat, and I certainly don’t anchor my decisions on things I’ve previously heard.

If only that were true.

I wish I could behave the way Ecomonics says humans should, but even with my awareness of behavioral biases, they continue to have a starring role in my life.

My most frequent (and obvious) behavioral faux pas is that of sunk costs, especially when it comes to reading.

Once I start a book, I finish it, even if I actively hate the story — maybe it’s the obsessive student in me, or maybe it’s the fact that I only read ‘well regarded’ books and yearn to feel superior with my knowledge of Steinbeck and George Eliot. Whatever the reason, I will never get those hours back or care about the characters, and I might as well call it quits and start Ulysses.

But I simply can’t do it — I’ve even tried using rules:
• If it’s still a snooze fest after 3 chapters, put it down
• If you don’t like it after (100 minus your current age pages), put it down

Trust me, there are many other examples of this in my life (friendships, potential romantic partners, career, hobbies), but this should be the easiest one to fix: If I don’t like a book, I should stop reading it.

I stop watching shows regularly, but with books it’s harder. When a show is over, I actively choose whether or not to watch the next episode, but the directors and producers have tied it up in a neat bow (even if there’s a cliff hanger). Not the case with books, especially novels — rarely does the end of a chapter leave me with enough confidence to decide whether to ‘play’ or ‘turn it off.’

If so many other people liked ‘The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay’ then why don’t I? It won a Pulitzer after all, and the Prize Board certainly seems to be composed of highly accomplished and knowledgeable people.

But I don’t know those people and who’s to say we have similar taste in literature? The author couldn’t care less if I don’t like their book.

I’m trying to get rid of this clear sunk cost bias once and for all.

How? With rules of course, I need systems and clear action paths. The issue with the previous rules is that they were vague — what does ‘a snooze fest’ or ‘not liking’ mean? There was no clear way to determine an answer.

From now on — after 3 chapters, or 75 pages, I have to say yes to one of the following questions in order to keep reading:
• Am I emotionally invested in a main character?
• Am I learning something new?
• Is the author so skilled that I underline sections due to their profound encapsulation of life?

Here’s to less sunk hours 🤞🏻