tiktok killed my attention span so I started reading books again

I finished last year (2024) with a semi-obvious realization that my screen time was more than I can accept without being embarrassed.

You may ask what this photo has to do with the topic of this post. The answer is nothing at all, I just think it looks good.

This might be a very dramatic way of putting it, and choosing to use the word TikTok in the title was a cheap marketing attempt, but -hey, if you're reading this it worked right? So let's get into it.

I finished last year (2024) with a semi-obvious realization that my screen time was more than I can accept without being embarrassed - around 5 hours daily. That's 1825 hours a year which equates to 76 days lost watching things like instagram reels about "The best chatgpt prompts" or "Iconic charli xcx moments". I'm not going to talk about how that time is valuable and how it should be used to do other more valuable things. The truth is I did not like it, and I knew I wanted to fix it.

Ironically my algorithm caught up with my recent discovery too. All of a sudden my youtube feed was covered in "Regain your attention span", "Fix your screen time", "How to go offline for mental clarity" kind of videos. After watching some of them, I realized a couple of things I want to share with you. Although they are somewhat obvious I hadn't really thought about them properly until that moment.

I was no longer capable of watching long form content/media without needing some other kind of stimulation. (e.g. scrolling on instagram while watching a movie)
I was using infinite-scrolling apps (instagram, tiktok, twitter/X) as a way to avoid discomfort in specific parts of my day - specially when commuting on the train or metro.
It had been more than a year since I had read a whole book

But the one that annoyed me the most

I was going on social media without realizing it. There was no intentionality. If I put food in the microwave I would open instagram to fill those 20 seconds. If I was brushing my teeth I would have some kind of video playing to fill the silence. I would take my phone with me to the toilet, to the kitchen, to the dinner table and to bed. The lack of a goal, of a reason to be using it, was what bothered me so badly. The fact that I was scrolling through videos simply by default. I knew at that time that I had to do something.

My first reaction wasn't new, or creative at all. I deleted all social media from my phone and I grabbed a book. It was the most obvious and dramatic way to approach this - and my friends would argue that I have a tendency for drama.

I don't think the details of how that went on really matter to someone other than me. So I think it's more interesting if we jump 3 months in time to today. I do in fact have Instagram and Twitter/X on my phone once again. Interestingly, the app that used to fill up most of my screen time - tiktok - did not make its comeback. One day I want to dive a little deeper into what makes tiktok so addicting and how short form content is so harmful for us, but right now I really want to talk about books.

Since December 2024 I have read 6 books and I'm currently reading other 3. I keep track of everything on Goodreads so you can check that out if you want, I leave short and silly reviews to most of them:

From those 6 books, 4 were fiction and 3 were non-fiction, essay-based, books. This brings me to my first conclusion, I prefer reading about topics I'm interested in, more than reading fictional stories regardless of how beautifully written or critically acclaimed they are. I am not saying fictional books aren't good or important, but for a recent "new-reader" I had to go with what fit me better.

These are the books that I read, and a one-sentence summary of how I felt about them.

I am in no way trying to make a point that these are good books or that you should read them. Some of them were pretty bad. My focus was more on the habit of reading itself.

Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (Bell Hooks) - 5 ⭐

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At the time i wanted a deeper and more grounded knowledge of feminism - particularly intersectional feminism. I found it very interesting and current (despite being written in 1984). It sparked some interesting discussions between my friends and I. Highly recommend it.

Normal People (Sally Rooney) - 4.5 ⭐

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Sally Rooney's writing? Loved it. I know I'm late to this party but reading this book was super fast and easy. I enjoyed how there were no long descriptions just dialogue and some well written inner monologue.
It's not a 5-star-rating because I am missing some more plot. I know life is shitty, I'm not complaining about the ending, but I wanted something more. Still, liked it so much I started reading Rooney's "Beautiful World Where Are You". Unfortunately the same can't be said about that one.

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder (Asako Yuzuki) - 4 ⭐

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This one was gifted to me for Christmas. It was all over the windows of London bookstores when I was there in late-december and my parents decided to buy it.
I think my favorite part wasn't necessarily the plot (which could've been explored in 200 pages less, for sure) but the look into japanese culture, food and even feminism. It was a good fictional choice after reading Bell Hooks I guess.

Inteligência Artificial Generativa (Arlindo Oliveira) - 4 ⭐

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There isn't much to say about this one. I sat down on my living room one morning and read it in one sitting. It's an essay that tries to frame generative AI in the current world, explains the main principles behind its algorithms and tries to predict what the next steps are and what kind of future awaits us. Cool if you are into AI/ML.

Heathers the Musical (Laurence O'Keefe) - 3 ⭐

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Perhaps the most random one, but still a fun read. It's the screenplay of one of my favorite musicals which I have been lucky enough to see live. My favorite part of this book is the final essay pages, where the authors explain the creative process of writing each song and how they sometimes needed to be adapted to fit the current times (Heathers is a very problematic movie, in today's standards).

Começa Já (Pedro Andersson) - 3 ⭐

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God I hate the cover of this book, I am embarrassed to even have it here on the post. But the truth is, this might turn out to be one of the most impactful books on my life. Thanks to it (and to the writer's podcast) I started my journey through personal finance and investing.
I might write about that one day but for now I am still learning!

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Gregory Maguire) - 2 ⭐

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This one made me actually upset. I think it's the first time I've ranked a book 2 out of 5. This just comes to show how genius Stephen Schwartz had to be to salvage anything from this mess to build the musical.
The idea is cute, getting to know the characters of the wizard of Oz and their past. How someone can turn into a (wicked) villain for defending a cause.
But it’s just messy messy messy. Characters are introduced and never spoken about again. The author keeps trying (and failing) at weak attempts on philosophical discussions of evil and good that just appear out of nowhere in the dialogue and disappear just as fast.

Currently Reading: Beautiful World, Where Are You (Sally Rooney); Atlas of AI (Kate Crawford); and AI Engineering (Chip Huyen) .

Over the past 3 months reading became a habit for me. I read before going to bed everyday, and I read on the train and on the subway. My 2 hours of commuting between home and university used to be the parts of my day I dreaded the most, and now I find myself excited to finally sit on the train and enjoy that time to read my book. (When I'm not standing up in peak hour, of course, but I try to avoid those).

The reason for this whole reading journey was to spend less time on my phone. And that's exactly what happened. I don't sleep with my phone next to my bed since I no longer need it. Instead my phone is on the other side of the room, and it's a time I take to read and relax. The same happened with my morning train rides where instead of watching reels for 20 minutes in a row I now read or listen to a podcast.

Reading wasn't the only form of long-form content consumption I tried. I made an effort to watch more movies by directors I liked or whose stories compelled me in some way. Of course making the effort to stay focused and avoid scrolling everytime the movie wasn't super engaging, loud or stimulating. However that was a habit i could not keep in my regular life for the time commitment it requires isn't compatible with the rest of my schedule.

This ended up longer than I expected, and I guess I want to make clear that I don't think I am in any way special for reading in the train (as so many other people do). I guess my main point is that sometimes taking a step back from the online world of stimulating short content has an unexpected positive impact in our lives and can make you feel much more calm, productive and less anxious.

In the unlikely case that you read this far:

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be here next time