Why we should take time to read at work

I’ve recently returned to work after a year’s maternity leave and am using the break as an excuse to “start as I mean to go on.” I’ve thought about which working habits I’d like to change or introduce to further increase my productivity and to also look after myself. These include: going for a walk at lunch instead of staying sat at my desk, trying not to check my emails on the days I don’t work, and to not keep putting off the tasks I don’t like doing. Nothing revolutionary, but just some simple steps I can take to help improve my efficiency and my mental and physical health at work, and to switch off when I’m at home.

My other main “return to work resolution” is to take time to read relevant news articles every day. I now set aside 20 minutes every morning to read through articles and social media posts on the subjects that are most relevant to me at work (business research, higher education, and marketing). I have often felt, as I’m sure many other people do, that reading isn’t proper work and therefore I shouldn’t be wasting my time at work reading articles. I used to fit in my work related reading on my commute, or do it in the evening with the TV on in the background, meaning I often had work on my mind all day.

Using my return to work as an excuse to evaluate my working habits however, I’ve realised how important it is to take time to read articles about what’s going on around me. As I work in communications, it’s particularly important to keep reading, but I think it’s beneficial no matter what your role is to make time to read.

Here are some reasons why you should set aside time to read at work and not feel guilty about it:

It puts you in the right frame of mind for work. When I switch my computer on at work, I’m still half asleep. I’ve spent my commute reading film reviews and listening to comedy podcasts, trying to make the most of some “me” time and haven’t engaged my work brain yet. Once I’ve spent a few minutes reading some work-related articles however, I’m fully “in the zone” and completely engrossed in my work environment. I find it more productive than reading emails straight away as as soon as I start going through my inbox, I feel the need to immediately respond, and am pulled in various directions rather than taking the time to focus my mind.

Being a reader helps you become a better writer. When authors are asked what advice they’d give aspiring writers, the response I almost always hear is “read, read, read.” Whether you’re trying to write persuasive prose for a grant, an informative summary for your project, or translate a journal article into a blog post, it will help if you’ve read similar types of writing. You don’t just have to read around your subject – any type of writing can help inspire you. Perhaps you like the catchy headings of a Buzzfeed article, or the punchy sentences in someone’s LinkedIn post – just try to remember what it was you liked and think about how you can incorporate some of that style (if it’s appropriate) in your writing.

Reading helps you stay informed. This is a very obvious one, but if you want to know what’s going on in your subject area, read about it! Even if you don’t have time to read full articles, a quick skim of the first couple of paragraphs should give you an idea of what’s going on.

It can help spark new ideas. By the time I’ve spent 15 minutes reading, I often have a couple of new ideas for blog posts, an event suggestion, and some thoughts on how I can capitalise on a particular topic. There’s often not even a direct link between what I’m reading and what I’ve thought of, but there’s been some kind of brain process that’s sparked a new idea.

You have something to share which can help build relationships. I love it when someone sends me an article they think I’d be interested in – not only because it’s nice to be thought of and you know someone’s got you on their radar, but often it’s something I perhaps wouldn’t come across myself. Sharing content can be a useful way to build and maintain professional relationships too, whether you’re retweeting something on Twitter, trying to start a conversation on a group in LinkedIn, or need an excuse to restart a conversation with someone via email.

Making time to read every day can be hard, and not feeling guilty about it can be even harder. I’ve compiled a short list of tips that have helped me and others might find useful:

Set aside a certain time each day and a limit of how long you’re going to spend reading. As mentioned, I prefer to read as soon as I get into work, before I get lost in emails, but you may find that’s not feasible. Whether you do it after your first class has ended, or just before you’re about to go for lunch, it helps if you do it at the same time every day to get it ingrained into part of your routine and make you more likely to do it. If you set yourself a limit on how long you’ll spend reading as well, you won’t end up using time you don’t have and can also read without feeling guilty. You are doing a task in a pre-determined time slot, not trying to shoe-horn in something extra.

Use a good bookmarking tool and know the sites you want to visit. Whether you use a news aggregator app (I like using Feedly) or bookmark your favourite websites, have all the news sites you want to visit saved in one place so you’re not wasting time wondering what to read next or having to keep swapping between apps and websites. I prefer using a news aggregator rather than visiting individual sites as it means I don’t get distracted by sidebar news and adverts – I just see the text that I want to read.

Don’t get lost in the internet! We’ve all had those moments where you go online to look up something, and before you know it, half an hour’s gone by and for some reason you’re reading about what a Z-list celeb wore to the beach or watching a video of goats sitting in trees. It’s easy to get distracted online but remind yourself that you are at work and ask yourself “do I really need to know about this?”.

If you have just the one Twitter account that you use for both work and your personal life, trying using lists. That way you can just click on a list and only see relevant work tweets, rather than getting distracted by updates from your favourite TV personality or the sale that’s just been announced by your favourite retailer.

It’s time we embraced reading pertinent news and social media posts as an important part of our daily work routine, and not something we should be scrambling to fit in in our own time, or even leaving out completely.