What We're Reading Now

How I’m Reading in 2025

1 January 2025

Rachel reflected on her grand experiment of 2024, got inspiration from Gretchen Rubin's "Read 25 in '25" challenge, and planned some new experiments for the year ahead.

Tags: balance, experiment, happiness, rachel read, reading, resolutions

While I often find myself reflective as one year concludes and the next begins, I'm not the biggest fan of new year's resolutions and find the very idea a little overwhelming. In recent years, I've shifted my thinking and adopted a mindset of "grand experiments." Adapted from Stewart Friedman's advice in Total Leadership, a grand experiment focuses my attention for the year ahead while allowing (and encouraging) learning and changing along the way.

Last year, my grand experiment was bold yet simple: I removed all professional email from my mobile devices. I was curious to discover whether I could sustain even that small boundary, to see how it might impact my client relationships and responsiveness, and to explore the impact on my time away from work. I learned that it was periodically inconvenient but rarely problematic, and I've appreciated how much this simple boundary that could be shattered with a few swipes and keystrokes prompted me to question some tendencies, take better breaks, and get better sleep. At the same time, it made me more aware of how I do (and don't) disconnect. I realized that email is just one form of content, and that I generally filled its time and space with other easily-dosed, adrenaline-charged distractions like scanning a newsfeed or browsing social media—a far cry from the more mindful, present self that I imagined. Regardless, the experiment stuck, and my phone, watch, and tablet remain Outlook-free.

As we begin this next year, my grand experiments for 2025 are about content—the information I consume, and how and when I consume it. I plan to try (and learn from) several things.

• Gretchen Rubin is often a source of inspiration, and this year's Read 25 in '25 challenge gave me some ideas, prompting me to think about how and when I read. I plan to experiment with three 'moments' for reading: (1) a provocation, inspiration, or meditation within three hours of waking up and starting the day; (2) a mid-workday reading break of professionally-relevant content; and (3) something for pleasure (whether or not it has other redeeming value) before bed. At least initially, my reading moments will involve paper (not tablet, phone, or audio), happen not at my desk, and be any duration of two minutes or more.

a stockpile of books for reading moment #3

• I want to be an informed human, but I'm also aware of how ever-present news media impacts me. I plan to experiment with a single news intake daily, spent with 10-20 minutes of online local, national, and global news sources. I'm old enough to remember reading (and staining my fingers with) a daily paper and am curious to see how my perspective and demeanor evolve if I try to replicate the experience digitally.
• Like many, I fill many moments of boredom, discomfort, or question with a quick Instagram surf, and I'm tempted to do a web search any time an inconsequential but interesting question comes to mind. I'll be experimenting with things to shift these habits; I may leave my phone on its charger when I'm elsewhere in the house, and I may monitor the number of times I check Instagram or LinkedIn during a day or week. I plan to spend more time with my sticker books and some craft projects to occupy my hands (and mind) instead. 

As 2025 unfolds, I imagine that I'll concoct new experiments, maintain some new habits, and discard others. With all of it, I hope to learn, to be a little more present, to be more deliberate about the content I consume, and to find a little more pleasure in my days. We shall see. 

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