I noticed a funny thing a few weeks ago. Many articles on the Internet now include an estimate of the amount of time it takes to read the article: a 2-minute read, a 5-minute read, and the maximum I have seen is a 7-minute read.
I thought it strange that this information should accompany articles in many major outlets. What led to this fairly recent phenomenon? Who needs this information? What do visitors and viewers do with this information?
Do you determine whether you will read an article based on the number of minutes it takes to read? And, by the way, who came up with this estimate? Why this warning? And, why is it even there in the first place? Weird, don’t you think? So I timed myself. Well, that is another post for another day. Let me stay with the topic: why is there an alert about the time it takes to read an article?
Here are a few reasons:
- Attention-deficit is the leading cause of why we can’t hit pause. AD means we cannot focus on anything for too long. And “too long” can be a couple of minutes. AD is the primary reason why after reading two sentences of a challenging article we abandon it for something light-hearted and an easy read.
- Since we are on stimuli steroids all the time, the ability to focus is a luxury. While I am reading one article, ads pop up, videos automatically play, my phone pings for one reason or another, an email lands in my Inbox, my mind wanders, and the net result? I can’t recall what I was doing when the interruption occurred. Focus is a luxury. Marketers rule the day. My brain suffers invisible damage.
- I know what is good for me – but what is good for me no longer comes naturally! Suppose your physician said that you can reduce your stress, lower your blood pressure, improve your memory, increase your brainpower, and live longer without ever having to pop a pill, would you sign up? There is compelling evidence that reading leads to all these benefits! Over the years, doctors, scientists, and researchers have confirmed that reading is a stress-reducing activity that can lower your heart rate and blood pressure. It’s been proven to improve people’s memories, increase brain power, and even enhance empathic skills. Reading has even been linked to longer life spans. https://nyti.ms/2X5SPuW
- When it comes to habits, we know these truths: 1. it is so darn easy to pick up a bad habit. 2. It is so darn easy to give up a good habit. 3. It is so darn difficult to drop a bad habit. 4. It takes time and patience to embrace a new habit. Nothing is easy. Winners pursue that which is NOT easy. This is not some positivity preaching. This is at the core of human development – self-development – self-improvement – self-responsibilities – self-power –
