A barrage of minor stressors had left me tightly wound by last Friday. I needed to unwind. But instead of automatically reaching for my iPad, I opted for an old-fashioned kind of quiet.
I picked up a memoir I had abandoned months ago and finally started reading again.
Not for work.
Not for research.
Just a book for pleasure.
After about an hour of getting lost in the pages, I found myself genuinely unwinding, the way I always had while reading.
My breathing slowed. The mental chatter quieted. The urgency of life loosened its grip on my nervous system. It was a kind of relaxation that, I hate to admit, I often forget.
Since I am someone who spends much of my professional life helping doctoral students think more deeply, write more concisely and survive the marathon of dissertation work, I found myself wondering:
When (and why) did so many of us stop reading – just for ourselves?
I’m not talking about academic reading. Most of us read scholarly articles and books on a daily basis. And of course, we consume endless information online every day.
But true immersive reading, the kind where you quietly disappear into another world, often slips away somewhere between deadlines, productivity apps, podcasts and the understandable exhaustion of modern life.
Research from the University of Sussex found that reading for as little as six minutes reduced stress levels significantly, more so than listening to music or going for a walk. It helps lower muscle tension and slows heart rate by drawing us into a relaxed state of focused attention.
Reading requires us to slow down and co-create meaning. Podcasts and audiobooks absolutely have their place, but there is something cognitively distinct about sitting with words on a page.
We imagine scenes. Interpret tone. Make deeper connections. Hold complexity. Get lost in ourselves.
Cognitive neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf, author of Reader, Come Home, writes extensively about “deep reading.” She describes this form of engaged attention as a vital practice that fosters critical thinking, empathy, reflection and insight.
For doctoral students in particular, I would argue that reading for pleasure is not separate from dissertation work. It supports it.
A powerful dissertation is more than simply a collection of citations and findings. It is active, living expression of your unique ideas. It requires synthesis, intellectual flexibility, pattern recognition and yes, often creativity, even in highly technical fields.
Good writing is shaped not only by scholarly reading but by exposure to thoughtful language.
Novels can teach rhythm and pacing. Essays sharpen argumentation. Memoirs reveal how ideas unfold with clarity and narrative momentum. Even reading outside your discipline can strengthen your ability to tolerate ambiguity and think more expansively, which are both essential skills in doctoral work.
Plus, reading simply feels good. In a world increasingly built for skimming and scrolling, deep reading becomes something of a quiet rebellion.
How do you find the time to simply read, you ask?
The amount of time we spend on our phones could stand a serious edit – I’m sure you would agree. Reclaiming even ten quiet minutes with a book each evening might help us write better, think better and perhaps even feel a little more like ourselves again.
There’s more. Get in touch. Dissertation Complete Coaching helps procrastinating dissertation writers get unstuck, move forward and, yes, graduate. We can help you!