Is Reading Books an Unproductive Experience in 2026? My Reading Habits Actually Lead to Real Self-Growth, Compassion and Happiness

Jessica K. Bone, Feifei Bu, Jill Sonke and Daisy Fancourt, researchers at University College London and the University of Florida, analyzed 236,270 responses to the American Time Use Survey and found that the share of Americans who read for pleasure on an average day fell by more than 40% between 2003 and 2023, a steady drop of about 3% a year.
In the University of Florida’s summary of the study, Sonke says reading supports empathy, social bonding and emotional development as well as literacy, and the researchers point to digital media, economic pressure and shrinking leisure time as possible reasons for the drop. The study itself didn’t test causes.
In other words, books may be doing real work on our self-growth, compassion, discipline and happiness, and fewer of us are giving them the chance. With the evenings getting dark early and the holidays close, I went back to reading books, and a few things changed in ways I didn’t really think about.

We all know that before smartphones, the Internet and, more recently, AI, books were what kept us from everyday boredom. But nowadays it feels like people don’t have enough time to get bored. I mean, really bored. When we have even a little time to ourselves after work, we go on to endless doomscrolling on Instagram or TikTok before sleeping; or we read what is happening continents away (most of us only the headlines); and if some of us are lucky enough to manage to read a book, we face a modern question: “Am I being unproductive?”

This question has found me as well, very recently. It then divided into sub-questions in my mind: “Should I read a self-help book instead of this fiction that I am reading?” “Should I read about how to get rich in 17 hours instead of some mythology?” “What did Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’ teach me that could help me be more productive?”

I read “The Bell Jar” and around 15 other books this year, but if you ask me what I learned from them that we call “eye-opening,” “life-changing,” or, in this world, “money-bringing,” I would say nothing. You see, reading Madeline Miller’s “Circe” brought a great deal of joy to me, and so did Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline.” I remember smiling and laughing and holding my breath along with the characters, but I also remember that I couldn’t shake the guilt I was feeling. The guilt that I call “being not productive.”

I was thinking for a long time that the endless thoughts about productivity were only happening in my head, only to notice that reading has become an act of self-expression for many people (especially among Gen Z). How many times have you scrolled through social media and found a tragic novel or an ancient epic next to a matcha latte in a very Instagrammable café? I have seen it so many times that it has, in many ways, become the norm for me.

But what bothers me more is that most “book clubs” nowadays require a membership fee. Yes, you read that right. If you want to share your thoughts on a book you just read with actual people, you need to pay. If you can’t pay, well, “what was the point of reading, anyway?” many would say.

Here is what changed for me, though. This world is moving so fast, and reading is slow. I noticed that I had become much slower with people. After a few weeks of reading before bed, I caught myself listening to a friend’s long story without reaching for my phone, wondering what was going on in her head the way I’d wondered about Circe’s. I don’t think that’s a coincidence, and it lines up with what Sonke says about empathy. I can’t prove that a book did it, and neither can a survey. But I felt kinder, and a little less in a hurry.

I also stopped asking what each book was for. “A Tale of Two Cities” didn’t make me rich, and “Harry Potter” didn’t shorten my inbox, but both gave me a few hours when nobody wanted anything from me, not even my attention for a notification. Put that way, “productivity” seems like a strange word for a Saturday night with a book.

And yes, the book clubs. You don’t need a membership for the most important part. A library card costs nothing in many places, and a friend who will talk about the ending costs a coffee at most (or, I mean, you can always talk to me!). If you’ve read this far, try one chapter tonight with your phone in another room. Don’t take notes, don’t post it on your story and don’t ask what it’s for.

So, is reading unproductive? Maybe the better question is who decided that everything we do with our time has to produce something. The data says Americans have been reading less for twenty years. I would rather be one of the people who aren’t.