The Stationery Aisle Experiment

I read a lot. Its been a habit of my lifetime.

If anything, though, I probably read too fast.

Occasionally I use a well-worn red highlighter pencil to mark memorable passages. I had picked it up somewhere and I’ve been using it for ages.

But with all the thoughts recently at work about little experiments and micro habits, I decided to make a small behavioural change in early March.

It started, slightly randomly, in Tesco.

I was in the stationery aisle and decided, for no big reason, to buy a new set of highlighting pencils. And then a pencil case, because once you start, you may as well commit properly.

The idea was simple. Slow down. Pay attention. Make reading a bit more deliberate.

Now when I’m reading, I’m looking for something. Not in a forced, academic way. Just 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. When a sentence stands out, I stop. That’s the key change. I actually stop.

I pick a colour, underline it, maybe read it again.

That pause is doing more work than I expected.

It breaks the habit of rushing through.

It makes me sit with the idea for a second instead of immediately moving on. It turns reading from something passive into something a bit more active, without making it feel like hard work.

I’ve noticed too, somehow it’s strangely more satisfying.

There’s something about having a pencil in hand, about marking a page, that makes the whole thing feel more intentional.

And when I flick back through, seeing those bits of colour scattered across the pages, it feels like a record of what actually landed. Not what I read, but what stayed.

It’s early, but I think it’s working.

I’m not reading less. I’m just reading with a bit more awareness. A bit more care.

All from the idea of experimentation with behavioural change and a small decision in a Tesco aisle.

It turns out slowing down isn’t about reading less, it’s about 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆.

Where else could a small pause make a big difference for you?