How do I get the motivation to read? I find it easier to play video games and I hate myself for it

How do I get the motivation to read? I find it easier to play video games and I hate myself for it.

just play video games then. why force yourself to do something you don't enjoy?

reading will make you smarter

that's about all i can say

Playing video games = stupid manchild "hobby"
Reading books = v patrician

So you feel guilty about doing something you enjoy. I don't understand.

so you're going to spend the rest of your life doing things because you think they're expected of you?

who cares, just play video games and watch anime all day. nobody's watching.

You can rape someone, enjoy it, and the regret it a decade later.

I read books at night to unwind.
If I play video games, I can literally go without sleeping. I'll just lose track of time.

But reading makes me tired. So I read for an hour or so, and then go to sleep.

Set aside a specific part of your day for reading, maybe an hour before you got to bed, and put the video games away somewhere so you're not so tempted to just flop onto the couch and start playing as soon as you encounter a boring/challenging passage in whatever you're reading. Make sure to read something you think you'll find both entertaining and educational; don't immediately pick up a meme book like Ulysses just because it's supposed to be patrish, or you might never finish it.

Being motivated to read is good, but I think you're motivated for the wrong reasons. Do you know why books are called "patrician" and video games aren't? Or do you want to read only because you know that books are supposed to be "patrician"?

>comparing raping someone to playing video games
That sure is moving the goal post from a 300 yard line to a 10,000 yard line.

Me too. I found that the reading Kindle helps a lot and also somewhere bright and quiete. I read more in the past few weeks than the last 15 years combined

You do know that "reading" in of it self wouldn't get you far if all you do is read junk. Same goes for video games to some degee

It's a dramatic but fair analogy. Both satisfy you in the short-term but have long-term consequences.

reading is passive and pleasurable. video games are onerous task completion. not sure how the latter is in any way easier, games are instant fatigue for me

Well the thing is Video Games don't necessarily have long term consequences so much as they are instant in the moment activities that consume your short term free time. The real negative effect of playing video games is instant feelings of gratification and loss of attention span. It wouldn't even be a problem if OP could read and play video games. Save time for both activities.

I was joking with the whole patrician thing. I want to read more books to become cultured, and feel that reading books is a better use of my time than playing games.

I grew up playing video games, so that may have something to do with it. How about you?

If you regret playing video games then stop doing it and read instead. I don't know what kind of magic cure you expect to find that will give you self-discipline.

For some people reading is an active thing. They have to actively focus. Its diminished attention span from playing too many video games and its lack of attention span that helps players complete these time consuming and often headache inducing tasks. It isn't difficult to breeze through a game if your ability for attention is turned off, likewise its easy to breeze through a book if your attention is focused and trained.

Not OP but if you repeatedly play the same game you can develop a sort of muscle memory and put most of it on auto-pilot. For me this can lead to a feeling that's similar to meditation. It also helps me focus on a podcast or music album better than simply listening to it without doing anything else.

1st thing bro, you need to enjoy what you are doing, start with smaller books, short stories and poetry

2nd is try to appreciate literature, like any form of art it can be enjoyed on multiple levels, the aesthetics, the message, charaterization, etc. Don't read just for the story, try to see the big picture

3rd, dont fucking try to speed read, is just a another retarded meme from this board, read with attention

4th is to stay away from this retarded board, every time you enter here you need to keep 2 things in mind: I could been reading something great and that its not a place for people that actually enjoy literature. I know, contradictory coming from me, but take that as you will. After you start reading you will understand why, better sooner than latter

If you're being serious, read something you think you'll enjoy. Check out Hemingway or Faulkner or some other 20th century authors. I think a lot of new readers take "Start with the Greeks" seriously and trap themselves by forcing their way through a body of work they might not have the appetite or experience to enjoy yet.

Also, if you find yourself reading something acclaimed and think "I'm not enjoying this at all", finish it and then reread it. Odds are high that you'll like it a lot more once you understand what's happening.

It you're not motivated, just don't do it. Don't put up an act.

Now I don't know how young you are but given some time I'm sure you'll not want to play these time sink, non-narrative games that simulate life experiences anymore, because you can feel the time slip away between your fingers and feel the pain of regret every time you carelessly waste your time making no memories.