How do i stay focused on reading

how do i stay focused on reading

>read for 20 mins
>fall asleep
>try again next day
>read for 20 mins
>cba
>go to sleep
>don't read for a month
>can't remember the book
>try reading it again
>same shit happens

try an easier novel and work your way back into the passion of reading. what the hell is the point if you don't enjoy it? I didn't read for years until i read Catch-22 on a whim and it got me back into the process. I floated away from it again and now i'm in the same boat, but I'm getting back in with the good ol' russians.

Just realize, if you've taken a break, you have to work your way up again, it should be easy to get back into the swing of things but only if you work your way there instead of trying to jump straight into it.

What are you reading? Give me the last three books you've read or tried to read and name me some of your favorites.

Regardless here's a laundry list of taking the next step: Stop with the video games. Cut down on the internet. Go outside. Exercise. Meditate. Find friends and go out at least once a week. All of these go hand in hand, and the more you follow through, the more you'll enjoy reading, and subsequently enjoy the activities.

Regarding the video games... This was the hardest part for me, but once I started seriously getting into literature, they honestly stopped being fun. These days if I absolutely need to unwind and I try playing a game, thirty minutes in and I'll say to myself: i'd rather be reading. This is coming from someone who played video games since he was five, and in his last years of high school and early years of college was playing video games five hours a day and spending the majority of his days online, in a voice server.

ok well i'm a Veeky Forumsfag and a Veeky Forums pleb so i apologise for this shitty post

basically, i really liked inception (yes i know, pleb shit etc)

so i was looking for a book that kind of had the same vibe to that. in my research i found about PKD

so i downloaded a pdf of Ubik and Do Androids..

i appreciate the replies, i sincerely do

i want to get into reading but i just haven't been able to

fucking challenge yourself, op

choose a really good book that picks interest on you and just fucking repeat: ''if I don't finish this book I'm a loser and I'll ever be pathetic''. At the end of all you will love the book and you will want to read more related. done

This happened to me too for years. I hate to admit this, but I hadn't read a book in six years.

I still read--mostly academic journals and news articles, but never books.

Until I picked up Kafka on the Shore. It immediately brought back a nostalgic feeling that I hadn't felt since I was a child. I would find myself picking it up first thing in the morning just to find out what will happen, I was reading on the train, before bed, really whenever I could.

Then I just started downloading a bunch of ePubs from libgen and went at it. I dropped out of the habit a little bit, but nowhere near the level that I used to be at.

The other posters are right that you need to easily work your way in, then I think you'll actually be surprised by how you quickly surpass your former self in reading comprehension and speed (cuz ur older and smarter and stuff)

enjoy user

Me? well, I'm reading Turgenev, it's enjoyable, the last three i've read, Moby Dick, Don Quixote, and The Recognitions. I'm an incredibly slow reader as of late, I don't have focus either, I've had to take my own advice and go back to something that won't overwhelm me with its size or the density of its prose. It's not that I don't enjoy the novels in question, but at least Don Quixote was a trudge as a result of my distance from literature as of late. To answer which was my favorite, probably The climax of The Recognitions, and Moby Dick's squeeze of the hand and try-works chapter. Those have been the moments of pleasure in literature for me. The russians have always been a nice comfy place for my mind, so I had to retreat to them for a while.

if you're having trouble with PkD, you might need to go way back to basics, something really light and silly, I know the people here will attack me for it, but even douglas adams or terry pratchett, the real key is enjoying yourself and knowing your tastes. I still feel like a lot of the classic literature ends up being a quest to challenge one's self instead of a process of enjoyment for a lot of people here on Veeky Forums, perhaps that's just projection. In the end for me it became a quest for perspective, understanding of references, and in the end i grasped at books that weren't enjoyable for me, thinking that finding the roots of more modern literature would be essential for full enjoyment. In the end I realize that what I enjoyed most was being tossed into unfamiliar territory and climbing my way out when someone says I couldn't. Anyway, that rant was silly. Just read some light entertainment pulp novels, and work your way up. Remind yourself that reading is for pleasure, fiction anyway. The pleasure that comes from hard work is something that must be attained later, without foundation of some sort in the passion of reading, you're going to flounder with nothing to grasp on to.

Also, I find my favorite moments in literature are when I look away from the page and speak to friends and family, and my use of language has been transformed by the author i've been reading. it's only at that time I can write, since I feel I have form. It's really transient though, which is a painful thing to deal with. Not being able to retain something special is like trying to catch an ember and watch it turn to ash in your hand, but again and again.

No, OP. For a second you had me thinking OP had read Moby Dick, Don Quixote, and The Recognitions...

oh, muhbad. sorry for turning this thread into a blog.

When I first started middlemarch it took me around 8-10 hours to finish 50 pages. Yes i'm not even kidding, i had no job at the time and I wanted to get more into serious reading, do you think i sat there staring at the page and reading the whole time? Of course not i found ways to distract myself inbetween pages. Now it still takes me 3-5 hours to finish 100 pages in a day but i've read over 50 books this year so i'm happy.

it's all good big baller. Happy reading.

I became an avid reader like three months ago and I can't stop. I stopped watching tv and I don't spend much time on Veeky Forums anymore.

Here's how I did it.

-Remember the average person reads like zero books a year. If you read 5 pages a day, you are 5 pages above the average person

-Don't force yourself to read. Commit to read 5 pages a day. I swear after three days you'll feel like reading more and after a month or so you should be reading 50-100 pages a day for pleasure

-Read various books at the same time. When I grab a difficult book or one that makes me sleepy I grab another and switch. This should refresh your head. Keep them thematically different. I read economics and fiction.

-It isn't a race. Reading slowly won't make you sleepy that fast. Try to acknowledge what books are for you to read fast and which aren't.

-Buy the physical copies. When you get the books from your own money you'll feel the need to read them to avoid the feel of wasting your money.

-Start with books highly discussed here so you feel motivated to discuss.

Find something you love, like someone already said, what's the point if it isn't fun? Reading shouldn't feel like a chore. You need to find a author or genre that keeps you engulfed in the story. There's some books I just can't wait to push through, and there's some I can't wait to open. Like the other robots said, challenge yourself and find something you love.

>i really liked inception
BRAVO
R
A
V
O

POST POST IRONIC REPLY TO AVID READER COPYPASTA

Also, to keep yourself awake:

Just stand up, nigga.

Literally, just get on your feet for like 5 minutes. If your book is light/maneuverable enough, you can hold it up with you and keep reading if you want. I started doing this and was really surprised this wasn't posted as advice more often.

Your brain is omlette, depression, and the dopamines are out of control you need to fix your brain chemistry through some serious asketicism and so on fuck the books for a while fuck the self loathing everything is OK, you are intelligent and your intellect craves some good lit only your fucked up reward system is holding you back or you have too much other stuff on your plate at the moment. This is not the time to hate on yourself you need to heal and regenerate and make more time for doing nothing and maybe some sports ok

>Remember the average person reads like zero books a year. If you read 5 pages a day, you are 5 pages above the average person
When the average is so mediocre this point is meaningless

>cba
Holy shit? It must be like 5 years since i last saw someone use this acronym.

You just need to find a book that is more appealing than anything else you could be doing

Got any economic related book recommendations, I've been going on the OECD library they have free books on economics thhey are great

im not usually a grammar nazi but try some fucking punctuation now and then.

this user...

try the pomodoro method. 25 minutes of reading followed by 5 minutes of break. But don't do shit on the internet like facebook or emails that involve reading, it makes it harder to regain focus. stare off into space, do breathing exercises or walk around.