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I'm terrible at reading
JeffH
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Recently, I've been on a kick of attempting to read all sorts of things I find interesting. From World War Z to House of Leaves back to the Icewind Dale trilogy. The problem is, I'm an awful reader.
The problem isn't with the comprehension. I've graduated with my masters from a good university, did well in school, etc...
Whenever I get to reading, I'll either start thinking about something else while still reading, and end up not understanding anything I read, so I need to go back and re-read. Lately, I'll fall asleep 20 minutes in to reading as well, though I think this is the result of trying to read after long days at work and the gym.
Has anyone had these problems and what did you do to correct them? I'd love to get a few of these books completed but I'm going at a snail's pace.
The problem isn't with the comprehension. I've graduated with my masters from a good university, did well in school, etc...
Whenever I get to reading, I'll either start thinking about something else while still reading, and end up not understanding anything I read, so I need to go back and re-read. Lately, I'll fall asleep 20 minutes in to reading as well, though I think this is the result of trying to read after long days at work and the gym.
Has anyone had these problems and what did you do to correct them? I'd love to get a few of these books completed but I'm going at a snail's pace.
JeffH on
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As for falling asleep, do you read in bed or sitting up? You might find sitting on the couch will help with that somewhat.
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As for the suggestion about reading while sitting up, that's something so obvious that it's sad I hadn't thought of it, thanks.
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If you still have trouble after not reading in bed, it may be the genre, even if your interested in it. Reading outside when its nice, though, is always really successful for me. Its easy to find a quiet place in NC though.
I often get that, but its because I read lots of sci-fi that makes me stop and think about something, which is fine. But when I am chronically distracted it often means I dont like the book very much.
Thanks, this is reassuring as well, as I haven't really read in years since I've been out of school, just due to hating forced reading.
What I do (and this wouldn't really work for fiction) when I'm studying a textbook or something, is take notes while I read. Just the key, most important points. Perhaps I'll write down some definitions that I come across as I go along.
I think they call this "active reading" or something along those lines. It's a lot of work, and you end up reading slower, but you actually retain what you read and then have notes to go back on when it's time to review it.
Now if you're reading fiction that's not gonna be pertinent or necessary. My trick for those is as SOON as I realize I've gone off and started thinking about something else, I backtrack to the paragraph before or whatever sentence sent me off some other mental trail. Then I start reading from that point again. If I drift off again, I backtrack again. I do this until I finally stop drifting off. I find after about 10 solid minutes of reading I'll be in the "zone" and focused in, not distracted by anything or daydreaming about something else.
YMMV
A few things to consider:
-Be mindful of your habits. That is, do you always sleep in the same bed (probably)? Do you always play videogames on the same chair/couch? Do you use your desk more for PC games than writing? Do you always eat at the same table?
Chances are, you have a lot of habits that you don't even know of. For example, if you read in your bed, you will get sleepy because your mind associates bed with sleep, not reading. If you read in your video game or TV chair, your mind will drift to the TV. If you read in your kitchen chair, you'll get hungry. Etc.
Avoid places where you have established habits, and create a reading habit somewhere new. This is why people find the library such a good studying environment, because there's a social contruct in our mind that says it is. But you can achiee the same effect by pulling up a lamp to a chair you never use, and consistently using that chair to read. (protip: this advice carries over to other things, as well. if you have insomnia, one of the reasons may be that you don't have enough of a sleep habit for your bed, and you should try to stop watching tv or doing homework etc there).
-Set aside specific times in your day to read, and follow them. Once again, this falls into "habit" programming. It's been said that once you do something consistently for two weeks, it becomes habit. Try reading in the same place at the same time - even if you fall asleep - for two weeks, and you might find that you improve.
-Obviously start with light reading if you're having trouble with sleeping while reading. After a few tries, however, I would recommend trying to read something really dense, like a history book or Karl Marx or something, preferably a book you're interested in. Those books are like reading calesthenics, and will make you so much better at reading other things that you won't believe it. 200-300 page "Light reading" novels are something I can easily finish in a day now, because compared to Marx, their flow is so much faster.
EDIT
-Someone just mentioned this, and I should reiterate: active reading helps. Just underlining passages that are striking is a really good way to keep yourself focused and awake. Pretend you're going to write an essay about the material, even if you're not!
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Technical texts, or ones that use a lot of words you don't know/recognize wouldn't work well, and any free TTS apps will most likely use Microsoft's Speech-API, which doesn't sound very human* but after some time you can increase the reading speed which will result in quicker "reading". I also find it much less tiering than reading which means I can do it for longer periods of time without losing concentration or anything.
*I think "RoboSoft Four", from SAPI4, with lowered pitch is tolerable though
At night, the ice weasels come."
On a similar topic: Reading speed. I don't want to barge through a book or anything, but I'd like to be able to read faster. What do you guys recommend? I picked up the trick of running my bookmark below the line I'm currently reading. It's helped a bit, but are there any other tips?
Guess you're an audible learner, I used to experience the same problems while sifting through textbooks during University.
What helped me greatly was reading the words out loud if I was alone, or imagining reading it out loud in my head if I was in the library. Hope it helps.
I'm a little confused by "imagining reading it out loud in my head". How is that different from just reading silently?
I suspect that most people imagine the sounds when reading, but one of the "rapid reading" methods I bumped into said that you shouldn't do that, as, in the end, it slows you down (ie. you can read "with you eyes" faster than a human can speak).
At night, the ice weasels come."
I hadn't thought of that before. That sounds difficult though.
Don't they have those little plastic thingies for holding your book on the machine while you're working out? It makes the workout go a lot faster.