
Ask HN: How can I restore my concentration when reading? - vanilla-almond
Years of skimming text online and rapidly flicking between browser tabs has severely impaired my ability to just stop and read something in print or online with my full attention and concentration. I can&#x27;t even enjoy a novel sometimes because my mind won&#x27;t quieten down and instead will wonder off to another thought.<p>As soon as I attempt to devote my full attention to a text - not skimming but properly reading all the text and concentrating of the meaning of the text - my mind fires off a myriad other thoughts that dilutes any attempt to concentrate on just one thing: the text in front of me.<p>Have you ever been in a similar situation? How did you overcome it?
======
AndrewLiptak
I've found much of the same problem: I'm someone who's easily distracted
anyway, and it's frustrating not being able to read.

Here's what I've found works for me, for books and articles:

\- For books, setting aside dedicated time to read is really useful. This
means that I leave my phone in another place, out of reach, so I'm not tempted
to pick it up and check Facebook/Twitter/etc. For me, this is somewhere away
from other distractions, like my computer / workspace, etc. \- Set aside a
small amount of time to read without distraction in a setting like this, and
grow that amount. Maybe that's 10-15 minutes? Start that out as a routine, and
as you get more comfortable with it, add on a little more time. Block out that
space and aggressively protect it. I've found that setting aside reading time
in the morning, before I open up my computer and check social media, really
helps.

Generally, I've found that the more I read, the better I get at it: practice,
practice, practice. Treat it like an atrophied skill.

For longer articles, I have a bookmark set up for the newsletter I write
(andrewliptak.substack.com), in which I have a short recommended articles
section. I reserve this for longer-form pieces, and when I come across
something that looks interesting, I bookmark it and come back to it when I'm
in a good mindset to actually read the thing (see my above point.) I've set
aside other parts of the day (usually at the end) to read these sorts of
things.

Another thing that I'd recommend is Pocket.

Another good practice thing for reading is short stories. I typically save
them via pocket, and read them when I've got smaller pockets of time to read
something.

------
mindfulgeek
Another ADDer here. I have two modes of operation: hyper focused or not.
Things that require focus, like deep reading mean I need to switch operating
modes. I have oodles of ways to address this issue so I only chose a few.
Maybe one helps.

Ways I do that: 1\. Be really interested in the content — not sure if this
works with a non add brain, but it really doesn’t matter where I am, if it’s
interesting I’ll jump right down that rabbit hole. Not sure that helps you but
maybe can create some parameters for experimentation (like is there a pattern
with your interest level and if so how can you mitigate that) 2\. Meditation -
specifically working with the breath. It takes 30s-3min for me to reboot my
brain between tasks. Not much of an investment and in my experience it works.
3\. Printing stuff out — i find it much easier to read deep if I have it on
paper 4\. Copying into an editor and editing — this is my goto for boring
reads because it uses a different part of my brain that reading alone 5\. At
the end of each paragraph I ask myself “what was the point of that?” This is a
habit that takes time to develop. At first you may get through an entire
article without asking but eventually you can catch yourself sooner.

~~~
t0s
How do you learn to work with the breath?

~~~
tduberne
"The mind illuminated" is a very good introduction to meditation. It is unique
in the formal system he used to make sense of the various levels of practice.
Very practical and low-BS.

------
kirubakaran
> Have you ever been in a similar situation?

Yes

> How did you overcome it?

\- I'm able to focus better when I've slept well. This may sound obvious, but
realizing this made me go from "Oh no I've damaged my focus by skimming too
much!" to "Okay I just haven't slept well today. I'll do what I can."

\- Set aside blocks of time and do one thing. I made and use
[https://crushentropy.com/](https://crushentropy.com/) for this. I use it
everyday and it has helped me a lot. It's like markdown for hi-res scheduling
your day.

\- Once I have clarity that I have nowhere else to be and nothing else to do
right now, I'm able to relax into reading what I'm reading, which at the
moment is: "Relevant Search" by Doug Turnbull and John Berryman, which I'm
using to improve the search in [https://histre.com/](https://histre.com/) if I
may blatantly plug my startup ;) (Tangent: Why is search so broken in all
knowledge base apps, bookmarking tools etc?)

\- Work your way up. Several years ago, I used to read for 12 hours straight,
taking just bio breaks. It was a more carefree time. I'm working my way back
up to it. I'm at 2 hours now. It may seem little in comparison, but that's
enormous progress from where I was a couple of years ago, so yay!

------
spanktheuser
I think all of the comments are very helpful and are tactics I’ve used quite
successfully to manage similar difficulties. But I wanted to add that your
symptoms are also consistent with ADHD without being sufficient to merit such
a diagnosis in and of themselves.

There are (some, controversial) indications that ADHD is over-diagnosed in
male children and young adults. Less well known is that it’s likely under-
diagnosed in women and older adults.

I was diagnosed as a child, had that diagnosis hidden from me and only began
treatment in my 40s. The impact was life changing.

Everyone is distracted sometimes; everyone has specific tasks which reliably
confound concentration. Neither is a sign of ADHD. But if your knowledge of
the condition is very general you may benefit from a deeper review of the
condition and, perhaps, a professional evaluation.

Or, you know - maybe just a kindle and some more captivating books.

~~~
ntsplnkv2
How did you go about getting treated for it at your age?

------
altacc
Things that help me include:

\- Listening to white noise such as rain sounds (e.g. rainymood.com), which
seems to take up some of my brain's attention so that I can focus. It also
helps with my tinnitus.

\- Using a dedicated reading device with no or few other apps, such as an
e-reader or very basic tablet. I use Instapaper to save articles for later
reading, which brings me on to...

\- Only reading when you have the time to focus, without interruptions or task
switching. So no quick article reading during a restroom visit.

\- Getting enough sleep, which tends to help with everything except having
enough time in the day to do everything.

------
chrismeller
I’ve found that, like anything else, you can train yourself out of this kind
of behavior simply by being conscious of it.

If you’re reading something on the web, pull the tab out into its own browser
window and maximize it. If your OS of choice has a “silence notifications”
option, use that. When you realize that you’ve gotten sidetracked just remind
yourself that that’s not good and return to what you were doing.

Essentially this is a lite version of some mindfulness therapies. Over time
actively centering yourself back in the moment will help your concentration
just like it helps with anxiety.

While it doesn’t really help you, I thought I’d also relate a bit of an
anecdote. For years and years I had a list of some of the “classics” that I
felt like I should read because they were apparently so monumental we have to
force every high school kid in the US to read them. For years I tried and made
no progress - I could sit down with a fiction novel and be lost for hours, so
it wasn’t my concentration, but any time I picked up something by (for
example) Dickens I would spend three minutes actually reading and then my mind
would wander. At some point I would notice that I’d been reading the same
paragraph over and over and give up, disappointed in myself again.

Eventually I just realized that I simply _hate_ Dickens and no amount of
effort was going to make me start liking him. I had to admit that I was just
never going to get that feeling of awe that I felt like I should have for any
of his works and gave up and moved on to books I actually liked.

It won’t work if it’s something for work, but perhaps you’ve been focusing on
things you feel like you _should_ learn, but don’t really _want_ to learn.

------
wenc
This doesn't work for everyone but for me, it's been two things:

(1) change of environment -- coffee shop, library, etc. Same principle as WFH
separation between work/home -- your brain is wired to environment, often more
than you think.

(2) going non-digital -- Rhodia premium paper & TWSBI Eco fountain pen for
scribbling little notes (that I never expect to review again -- it's just for
building muscle memory. It's ok to take notes that get thrown away!).
Electronics are put away.

Also what really helps? Going in with a goal in mind, and a reason for
engaging with the material. Not all books are meant to be read and finished.

Economist Tyler Cowen--an omnivorous high-volume reader--has a 50 page rule
(if I remember correctly). Stick it out for the first 50 pages, and if you
don't feel the book is interesting enough to continue, stop. Just stop. Be
comfortable being a book non-completist.

(Caveat: mostly applies to non-fiction.)

------
rolandas
My solution to this problem was to read things out loud (or whisper)—this way
my mind stayed focused on the material much longer than I was reading
silently. When I caught my mind wandering, I would go back to the point where
I didn't remember what I've read and started again. I had situations when I
had to read one sentence multiple times to understand it—my mind was
completely somewhere else.

Another thing that had a big impact on me was to reduce internet news & social
media consumption to the minimum. I found that reading things on a screen was
part of the problem, so I read things only on paper. I still barely use social
media and get my news only through weekly newspaper.

It's a nasty habit to skim read and I hope you'll overcome it.

------
hombre_fatal
I know what you're talking about and consciously trying to read books again
basically repaired my severely atrophied attention span.

There was a period where I sheepishly don't even think I read a single article
on HN. Just the title and then straight to the comments.

Retraining myself to be able to sit down and read a book apparently exercised
the same muscle that lets me click into internet articles and read the whole
thing. I just noticed that after I had a daily book habit for a couple months,
I magically was reading articles again at some point.

Of course, sitting down with a book is the whole challenge in the first place.
But at least you're away from the laptop and you have a fighting chance.

~~~
helipad
I recently went on vacation. I wanted to really switch off and couldn't bring
myself to read non-fiction that engaged my brain.

I hadn't read fiction in more than ten years. The first day by the pool I'd
read a page then found my mind wandering. By the end of the first day I had a
headache, as if my brain was under strain from stretching an old, unused
muscle.

The rest of the vacation I couldn't stop reading. Took the Kindle everywhere,
tried to steal any moments away from family to get to the next chapter. Funny
how the brain works like that.

The post script is of course I returned from vacation and haven't had the same
reading rhythm. Turns out new (old) habits are hard.

------
JimBrimble35
"How do you overcome it?" \- don't.

Lots of other good suggestions on here, but I have some commentary on this
problem as well.

I experience the same issue when trying to read with greater concentration. I
start out and my brain goes crazy thinking about everything in the known
universe. If I stick it out and keep trying to read, in about 10 to 15 minutes
I notice that my concentration is restored.

10 - 15 minutes may seem like a hefty price to pay to read with attention, but
consider this: the problem described here is very similar to many people's
experience with meditation. I believe that this type of mental state is a sort
of un-bundling for your brain, and once complete, you can better focus on the
task at hand. In my experience, the more reading I do, the less time I spend
in this state. By the time I finish a book I can pick it up and immerse myself
instantly. Instead of viewing this as "waiting so you can read", try thinking
of it as your daily meditation, without really needing to try.

I see this less as an impairment due to your skimming habits, and more of a
natural process that many people experience.

------
gdubs
The book “The Distracted Mind” is a pretty good overview of the science behind
this. In terms of how to alleviate distraction, they recommend taking
restorative breaks like walking in nature, standing up, making tea, etc. Even
looking at pictures of nature can be effective. If you can substitute these
breaks for the constant need to flip over to some other novel stimulus, over
time you can build up your attention span. (Also, for me, I find meditation
can really help build your focus over time. You can start with concentrating
fully on your breathing for ten breaths, and work up gradually from there.
Even a few very “mindful” breaths can be very effective.)

------
interestica
The single greatest (and most-overlooked) reading tech combo for me is a Kobo
eReader + Pocket extension.

The browser plugin let's me add any articles I come across. The plugin UX on
desktop is painless (one click) and on mobile it shows up through the "share"
menu on Android os.

The Kobo can then sync those articles (ad free! Resizable text!). It's a great
distraction-free way to read the articles and a great tool if you have certain
vision issues. The Kobo can stay offline after it syncs and the battery will
last for weeks.

------
websitescenes
I grew up with this disability and was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age. Are
you sure that this is something new are are you just more aware of your
tendencies with age? Either way, what helps me is the right environment and
preparation. I have to make a space that is distraction free and if that isn’t
possible, I rely on noise canceling headphones or random color visualizations
in the background on a separate screen. CBD also really helps calm me down but
that is probably because I’m on the spectrum as well..

~~~
chrismeller
Random color visualizations on a separate screen? Isn’t that distracting?

~~~
websitescenes
Maybe I should explain, I think I misused "random" here. What I benefit from
is rhythmic, repetitive patterns. Whether they are visual or audio they seem
to really help. For instance, I listen to the same song on repeat for half the
day. I guess I meant pick a random visualization that is soothing? Hope that
makes sense.

------
randypitcherii
A quick fix I found for this is to use a text-to-speech plugin for chrome (any
text to speech service is fine).

I'm a huge podcast and audiobook fan and found that I couldn't stop skimming
when trying to read online. This approach helps me to actually stick to
reading the words on the screen without distraction.

By hearing AND reading, I find I'm able to retain the information better and I
break the cycle of constantly rereading the first sentence of a large
paragraph.

------
hoodwink
Make sure you’re disconnected while trying to read. Either a physical book or
Kindle.

It helps to ritualize this disconnection by walking to a park or special
reading chair.

------
GistNoesis
I am developing a little add-on to improve reading comprehension. Firefox :
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/addon/colorify/](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/addon/colorify/) Chrome :
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/colorify/pipnfjhpb...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/colorify/pipnfjhpbdpejoemmkhoglekbjakmnkc)

I'm not sure whether or not it can help you, but it probably have an impact.
It colors each sentence in a different color, so you can more easily process
chunk by chunk restoring a reward for the brain for having completed a chunk.

It's also very colorful, so it may satiate your brain's novelty appetite.

Please give it a try, and leave me some feedback so I could eventually target
this demographic if it's beneficial to them.

Thanks

------
brudgers
Personally, when this happens I don't panic and think about engaged reading as
a habit that I need to reacquire through practice. For example, I recently
decided to read some Phillip K. Dick. _A Scanner Darkly_ spent about four
weeks on the nightstand. _UbiK_ about two weeks. _Do Androids Dream of
Electric Sheep_ three nights. At full tilt, I'd have read any of those in a
single day. But it doesn't matter. Nobody cares how fast I read. Nobody cares
how much I retain. Nobody cares if I don't finish a book. Including me. It's
not that I don't prefer to finish books or retain a lot. It's that there are a
lot of books that aren't worth reading and a lot of books that are finishable
that aren't worth remembering.

------
koolhead17
I followed the Deep Work and power of habit approach.

* Get disconnected from gadget.

* Associate reading with some other task, aka listening to instrumentals. This will trigger you to pick book, get into reading mode.

* Pick or make a reading corner where you don't have any distraction.

* Divide 25-30 mins chunks.

* Eat well, breath and meditate.

------
jihadjihad
Keep it simple: be intentional, and practice. Get in the habit of reading
long-form works on a regular cadence. You don't need to hoist Proust's _In
Search of Lost Time_ into your lap, pen in hand, ready to take notes in the
margins. Just grab something interesting to you that you can engage with and
be stimulated by. Play some classical or other instrumental music in the
background if you prefer. If you have thoughts about the work as you're
reading, jot them down and follow up with them later. The point is to make a
concerted effort to tune everything else out except the work and your thoughts
about it--you can stop to look around the scenery but don't ever take your
foot off the gas.

------
codegladiator
Not completely related to your question but this video helped me getting start
reading again

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIW5jBrrsS0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIW5jBrrsS0)

------
lugermorph
Try listening to white noise while you read:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzjWIxXBs_s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzjWIxXBs_s)

------
stagas
One solution that has helped me is this extension[0] that reads pages using
Google Wavenet, which is a very decent AI generated text-to-speech, so it's
almost like listening to a lecture in YouTube. It takes a bit to setup but
after you do it's working perfectly.

[0]: [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/read-aloud-a-
text-...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/read-aloud-a-text-to-
spee/hdhinadidafjejdhmfkjgnolgimiaplp)

------
biql
Print it and read in a place without internet access.

------
raas
Try to make sure you don’t go past any word that you do not understand.

It really helped me

[https://www.scientology.org/courses/study/overview.html](https://www.scientology.org/courses/study/overview.html)

[http://www.studytechnology.org/10-barr.html](http://www.studytechnology.org/10-barr.html)

------
TheAdamAndChe
I used to have this problem. A break from caffeine, forced daily reading, and
liberal use of the pomodoro technique pretty much fixed this. It also helped
me when I took a several month break from social media and other sites that
use machine learning algorithms to maximize engagement.

~~~
Veen
I can second the benefits of Pomodoro for reading. I use it often for work,
but I was resistant to structuring reading into chunks. But, after
experimentation, I found Pomodoro helped me to maintain focus and get through
books without a wandering mind.

------
WheelsAtLarge
I had this very same problem. I had to just force myself to read. There are no
shortcuts.

I started with reading news reports and progressed to books. The one must is
that it has to be something you are very interested in reading and you have to
do it every day

------
viburnum
I’m in the same boat.

A friend told me she went cold turkey on reading anything that scrolls. She
said it took about three weeks for her brain to come back. Now she’s back to
reading 600 page books. I’ve tried but I can only make it a day or two.

------
hprotagonist
if you can, create a room which contains no easily accessible electronics.
Then go sit there and forbid yourself from leaving for 90 minutes.

After an hour or so of going mildly insane, you should get a good 30 minutes
of reading in.

------
redavni
Go out into woods with no devices and just said book. Get a few good night's
sleep out there. Focus will come back without thinking.

Your brain is tired, and you are getting older. It's natural. Take a vacation.

------
collyw
Meditation helps to a degree.

