Asking
Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

how to get back into reading

i have quite a lot of fiction books in my little apartment, horror fiction mainly, 2nd hand which i got from ebay...but i've not read for about a year, just the thought of picking up a book just lately seems like a strenuous, laborious task, and when i have tried to read in recent times, my attention wanders and i find it hard to read a page of the book, because my attention drifts off somewhere else and i won't take in what i've read?

is there a way to get over this problem?
Top | New | Old
otherspect · 51-55, M
I don't think you're alone. 'Seems like the majority of people I talk to these days, if I ask them what they are reading or what they like to read, the answer is always something like, "Yeah I used to read a lot, but nowadays I just can't find the time."

I think it's a worldwide social phenomenon, sadly. I won't blame it all on devices, but that's certainly part of it. The pace of life has sped up. We multitask more. We check social media. Email. Phone calls. Work stuff. Money is tight. Our attention spans are stretched thin. By the time we get into bed, we look at that novel that's been sitting on the bedside table for a couple of months and think, Nah, not tonight. I'm too tired. But I do need to get back into reading.

I did that for a year and a half: Practically stopped reading books altogether. That was a big deal for me, because I started reading of my own volition when I was twelve and had never stopped since. I'm not sure why I stopped, but I did.

Then, last year, that year-and-a-half-long dry spell ended. I forced myself to pick up a book and read a bit each night in bed (NOT on my ipad or phone; a physical, paper-paged book). And I have stuck with it, even when I am too tired to read more than a sentence or two. Some nights I have to force myself to put my book down.

One incentive that has kept me going is that I find reading in bed at night helps me sleep better, on average. Reading words on a page is different from on a lit-up screen, and even more different from watching TV. It triggers the imagination, I guess, and puts you closer to a dream state, which in turn helps you sleep. It does that for me, anyway.
Bleak · 36-40, F
I really want to get back into reading but find it an uphill task now because life changes, your responsibilities change.

 
Post Comment