What can I do to take back my attention span?

[Sebben Crudele II]

I already have a thread here documenting me taking back my sanity from years of smartphone use.

I'm making a separate thread for this because I don't read on my phone nor have a kindle, but using a phone destroyed my attention span even without sns of any kind, I am actually trying my best to read real books like I used to do when I was a teenager. I would devour novels. I would sit 4 hours straight immersed in reading. It was so comfortable. It was this world I could disappear into. I want that back.

I'm not asking for book recommendations, I'm asking for recommendations on how to enjoy reading again instead of finding it frustrating. It's like I forget to read, if it makes sense. I read the paragraph but I didn't get a single thing, so I have to read it again.

This all would qualify me as a giant sped 15 years ago. It's unbelievable that this is so common now.

Do you guys have this issue? Should I start with something on the lighter side then gradually move to proper thicker books? Even rereading LOTR feels impossible. I feel so ashamed that I allowed goyslop technology to get me to this point.

 

[William Murderface]

The second half of this article might help. It seems like it would.

https://www.wikihow.com/Read-Effectively

Or ask your public library if they have an adult learning staff who might be able to help out.

 

[Fascist Frederick]

You don't really want to. You want to want to. You "forget to read" because you'd rather be doing whatever it is your mind wandered off to when you were trying to read. Your only option is to accept that you've changed.

 

[BigMan13]

Generally just spend more time doing nothing to resolve attention problems. But specifically forcing yourself to get back into book reading, autustic levels at that, is a really bad idea. There's not really much worth chasing in fictional worlds. And for the parts there are; you'd have a lot more fun imagining (just thinking about) your own stories and just making them all the good parts.

Books, even fiction, are notorious for being filled to the brim with bloat. Nonfiction / academic is a complete wash of singular sentences spread across hundreds of pages.

I would honestly consider it a good thing you've been subconciously or conciously stopping yourself from getting back into reading. Just because it's a "book" doesn't mean it's not just another piece of media that can subsume you.

 

[Lords Greatsword]

Lot of neurochemical shit goes on under the hood for matters such as that. It'd be good to take a step back and evaluate everything that could be contributing to your mind preferring instant rewards versus being able to delay it for later. Reading longer, structured texts is a pretty good start.

Generally just spend more time doing nothing to resolve attention problems. But specifically forcing yourself to get back into book reading, autustic levels at that, is a really bad idea. There's not really much worth chasing in fictional worlds. And for the parts there are; you'd have a lot more fun imagining (just thinking about) your own stories and just making them all the good parts.

Books, even fiction, are notorious for being filled to the brim with bloat. Nonfiction / academic is a complete wash of singular sentences spread across hundreds of pages.

I would honestly consider it a good thing you've been subconciously or conciously stopping yourself from getting back into reading. Just because it's a "book" doesn't mean it's not just another piece of media that can subsume you.

Counterpoint - The Grand Library of KiwiFarms

 

[Stabby_Pencil]

Try getting a hobby that requires focusing. Set a time aside where you are internet-free to get some attention back. Setting a goal and the reward for completing the goal in a set time may help you.

 

[Smoltine Kiminal]

but using a phone destroyed my attention span

then stop using it

 

[22 Rimfire]

I read the paragraph but I didn't get a single thing, so I have to read it again.

That specifically happens to me when I'm too tired to be reading. It's a sign to pack it in for the night and return to it when fresh in the morning.
If you're reading after work or at the end of the day, this is probably fatigue. Try reading earlier in the day, getting more sleep, etc and see if things change. If not then sure, it's some other root cause. But check this first.

 

[Shartavius]

@Sebben Crudele II You're describing a natural reaction to boredom.

Edit: I read some of your other posts; and you seem to have problems bigger than conflating attention span with comprehension.

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

Try meditation. Sit down somewhere, close your eyes and just focus on your breathing. The goal is to silence the noise in your head.

 

[23iwakura23]

If you've had a general detox from doomscrolling phone use, that's not necessarily going to put you back where you can enjoy novels like you're a kid again. Especially if you're older, you're at a point where most consumer novels are just slop. It's still the same thing as on TV, but just in text form. You know topics now, though, so like so YA fic isn't going to satisfy you, because you either by prior reading or experience, already know that subject well enough to not need to read some fiction about it.

So I think the reality is that you need to "challenge" yourself with reading that's "+1" to what you already know. I mean, you could delve into hard technical manuals about whatever your trade or technical interest is on one front. Or you could delve into things like "great works" people have written through time. Shit like Mobey Dick and shit, you know? Hard works of real literature that were written for a more intellectual society than ours. And if that's too boring, go into classics. Parse out the timeless truths people writing about the human condition 2000 years ago had to say about it. Go read obscure medieval theologians. Go read Plautus. Fuck it, go read Aristotle. They don't teach him anymore, so it's new ground. If you're so bored that you can't read all the shit we have in english, go learn latin and figure out the shit we don't have translated yet, and I mean that as someone who does it.

You're not a kid anymore. You can't enjoy some house of the scorpion or artemis fowl tier bullshit like you're 12. You can't be reading books designed for children, women, retards and foreigners like they're "literature". You're disinterested because the things made for the commons are useless to you. Read real shit. Approach literature like an adult and read shit that's on your level.

If you're detoxed from the phones, but still bored of reading, that's what you need IMO.

 

[Otterly]

You need to approach it from two ends. Total dopamine detox so put the phone down and check it twice a day max for emergency stuff.
Then you need to retrain your attention span. If you have to sit down and set a timer or read a single chapter then do that and build up.
It’s also harder as an adult with responsibilities to find the uninterrupted time to sit and read. So schedule it if you have to. Read interesting stuff

 

[Ghostface Killah]

Do drugs about it like an adult or try suicide? Secondly why the FUCK are you coming to KF for mental health advice?

 

[Sebben Crudele II]

@Sebben Crudele II You're describing a natural reaction to boredom.

Edit: I read some of your other posts; and you seem to have problems bigger than conflating attention span with comprehension.

Do enlighten me if so.

 

[Shartavius]

Do enlighten me if so.

my mother had me tested for autism and adhd when I was like 6.
Doctor quite literally told her I was just dumb and bored.

Stop trying to force proclivities or LARP as a “reader.” If you’re genuinely interested in a given topic or subject, finding people to discuss it with will probably motivate you to retain whichever excerpts actually manage to reach you.

For the schizoids: Periodically logging your impressions and takeaways from the text in the manner of a journal will allow you to revisit and regard your thoughts with some degree of objectivity. From there, you can revise your prose until you stop hating what you recognize of yourself and your neurotic goals dictating that the words come out in a specifically self-affirming string of horse shit; and you’ll be better able to relate to text without getting in your own way.

 

[Sebben Crudele II]

Stop trying to force proclivities or LARP as a “reader.” If you’re genuinely interested in a given topic or subject, finding people to discuss it with will probably motivate you to retain what you remember reading. If you’re schizoidal, then periodically logging your impressions and takeaways from the text in the manner of a journal will allow you to revisit and regard your thoughts with some degree of objectivity. From there, you can revise your prose until you stop hating what you recognize of yourself and your neurotic goals dictating they come out that way; and you’ll be better able to relate to text without getting in your own way.

So my "bigger problems" are that you are presenting half of a random reply of mine without context to what I was replying to then?:

Bleh, my mother had me tested for autism and adhd when I was like 6.
Doctor quite literally told her I was just dumb and bored.

This shit now gets overdiagnosed because it's a money making machine for pharma and bad therapists, and the best munchie by proxy excuse for bad mothers.

Nice one, man.

I'm not larping as a "reader". I legitimately enjoy reading, but my current attention span doesn't allow me to read for a satisfying amount of time without starting to get distracted, because that's one of the countless issues the generalization of smartphones caused in the average person in the last 15 years. This isn't news. We all happily adopted these hellish braincell-melting devices thinking everything was so neat and convenient, without imagining the consequences it would have on our minds (and yes, it was all by design).

Thank you for the advice on writing things down, I already do it. I actually have stopped taking any kind of notes on a phone or computer too, I do all note taking by hand at this point.

My question isn't "how can gronk into reading comprehension ungabunga", it's "how do I get my attention span back to how it was"

It's like you are the one that didn't completely understand what I wrote in the OP, which is weird because others did just fine. I apologize if I didn't explain myself well enough.

 

[Shartavius]

It's like you are the one that didn't completely understand what I wrote in the OP, which is weird because others did just fine. I apologize if I didn't explain myself well enough.

The others took what you wrote at face value. The quality of my replies is due to your posting style of soliciting life hacks on Kiwi Farms reminding me of a cross between Alex Hogendorp and Elaine Miller; where I don't necessarily buy your plight that telephones have damaged your brain into refusing to behave as though it's on adderall.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

I'm not asking for book recommendations, I'm asking for recommendations on how to enjoy reading again instead of finding it frustrating. It's like I forget to read, if it makes sense. I read the paragraph but I didn't get a single thing, so I have to read it again.

Honestly, read something you enjoyed in the past. I also wondered if my attention span was wrecked when I tried to read The Brothers Karamazov, so I picked up some old paperbacks I read when I was a kid and got the feeling of "what happens next?"

A lot of reading comprehension is just staying interested in the subject matter. Reading annoying books turn it off and I include classics too.

 

[BigMan13]

It's like you are the one that didn't completely understand what I wrote in the OP, which is weird because others did just fine. I apologize if I didn't explain myself well enough.

The others took what you wrote at face value. The quality of my replies is due to your posting style of soliciting life hacks on Kiwi Farms reminding me of a cross between Alex Hogendorp and Elaine Miller; where I don't necessarily buy your plight that telephones have damaged your brain into refusing to behave as though it's on adderall.

Why is it always the book autists who always speak in bloated passive aggressive circles. Nobody respects you more for it, and you don't get a better grade.

 

[marlimar]

I'm asking for recommendations on how to enjoy reading again instead of finding it frustrating

I've found that prayer helps to relieve my anxiety; I worship a living God in Christ, and he's a great listener as a friend.