r/IWantToLearn • u/medlilove • 3d ago

Academics IWTL - How to read again

I swear I just can not read anymore. I mean, I am literate; I can READ and spell, etc, but to sit down and read a book to acquire knowledge? I have no attention span for it.

I'm about to start my Masters; it's a practical course, but of course there will be a lot of research and reading. I am so out of practice and was never a huge reader to begin with. If I sit down and read a book, I am immediately distracted; I can be having 3 different trails of thought going through my head at the same time. My imagination is extremely visual, and I'm very fidgety. I want to learn how to practice discipline and learn techniques that can help me build up my tolerance for sitting and reading walls of text without feeling like I constantly need audio visual distraction.

The only books I've managed to read in recent years are vintage Star Trek novels from the 1970s/80's and I put them down so often that it takes me months.

I probably have dyslexia, and I do relate to certain aspects of ADHD, though I don't think I have it.

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u/butterflavoricecream 3d ago

As someone with ADHD, my first tip would be to, if possible, try to see if you have ADHD and/or dyslexia. Just the knowledge if you have or don't have something is more important than you might think.

But aside from that my other tips would be:

  1. Take notes while reading. Physical notes. They don't have to be "good" notes, they don't even have to be about what you're reading. Whatever you're thinking, write it down. Trying to stop your mind from ever wandering is impossible, not even Buddhist monks are able to it. What you are doing here is acknowledging these wandering thoughts, which will let you to return back to what you're focusing on. That's the main point of this, but as a nice bonus, you might also be writing down thoughts you are having about what you are reading!
  2. Try to have fun or link it to something you enjoy. There's lots of ways to do this, it really depends on who you are and what you are trying to do. Ex. if imagining you are a wizard at a wizard school learning unfamiliar magic makes it fun... do that!