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Comment by Hiopl | Hacker News Reader

As somebody with ADHD, I can't consume audiobooks at all. My mind just starts to wander 10 seconds in and eventually I realize I haven't been listening for the past half-hour. It's the same with talks or lectures on YouTube, though I've found that putting them at 2x speed helps to keep my attention.

I really do need a book in text form, because it allows me full control over how quickly or in what order I consume it. I learned a long time ago that reading books linearly doesn't work for me, so reading as I do involves a thorough look at the table of contents, then a lot of skimming and jumping back and forth to find the most interesting/stimulating bits and assembling that into a coherent view of the book.

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Yeah same here. I only tried audio books once or twice, it just didn't do it for me. I need the physical images of the words in front of me in order to keep them in my head. I've also found physical books to be much more forgiving of micro-distractions. When some sound from across the house distracts me, all I need to do to "pause" the reading is... stop reading. My eyes can wander around the page briefly and I don't lose anything. But with audio, I am finding myself manually needing to pause, rewind, etc.

I also listen to lectures and so on at higher speeds! People I know think I'm crazy when they walk in and hear someone yammering about some dev topic in a chipmunk's voice, but I just get so impatient with slower speech.

I consume a lot of audiobooks - but I can really only listen to them in certain contexts when I am doing something else that requires a certain level of concentration: driving, gardening, cooking, cleaning and most of all walking. If I try and listen to them without doing something else I just fall asleep and I can't listen to them when doing something that requires a lot of concentration either.

I now have a lot of unused Audible credits because of the recent lockdown here which is lifting on Friday!

That's how I am. I mowed for a job two years ago, and that was the perfect activity to listen to an audiobook for me. It keeps me physically busy, but requires no thought. I can autopilot all day while listening.

I always describe multitasking this way as needing two different stimuli. I need something to engage my brain, and something to engage my body. I went though a phase of learning a Rubik's Cube while watching movies. That helped me focus greatly while it lasted.

I try to slot everything I can into one of those two categories. Things that take little thought, and things that require little physical action. Then I can mix and match them.

I can only consume audiobooks if I'm doing something else. It seems I have to push my brain to the edge of activity it can absorb at once. Too little activity (just listening to an audiobook) and I get bored and distracted. Too much activity (listening while coding) and I don't do either well. Listening while doing mindless tasks like cleaning or exercising seem to be just the right amount of mental activity to keep me engaged well.

Same, with regard to audiobooks. The only thing I find them useful for is helping me get to sleep.

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