Ask HN: What can I do to start reading again? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What can I do to start reading again?

7 pointscannotread8 comments

I have tried reading things I like (science fiction) and technical books, but for some reason I cannot seem to focus and complete them. It is very difficult for me to read more than 15-20 pages after I sit down to read.

I believe reading is a skill and a habit, and that building the habit matters more than trying to seem smart reading a technical book like I should.

TLDR: would reading Animorphs series or something stupid help me more than reading a technical book? Should I try to isolate and read quietly, or train myself to read with the TV on to a game or something to practice focusing? Does anyone have anecdotal evidence going from a non-reader to being a reader?

How do you go from here (illiterate) to there (reading books 24/7)?

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This is a common phenomenon with a simple solution. You should pick the most interesting book possible instead of the most useful book possible. People fall into the trap of reading books they should read instead of the books they enjoy reading. There are so many books in this world you can always find a more interesting one. If you find yourself dozing off while thumbing the pages, just put the book down and move on. You will thank yourself later for focusing on the journeys rather than the destination.

People can read about 60 pages of challenging material a day. It takes a certain amount of time for your brain to assimilate what you read that runs in the background between reading sessions. If you get 3 sessions in with 20 pages you aren't doing so bad.

I usually have 1-3 books stuffed in my (overpacked) backpack and read when I am on the bus, on the toilet, sometimes hanging around the house. I like reading and re-reading technical documentation on a tablet while doing cardio at the gym.

Personally I have to ration what I read because if I read too much I get anxious and I had an incident of rather troublesome "personality change" because I was deliberately loading myself with reading material intended to induce a "personality change". Personally I find games like

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Wars_2:_Black_Hole_Ris...

which involve recombination of a limited number of elements are better for my mental health than reading at the maximum rate that I can.

1. De-saturate your reading intake. Are you reading a lot of short-form content like HN, reddit, twitter etc. on your phone? Cut that noise.

2. Find a read that you are looking forward to. To me, this was some science fiction. I discovered https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds via the adaptation of his Beyond the Aquila Rift story by Netflix' Love Death and Robots. I started with his short story collections which have an incredible reading-time-to-payoff ratio - some of the most satisfying world building in short form. It helps that he is an astrophysics PhD.

So basically find what you love reading and let the pleasure pull you into the experience.

I try to always carry a book or a kindle with me.

I use dead time to read :

- toilet - waiting in line - transport - random breaks - before going to sleep

I also read on my computer to relax a bit.

I try to block time to read, but more often than not it does not work, because it’s not always a priority.

But I never fail to read when I always have a book with me. Few pages here and there, multiple times a day go a very long way.

I usually average between 40 and 70 books a year.

I usually read multiple books at the same time, a classic, something technical, a fiction, maybe a biography or a business book.

I never force myself to read something specific if I am not in the mood (but I always have something purely entertaining that almost always work : Terry Pratchett at the moment)

I would say reading 15-20 pages in a sitting is a great start, actually. I would suggest not trying to figure out how to read more, but rather to build a habit of reading more often.

A daily habit of 15-20 pages a day will have you reading a very respectable number of books over months and years.

Get your eyes checked if you haven't lately. Your lack of focus could be more literal than you expected.

You could try re-reading something that you enjoyed in the past.

Try starting with short-stories.

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