I have a problem focusing when reading

[anxiety1408]

I want to read, I have a few books that im interested in reading right in front of me. I have a problem focusing though. I have my computer in my room right in front of where I would like to read. I don't want to read in bed at night cos I think I wont input any information since i will be so tired and want to sleep.

These books interest me, their in the psychology field. The thing is, Whenever I get to reading one of the books I will read a bit of it, then next time I read it I decide hey I dont remember any of it hardly Im going to start again, so I pretty much am starting the same book over and over, barely getting anywhere. This has become a habit now. I also sometimes continue to read when I don't understand parts, Its like im reading just to finish it, and then I think to myself hey I didnt understand it so I go back and read again from the start.

Someone help me with this problem, because I really wanted to read these books, my mind just wanders and I keep re-reading the same parts of a book and im getting nowhere!

 

[IcedEarth25]

I'm pretty much the same, i used to be able to read a book while listening to music, but my habit became apparent when one minute the music was too quiet so i turned it up, then turned it down then up and so on til i realised i wasnt actually concentrating on the reading so it came to a stage where i was reading 1 page up to three times and repeating sentences until they stuck in my head.

To avoid this i would suggest a time out period of maybe 2 minutes just to clear your mind then begin reading and you may find that you actually feel part of the book once you get going, usually works for me but a clear mind always helps .

 

[anxiety1408]

I'm pretty much the same, i used to be able to read a book while listening to music, but my habit became apparent when one minute the music was too quiet so i turned it up, then turned it down then up and so on til i realised i wasnt actually concentrating on the reading so it came to a stage where i was reading 1 page up to three times and repeating sentences until they stuck in my head.

To avoid this i would suggest a time out period of maybe 2 minutes just to clear your mind then begin reading and you may find that you actually feel part of the book once you get going, usually works for me but a clear mind always helps .

Lol, sounds like me @ rereading the page/and sentences until my mind actually digested anything that I was reading. It was like I was trying to force myself to understand when quite clearly if I didnt try I would have understood lol. Music, I can read articles online with my music playing in the background, I just cant do it when I have to read books in paper form I just feel like I need a higher level of concentration and I cant digest the information with the music playing in the background lol. Thanks I will keep that in mind @ 2 mins to clear your mind, normally I just pick the book up and get straight into it.

I guess another reason is I have 4 books I need to read, 2 are normal sized and 2 are like big textbook sized, and I guess I want to read all of them and know more about all of them. And the fact that my mind is thinking about finishing all 4 books and having more knowledge on them doesn't help me concentrate on the one book that I am reading. Must stick to thinking in the present moment lol

 

[IcedEarth25]

No problems glad to help , yea im the same in that department too, trying to cram so much info in my head that after a while all the info dissapears completly then i'm back to square 1, reading should be a pleasure and a hobbie unless if its school or college work then thats a little different lol.

 

[Silatuyok]

When this happens to me, I try reading aloud to myself, and explaining the material to myself, if need be. Managed to gain a deep understanding of cellular respiration in this manner. Also, I'm a kinesthetic learner, so I pace while I'm reading, or rock in a rocking chair, or chew gum or eat candy.

 

[anxiety1408]

No problems glad to help , yea im the same in that department too, trying to cram so much info in my head that after a while all the info dissapears completly then i'm back to square 1, reading should be a pleasure and a hobbie unless if its school or college work then thats a little different lol.

Lol agreed, It should be pleasurable, I just find myself sometimes trying to force the information into my head. Funnily enough the less you try the more you understand haha. I'll try and work on it lol

 

[anxiety1408]

When this happens to me, I try reading aloud to myself, and explaining the material to myself, if need be. Managed to gain a deep understanding of cellular respiration in this manner. Also, I'm a kinesthetic learner, so I pace while I'm reading, or rock in a rocking chair, or chew gum or eat candy.

thanks for the comment Reading aloud doesn't work for me I start to concentrate too much on the sound rather than what Im reading lol. Im a visual learner, so I find the book route a bit more difficult lol But I am wanting to read books and expand my knowledge lol

 

[anxiety1408]

Not to mention there are ALOT of things on my mind, that need to be done lol. So what I have just done is written on my calendar, 3 weeks from now is when I will start reading, that is when some of the things wandering around my mind will be sorted/on their way to be sorted. So then I will be able to read with more of a clear head.

 

[Aletheia]

I'm a visual learner, but reading is so passive it does tend to put me to sleep. So I make it active: I take notes. Doesn't matter if I never see them again, the act of writing them helps etch it in my brain.

Problem sets help too.

 

[anxiety1408]

I'm a visual learner, but reading is so passive it does tend to put me to sleep. So I make it active: I take notes. Doesn't matter if I never see them again, the act of writing them helps etch it in my brain.

Problem sets help too.

I considered doing that today actually, I read on the net that it helps. So I got my Pad out and then I had second thoughts, Cos I thought to myself there's gonna be so much useful information I can't just sum it up, Im not good at summarizing!! I end up copying it all normally lol also the books to follow after this one are textbook size and more than like 400 pages so If I were to go about taking notes on them It would take me like forever lol

 

[Aletheia]

Well, I think the summarizing you do to take notes helps you shrink the material down so you can fit it in your head. Almost no one can remember 400 pages.

Sometimes I do idea webs, where I just jot down key terms and arrange them on the page to reflect how they relate to each other.

But a lot of text books give summaries at the end of each chapter, or in separate study guides. Just copying those might help you some.

 

[anxiety1408]

Well, I think the summarizing you do to take notes helps you shrink the material down so you can fit it in your head. Almost no one can remember 400 pages.

Sometimes I do idea webs, where I just jot down key terms and arrange them on the page to reflect how they relate to each other.

But a lot of text books give summaries at the end of each chapter, or in separate study guides. Just copying those might help you some.

Actually thats a point, there may be some summaries in these big books. I might give it another shot with the smaller books If I struggle again. But like I said, Im going to start after 3 weeks when some of the things I need to sort out are more or less sorted. do you know what I mean? When your mind is wandering and thinking about things, and whilst your here your not actually here. I need to clear my mind up a little bit to leave space for a book lol at the moment there's no capacity for it