What can I do to improve my concentration when reading? [closed]
Closed by System on Feb 8, 2011 at 14:03
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(I hope this is sufficiently on-topic - couldn't find anywhere else in Stack Exchange more suitable...)
Currently I am having to do a lot of reading of academic papers - some dry stuff but not excessively so. The problem is that, given the average length of a paper, it takes me about 90 mins to read, minimum, sometimes up to a couple of hours for the longer ones. I am having trouble concentrating throughout and my mind ends up wandering, making me lose some of the gist and waste valuable minutes over the course of reading several papers every week.
Though to a much lesser extent, I have this problem when reading normal books too (where the content is that much more engaging than your typical academic paper). So I'm looking for some techniques to improve my reading concentration (or more acutely, some way when reading of becoming aware that my mind is wandering).
(Also, any suggestions of where else to ask this question could be helpful.)
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/1448. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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You have to define the problem before attempting a solution.
Are you distracted? (ambient noise, music, silence, TV, someone talking)
Are you uncomfortable? (crappy chair, bad posture, headache, eyestrain, bad light, hungry, thirsty, tired)
Are you a restless person by nature? Do you have trouble sitting down for X length of time even when doing some other sedentary activity, like watching TV or sitting at the computer?
A bit of a stretch, but do you have any reading issues like dyslexia?
See if you can narrow down what's actually causing your mind to wander, particularly when you're reading something you enjoy. If you can resolve it (a white-noise machine, a better chair, more light, new glasses), or even just alleviate it, that might help with the technical papers.
If you're the type of person who just can't sit, try this: get a timer (a kitchen timer will do fine). Press start when you start to read. The moment you realize you're drifting, press stop. Make a note of how long it was. Reset and do it again. See if a pattern emerges, or take an average. If you can only sit for, let's say, seven minutes before getting distracted, then set the timer for six. When the timer goes off, get up and do something physical — 20 jumping-jacks, or run up and down the stairs twice. Then sit down again and restart the timer. You will lose time in the breaks, but you will only lose one minute of six, and you know you can focus for six, so you aren't losing even more time by not knowing when the next break is.
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I'm reading one of those accounting books that is best described by a reviewer who said it was like "going through WWI trench warfare".
So here is what I did thanks to a friend who suggested this
I read only 3 pages at a time - that's it.
I would do something else that needs to be done from my task list that was broken down into really small chunks so I am away for just enough of a while to encourage controlled ADD.
Then come back, read another 3 pages.
Now because you are accomplishing other stuff, 1) You will feel encouraged 2) Write down in the margins either a summary of what you just read in a few words, that helps tremendously and keeps you on track and brings you back because your mind is catching up with where you were.
In case of an academic article, I would read only one page at a time because I have been there too and wish I had the strategy before.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/1481. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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