Yeah, my attention span is also messed up because of the internet, but it’s not the internet’s fault necessarily, just how efficiently it provides people with what they want. These algorithms, which are intended to keep people in their respective websites or apps, are so good that we get comfortable being entertained instead of seeking out something that we genuinely like. Consider before, people tuned in at the exact time on the exact day to watch the next episode of X or Y show, then it switched to on demand streaming, and now the way people like to consume shorter form media (~10-20 mins) is recommendations from algorithms. My attention span was already shit from start, but the way I try to improve it a little is to seek out and choose what I would like to watch rather than have something recommend it to me. If you want to go a step further, try reading shorter books for awhile and build your tolerance and love for books up again just like grade school did way back when. If not, whatever lol, but I’m saying all of this because I’m trying to get myself out of a similar spot.
Used to, but I’ve managed to keep it under control. For reference, I have ADHD, and due to my carreer and hobbies I spend most of the day in front of a screen. I’ve gotten the algorithms from sites and apps I use to favor media on the longer side and have no issues sticking to it, or reading for long periods of time. Since I started taking medication for ADHD, it’s gotten even better still. Though I won’t lie, when reading I often had to read the same thing twice or thrice because I didn’t really read it.
Almost everyone is affected to some degree, it’s a problem affecting the general population and it’s getting worse. It came with the popularity of social media and attention grabbing games on smartphones. Tiktok, Instagram, Candycrush, etc. It all aims to turn us into dopamine junkies with quick excitement and constant stimulation of the senses And these platforms are constantly getting better at it, Tiktok being the most recent example.
It’s so bad that even the typical instrumental intro to songs is shorter nowadays because people would drop the song if the intro was too long.
It’s a brain plasticity thing. Like any exercise, you have to keep it trained or you will lose your endurance and muscle memory.
Gotta cultivate the habits you want to keep, or else habits will form on their own that you don’t necessarily want, not unlike weeds in an untended garden.
I kinda have this issue with a weird combination of what you just said, liek i like pysical books campared to e-books but i would rather do something on a computer or something thatn read also i find myself to get bored easily. hopefully this makes sense…
After a pause in my reading habit, it was similar for me but I just kept at it and now I read a lot quite easily. Although, with the bite sized content, my patience for media taking too long to get to the core message, is significantly reduced. If I don’t get what the image, text or video is about within the first 5 seconds, I move on. Especially with the reels of people talking some random stuff with just their face in the video. Absolutely loathe that.
I do fast forward through shows like you. Especially when they’re putting too much fluff before the conflict/resolution. No patience for that at all. And I watch k-dramas and anime, so it gets difficult sometimes haha.
Maybe subscribe to some media that’s more about longer-form journalism? So you can read stuff that’s informative and interesting, but doesn’t require the commitment of a longer book. And it has the bonus of supporting proper journalism, rather than click-bait rage news. I’m finding The New Yorker really good for this. I signed up for a trial before the Reddit thing blew up, but I think I’ll be keeping it long-term now.
I felt similarly when I started getting back into reading a few years ago. Now I read habitually. My advice which you can take with a grain of salt:
- Start simple
Start with something easy to read. I got back into reading through the Harry Potter series, which I hadn’t read before. Particularly the first couple books are target towards kids and are quick and easy to get through.
- Don’t be afraid to quit a book
If you’re not into it, move onto something else. You can even have multiple books going at once for some variety. Libby and a Kindle helps immensely for this.
- Set goals
I set an annual goal for number of books to read and use Good Reads to track it. I hear there are federated alternatives to GR but I haven’t tried them yet.
- Read with a partner
It was my girlfriend who encouraged me to start reading HP and read them with me. I think that made it easier to motivate myself to read than if I’d done it alone.
- Power through
Just keep at it. It’s going to be hard at first, and will get easier over time.
Me too!! I’ve found that reading before bed is helpful–starting with only 10 minutes or so, but now I’m up to a couple of hours (if I go to bed early enough)!
What’s stopping you from trying again? Treat it like working out: schedule 30 minutes per day in which you have to read the book, and you have to try honestly. It doesn’t matter if you get distracted and have to start over all the time, just keep trying. After a while, your habits will change and it will come naturally.
