Have you ever been reading, and while your eyes are absolutely scanning over the page and your mind is hearing the words, you haven’t really been paying attention? Maybe you started thinking about what you have to do later today. Maybe you have to make dinner, do laundry, pick up the kids, put the kids to bed, walk the dog, take out the trash, whatever it may be. The mundane intrudes on your reading.
It happens to everyone.
My recommendations.
Of course, the first is to find a space for reading. It can be a chair facing a wall in the corner of an otherwise already used room. We are not recommending building a personal library here, though if you do, please send pictures!
The chair doesn’t even need to always be there. Anywhere that you and everyone around you knows, this is my place to read.
Tell people that you have set aside the time to read. It doesn’t need to be long. Fifteen or twenty minutes can be enough to jump into a story and really get going. I recommend doing so right before bed. Well published literature has shown reduction in exposure to artificial lighting from phones and TVs before bed improves sleep. How better than to read?
Lastly, and the origin of this piece is to tell someone about what you read. Even if the someone is yourself. Every two pages, stop, slow down, and tell yourself what just happened. A one paragraph summary of the ten paragraphs you reviewed. By slowing down like this you will remember more of what you read, and perhaps appreciate, assimilate and retain more of the information that you read.
Happy reading!
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