Hi everyone,

I am 23 and a student of M.A. Sociology. I have a great difficulty with reading, while there is nothing I would enjoy more! I love to read and I love to stick to a timetable as hardly anything can be compared to the satisfaction that they bring, but I just can't do them. It takes me an hour to finish two pages and I constantly catch myself daydreaming! I can read much more while I'm in a situation that requires me to wait for something, like when I'm on a bus, waiting for the food to be served, waiting to meet someone, etc. but I cannot always get myself into those situations. The course requires a lot of reading and I'm really beginning to get frustrated. Anyone has any ideas what I could do to improve my reading? Would really appreciate it...

I have the same problem. I love writing and grammar, but I can´t focus on or remember anything I´m reading. Also, I can´t bring myself to reading at home, because there´s so much else to do. The one place I can really read, is on the train.

When I´m reading a book to learn something (be it for school or personal interest) I use a marker to highlight the parts I think are important. It's not about having it highlighted, it's more about making an activitiy out of it.

In my experience I learn the most from activity and not from passive absorption. So my tip is: try to find a way to really work with the material you're reading.

I used to have this problem as well. I'd either drift off and start day dreaming or fall asleep. Meds have made a huge difference!!

Other things that might help:

1. Highlight important parts or make notes while you are reading. As Peter said, what helps is being actively involved in the reading process. Also, look up immediately things that you don't understand as it will make it easier to focus on the following text but also keeps you from drifting off.

2. Use a timer or an alarm that goes off at regular intervals as a reminder to get back to reading in case you do start day dreaming.

3. Find a format that suits you best. I usually prefer reading hard copies than online but I've found that strangely I can focus better when I read stuff on my mobile. I'm not sure why, it doesn't make much sense, but it's true.

4. Kanbanflow

5. This might not help with focus directly but I hope you are using a reference manager to keep track of the papers you've read. You can also enter comments and notes for each paper or links for each paper. I used to forget almost immediately both the content of a paper and the fact that I've read a paper so this helps a lot. Also, it makes things a million times easier when you are writing up (papers or your dissertation/thesis, etc.).

Thanks a lot guys! I will surely try them.

Meds have made a huge difference!!

Could you please tell me what do you take and how it has made any difference? And what are the side effects?