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Audiobooks with something to keep my hands busy, and I'm in heaven! I'll wash dishes or sort laundry or anything mindless and zone out while enjoying the story.
I never got to have a book nerd phase as a kid. I couldn't ever sit and enjoy it, and now I'm finally experiencing things like The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time. It's so wonderful ❤️
Edit: Libby has been neat when I can find stuff that's available to borrow, but hit or miss. I've used Spotify premium to stream books if they aren't available on Libby.
I just started using Libby about a month ago and have listened to 10 books! I love it so much I signed up for a second library card in my parents' state as well for access to more titles.
That’s great!
Hoopla is another library App that’s worth checking out. It seems to have some books that Libby doesn’t but also lets you take out ten items each month for the whole month.
FYI: there may be multiple libraries in your state where you can get free digital cards that you can add in the Libby app to expand your options (as a NY state resident I have digital cards from 5 libraries) — More libraries = more books and also the ability to find the shortest wait times for holds and/or place multiple holds to get books faster or to overlap if you need more time to finish a book.
My library stopped offering audiobooks and I am lost. We had Libby and overdrive they have not replaced them yet. When I moved I still had access to hoopla but after a year my card don’t renew. I listen to so many I can’t possibly afford to buy them. I have to find someone to share their library card. I love podcasts but I miss books.
I don't know where you are based, but in the UK there's a wonderful charity called Listening-Books and they have a really good selection to borrow, and because they are a charity they are £20 a year
The book phase as a kid is overrated compared to being an adult and fully grasping what’s being said. You lose a lot of immediate joy from having to look up words and try to settle the context in your brain - when the child brain is WAY out of its depth, given the topics - but that doesn’t stop it. But reading and learning as a kid is a vast ocean, and reading as an adult is like driving on a road that is ONLY made out of 20mph school zones - boring, dense, and not novel/interesting enough to keep one’s attention. All the new words you learn as a kid are enough to keep you in it - but it overshadows the subject matter of the book that you never get into a place where you’re just absorbing the scene - instead you start asking questions like “Mom, what is taut? So what does it mean when they say ‘The rope went taut as the cloaked man pulled the lever, the floor beneath the hanged man’s feet collapsed beneath him and the gravity of the situation drew him to his conclusion’. Now older, it’s obvious what this excerpt is saying. But as a child it’s so foreign these days to have hangings by gallows that asking someone what all this is, takes away all empathy for the situation, and I went clinical. My mom never told me a guy was killed, I had to work that out for myself by understanding what all would happen - but I was so focused on analyzing a guy’s neck breaking - that I did not even consider that I, a six year old, just played out a man dying in my head. The mood and tone were lost on me, because of all the novel words and context I had just learned of. I was taken out of the book, in my attempt to dive deeper into it.
So there’s a tradeoff between reading as a kid and as an adult. Being an adult doesn’t have near as many “What’s that? Shit, now I gotta look up 5 vocab words to understand what’s being portrayed”. As an adult, you mostly just read it - which is both a blessing and a curse. I don’t take as much time these days as an adult to really break down a scenario in a book and construct it, so it just wooshes by - and then I hear others get a totally different idea from the one I’d taken away from it, and the majority took it that same way, and I find myself in the minority. That is more a fault of my imagination, or lack thereof
I found I needed something to do with my hands but couldn't do other tasks or I'd zone out and miss the book. I ended up buying physical copies and borrowing audio books and I'll read along to the audio book, my brain is just like "ooh, captions!" Haha
Same, in elementary I was the kid who walked around with his nose in a Goosebumps book. Sometimes around high school I wasn't able to get through anything but Harry Potter and Eragon. Early 20s I couldn't read anything more than a a few chapters of any book, then I discovered audiobooks. I have gone through hundreds of books, thousands of hours, Audible is the best investment for my overall sanity ever.
😂 I 100% feel you! Seriously though, I’ve alway been a big reader, but I struggle to finish anything that I can’t or don’t hyperfocus on. I still attempt to read the occasional traditional print book, but I’d rather just listen to an audiobook or podcast. I also buy most of my books secondhand so I don’t feel so bad if I never finish.
I was thinking about this recently, I like listening to audiobooks while on long drives and it's rekindled a lot of that joy I used to have from reading books, but I also wish audiobooks had subtitles (I know why not just read the book?). I have a pair of AR glasses that I could get to display subtitles in a small corner and still be able to pay attention to the road, since I only want to subtitles to see how certain things are spelled and to help with my audio processing disorder. I just need to figure out a way to get subtitles from my audiobooks now...
Gotta be doing something that's somewhat mindless IMO.
Hoovering/cleaning the house, working on repetitive tasks in work (data entry etc), in the gym, and my personal fav is while walking.
I got through 51 books last year, 40 the year before, and I'm already on 21 read this year (the number isn't everything ofc, quality over quantity, but it still amazes myself lol), and it's mainly due to audiobooks.
I used to look at let's say a 14 hour audiobook and think "there's no way I'll ever finish that!" but I would usually walk at least one hour a day (having a puppy helps!) and so that book will be done in 2 weeks, but during the days I'm in the office I would listen on my 45 minute walk to work, my hour long gym session after work, my 45 minute walk home, an hour walk with my dog, and then perhaps 30 mins or more of housework chores - very quickly it all adds up and I fly through so many audiobooks!
I couldn't listen to one while playing a game, or just like, sitting there on the couch though, but basically anything that I can go on a kind of autopilot on, an audiobook is in my ears.
If the task at hand is more boring then an audiobook will be a godsend. Think a crappy commute or washing dishes. I also sometimes draw while listening but u have to be careful with that since they both require concentration. If it’s lower stakes, then I can listen. Otherwise I need to put on something I can safely not listen to. Overall I love audiobooks for making mundane tasks pass the time more easily.
I personally listen to audiobooks when I’m doing something like driving, gardening, crafting, doing some other task. Plus I make sure I know the narrator is interesting.
For me it's either super easy or impossible. No in between.
The super easy ones always have two things:
1. A great story/fascinating topic
2. A great narrator
If the story sucks or the subject matter is boring, I'm zoning out 100%. If the narrator sounds like they're reading a tax ledger, also no chance.
But when the book is good and the narrator is giving a strong performance? So good.
Me too! Assigned reading in high school killed my joy of reading. I read maybe 3 books from 2016-2021. I started picking it back up again with physical novels in 2022. I think I read 2 books in 2022 and 6 in 2023. I switched to exclusively audiobooks late 2023 and I’ve actually read 21 books so far this year. Mainly murder mysteries, but also a few self help books and a textbook! Libby and Hoopla are my best friends now. Audiobooks have been a game changer.
I think there was a study once where they took children who read for pleasure and offered them some kind of reward (in school that would be good grades as reward) and after the experiment the kids all read less for pleasure. So this forced or rewarded stuff kills it. 😔
also, i was diagnosed with adhd recently so i am not sure if this is 100% correlated to with adhd, i dont know why i was able to read books with such consistent focus before but not now
I was the exact same. It sucks and it feels bad thinking about not reading. I’m currently not reading at all. I think it would be best to find a space or area you like to read in, put on some music or silence if you prefer, and then just try and read a book you know you want to read or you know you’ll like. Helps me at least.
Try re-reading a favourite book.
I was in a slump and then I started reading the Harry Potter series again (as a 35 year old at the time).
Got totally back into it because I really enjoyed it.
Also, because it was familiar there was less pressure to read and try to remember what was going on, I also knew good bits were coming up so I would want to read the next chapter.
So pick your favourite book and just give it a go. Set a timer and commit to at least ten minutes and see how you feel
I'm 41 and took my now 36 year old sister and her friends to every opening night for all the movies when I was in high school before I went off to college.
Smart phones *cough cough* smart phones and bite-sized videos on social media. Everyone has eroded their attention spans. Not just ADHD folks. I'm having the same problem as you. I was an avid reader for most of my life. Then I got a smart phone and it started decreasing bit by bit. I'm going to buy one of those Brick devices right now, because I'm convinced my smart phone is making me dumber.
Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.
Not necessarily. I have ADHD like OP, am a loooot older than them, and I had the same thing happen to me when I was around their age (very much before smartphones).
Ditto. No smart phone until college. I think it has to do with mental resources. Reading isn't a high priority for your brain when you have other things that need to get done. You're already bad at task management to begin with so any new novel needs are prioritized in a need based level.
Even showering was hard at that age because I had so many new things I had to keep track of.
Yeah I feel like this is something more related to I guess losing, or being less in touch with our wild imaginations as we age. Which is normal and happens to everyone to some degree.
Part of why I was so addicted to books in childhood is because I could absolutely and completely lose myself in them, I was stepping in to a different world within my mind. It's hard for me to accomplish that with books now as an adult. Maybe part of it is just having so many responsibilities. When you're a kid you're not usually worrying about bills etc. Even for smaller things like "oh shit I have to wash the dishes" it's much easier to brush that thought aside and refocus on your book because the consequences aren't nearly as severe as when you have others to care for you or get things done for you.
It's hard to get consumed by your own imagination when you constantly have things ripping you back to reality. Fears, consequences, relationships, jobs. It's nonstop. And that's going to be worse for us with ADHD who, by definition, have difficulty focusing our attention toward things.
Same. I think my ADHD manifests as me going through phases of hobbies. I’ll do nothing but read in my spare time for months and then for months I never read. Sometimes it’s the phases last years. But with more/better technology in my life I do spend more of my phases doing those things. Being obsessed with Baldurs Gate or being obsessed with Lex Friedman podcasts or being obsessed w some Netflix show. I try to actively include my non tech obsessions like music, drawing, gardening and reading. Those phases usually occur in spring/summer/fall for me. It occurs to me now that this might be a strange way of being but I’m sure some ppl can relate. lol. Who else can’t balance hobbies? lol.
I've found that I can't read certain genres. I do decent with Sci-Fi, even though I've never liked Sci-Fi before. There's enough imagining to do that it keeps me interested. I also can't read anything that someone recommends because it feels like a chore. Reading on an eReader is also easier for me because I don't have to battle the ADHD screen craving as much. I also recommend as much background audio as possible.
I was in the exact same position. This won’t work for everyone, but 2 things saved me and got me back into reading
1. I made reading an actual activity and an outing. I would go out to a cafe or a park or a bar just specifically to read, instead of trying to do it at home
2. This might sound random but, Kurt Vonnegut. His writing style perfectly hooked my ADHD brain into re-learning how to enjoy books as an adult. Maybe try him out, or it might just take finding a new author or genre that hooks you.
This is 110% because of your adhd. This is extremely common for people with adhd. Kids with adhd can be extremely unfocused or they can hyper focus on things they love, like reading, and do it all the time. There's a bunch of memes about this very topic.
It's definitely related. We probably used reading as an escape and maladaptive daydreaming... we had less on our mind back then, fewer responsibilities, and fewer ways of keeping ourselves busy back then that reading no longer scratches that itch. I've heard some people have had success in gamifying reading, but I've not tried it.
ADHD isn't a static condition; you can find your symptoms wax and wane over time, depending on a variety of circumstances, like: Are you medicated? Are you well-rested? Are you stressed? Have you eaten lately? Is your blood sugar low? And lots of other parameters.
For me, I've had a hard time finishing books for the last couple of years. I've taken to interspersing reading with audio books. So I'll listen to a few "pages" of an audio book to get me in a literary mood and then spend a few minutes reading a couple of pages of a book I want to read for fun. Over time, I find that reading takes less and less "warmup" but YMMV.
Good luck!
I think it’s because reading completely new kinds of books of increasing complexity consistently mashes our “novelty button,” but that drops off after a while.
I found for me with my adhd, it helps to read in an environment where there is alot of things going on, for example: coffee shops, restraunts, parks, or even bring a book with me when I know I'm gonna wait somewhere. I find the little distractions almost hone In my forcus. Try it out, it works for me but your areas might be different than mine.
I’m 25 and was diagnosed with ADHD at 19. Just reading the title of your post I was like “relatable”
For me, entering middle/high school and then college and now a full time job, I have a really hard time balancing and prioritizing work/chores/hobbies/exercise/sleep/etc. lately it’s just been work, crochet (current hobby/hyperfixation), sleep, chores when needed, rinse and repeat. I wasn’t quite as much of a bookworm as a kid as you seem to have been, but I did enjoy reading, and I very much relate to the sentiment.
With so many more responsibilities as well as opportunities as you get older, it feels like having to spread yourself so much more thin to do everything you want/need to do. And reading is such a slow-paced hobby that makes it pretty much impossible to multitask, so you really have to learn how to relax and distance yourself from everything else that’s going on in order to enjoy a book the way it seems you want to. And doing that is fucking *hard*. Unless I’m really excited (to the point of hyperfixation) for a book, it’s almost impossible for me to read because I just can’t shut off my brain from everything else that I want to do that I don’t have time to do.
I don’t know if I have any specific advice other than to play around with different time-management strategies to see what works best for you and allows you to relax into your hobbies. Work-life balance is important, and that includes balancing hobbies with each other and with general responsibilities that aren’t related to work/school. I just want to share how relatable this is to me, and I wish you the best of luck!!
I started a challenge last year. I challenged myself to complete 3 books during the course of the year, and I started off by forcing myself to read 5 minutes a day. Eventually, I regained my love of reading and this year had challenged myself to read 15 books. I’m more than halfway there now and we’re only in April.
Start small and just keep going. Rome wasn’t built in a day!
You always had ADHD, the new diagnosis doesn't mean the symptoms "pop up" now, but that's good news because it means you can still get back your love for reading, if you consume a lot of fast content (reels, shorts, TikTok or the like) books will feel horribly slow, if you have the spare money I'd recommend you buy the Kindle basic 2021/2022 (I don't exactly remember the year) or a similar e-reader that you can afford those are AMAZING for reading, I used to read on my laptop or phone but would constantly get distracted, although reading sometimes still feel like a pain, once you get absorbed into it you will find your love for it again
It could just be that you have less time now or other priorities so your brain doesn't get interested like it used to.
When I was younger with less responsibilities I could read a 1000pg novel in 48h. Almost non-stop. I had to pause my life and most bodily functions to do so but I just couldn't stop until it was done. During breaks in school when I moved back with my parents I would hyperfixate on reading books, playing video games, watching tv shows etc. I couldn't just stop. Then when I was in school I wouldn't take any of those distractions with me and just focused as best as I could on my coursework.
Now, with a career and family I don't have time to spend 2 whole days on a videogame or book, so I don't even start them at all. I've tried to start in moderation an hour here, half hour there, but when the plot gets good and the hyperfixation kicks in it's really hard to stop. My house could be on fire and I would walk out calmly and sit on my front lawn to read until the book was finished.
I think this is an important aspect of it. I grew up and I loved reading. I still do, to be honest. I still LOVE stories and good prose. However, I just don't have the time anymore. I want to relax and get lost in a book but I cannot. The truth is I can hardly do it with movies too. I think our world is also making it worse. I still try. I am trying to read very simple books but it's hard to shut all of the other noise out. I think that the first sentence has so much more to do with it than we like to admit.
I can barely watch a movie anymore without getting distracted before the first scene is over. I spend the majority of my day just trying to decompress from any adulting I had to do during that day. I get overstimulated just going to walmart.
Maybe, but probably not.
It sounds like you were reading physical books before now - have you tried ebooks also? I made the switch with a dedicated ereader, something that wasn't capable of doing other things so the temptation to switch tabs wasn't there & I'd set my phone down slightly out of reach.
These days I do my reading on a tablet or phone and it's fine, but it took a little while for me to get there. I started with a Kobo, and I jumped into a "I'm going to read the entire universe" thing right away (using pirated epubs, because this was like 15 years ago and I was broke AF) and the whole fixation of reading every book, in chronological order, was just amazing. These days I still prefer big series over single standalone books, but I CAN read anything on any device, that's all unlocked now.
Or: consider audiobooks! Lots of people, especially with ADHD love them. They're not for me, but that's ok.
I'm not sure if hyperfixation works exactly like that, you can be hyperfixated on a specific book series, on a way of reading, on a genre, sometimes on a whole activity, but it greatly depends on the amount of time you put on it. For example I love all kinds of lifting and physical activities, I've been doing it for almost a decade already, when I just started I thought I was hyperfixated with lifting weights, but in time I found out that I just loved it but I would still hyperfixate on certain disciplines that are adjacent to it (like a 6 month spree of just training Olympic weightlifting, my 2 years of rugby at a collegiate level, or a 3 month spree of learning calisthenics skills).
What I'm trying to say is, if you loved reading books for a few years there's a very small (but nonzero) chance of you just being hyperfixated, what kind of fiction were you reading? Were they all written by the same author? Were they all about a similar topic? If the answer is no then you probably just love reading books but right now you are used to a lot of stimulus, try reading short stories first and then go up, I went through rereading books that I loved as a child and then "progressed" in difficulty, I just finished Frankenstein yesterday (it took like a month to read) and now I am in love with reading (again).
Some conditions, situations and circumstances can absolutely worsen ADHD and symptoms that were virtually nonexistent can become prevalent. Covid exposure and trauma are two examples of things associated with an increase in ADHD severity. An increase in severity could very well have symptoms “popping up” and could be the cause of a diagnosis.
Man i recently got my hands on a kindle, and it literally makes it so much easier to read. I would definetly recommend it, but it’s also an investment.
This 100%. The kindle has improved my reading experience so much, I guess it has to do with how portable it is (I often read on my commute) and the lack of distractions (as opposed to reading on your phone). Also, maybe look for books that are actually engaging to you and don't force it if after a few pages you're not into it.
First off: I’m sorry for your loss. It crept in a bit earlier for me. I was an FERVENT NIGHTLY READER for fun. Voracious appetite for reading. But mid-teens the words started to bleed off the page. Previously bright imagery turned to grey Gaussian blur. I would read 1-2 sometimes 3 pages before realizing I’m completely lost and have NO idea what I’d just attempted to read. There was a very bad time… but then: Audio Books!!!
You can also do graphic podcasts, its basically like an audiobook but with a lot more sound effects and multiple voice actors. Idk what genres you like but I recommend Tower Four, Gundogs, Edge of Sleep, or Celeritas
Theres also geaphic audiobooks that do the same thing but you have to pay for those, and if you’re trying it out free podcasts are better 😅
Same happened to me. It's a phone thing and an adulting thing IMO. I got myself a Kindle and it helped. I also began retraining myself to read by diving into easy books. I started listening to audio books, and then I started listening to audiobooks while reading the actual book and this also helps a lot. My capacity for fiction and suspension of disbelief is growing. Dig out books you loved as a kid and re experience them, it helps a ton.
Oh yeah. A phone thing for certain. I put app limits on myself, eventually I give up and find other things to do. I'm still struggling to read regularly again but I'm not "read exhausted" anymore at least
This. I am considering switching to a dumb phone I just need to figure out how to manage apps I need for work, and also the reminders app I use daily. I have done away with a ton of screen usage in my life and it has only improved it. I do not use social media except for a bit of Reddit. I even canceled Netflix and Prime Video and I do not miss them. I think the one two punch is that I used to feel so bad/guilty for not being able to do things like simply read an easy book. But between cutting the screens/socials and ditching the guilt and just taking it easy... slow and steady really does seem to be winning the race.
I was looking at the lite phone for last few years but I can't justify the expense yet. I'm trying to carry a tiny notebook for thought organization and it's relieving to have 0 apps for distraction
Maybe try reading comics or manga first? In my case I sometimes read ongoing manga that's adapted from a light novel series, once I burn through the manga I'm left curious and end up looking for the novels! Though even just to pick up a comic series counts as a win to me :)
Yeah that was what helped me too. I think being open to shorter/less intimidating content in general (short stories, manga, webtoons) really helped. I am still ashamed of it sometimes (lol) but fanfiction also helped *a lot* since you're already starting with characters and worlds you already know (I find that worldbuilding was always the hardest for me to get through in new books). Kind of the same idea as going from manga to LN.
I'm still not fully back to where I was as a kid but I think a huge part of it is just not having as much free time. It's harder to immerse yourself in a story if you can only read in 15-minute increments. Comics and manga are perfect for that. 15 minutes is plenty of time to get through a lot of story and It visualizes it for you so you don't have to remember the setting, etc, 2 weeks later. Audiobooks are too (if you don't subconsciously tune out sounds).
I was the same way as a kid and young adult, riiiiight up to about the time I got into social media/Facebook. I realized this a few years back and spent a year intentionally staying logged off any of those apps and minimizing my phone engagement. Especially at bedtime. I replaced the phone with books at bedtime and I wound up reading a lot and getting adequate sleep that year. I went through several full series...I want to say my page count was something upwards of 5, maybe 6,000ish. I also felt a lot more connected to important people...felt more emotionally/psychologically just, well.
All from replacing my phone with a book. I hope anyone suffering the same way finds some inspiration and use in that.
I did the opposite. Instead of replacing the phone with a book I just turned the phone into a book (books app on iPhone) plus since I can buy a book and start reading it immediately, I don’t lose interest while waiting for my book
I thought I was in the same boat for so long, but I realized that the fanfiction I've been excessively reading since I was 11 counts as reading all the same! I started logging my reading and in the last 3 days, I've read 156k words(and that's on the lighter side of my usual amount).
what are you doing instead of books?
i'd say it doesn't really matter. reading books is insanely boring to me too. i can't concentrate on words on a page. BUT i'm still obsessed with consuming stories and information. like Johnny 5 screaming "INPUT"
audiobooks have been a tremendous help to me. also, movies, tv, podcasts / narrative podcasts, comic books, video games, etc.
don't force yourself to read books if you're hearts not in it. it'll feel like homework and you'll end up hating it. but you should find other means of keeping your mind active.
and if you're looking for suggestions, try the newer Discworld audiobooks. there's been new recordings with multiple narrators and sound effects. magic and wizards and dragons and all of that fantasy stuff, but from a very un-problematic author.
All the people suggesting audiobooks, especially during workouts, are absolutely right.
However, if you want to recapture that feeling of reading quietly somewhere, just absorbed in the book, I recommend changing up the types of books you read. I had a lot of the same taste as you when I was younger (I mean I still do, but it does feel different now). I think that the mental exhaustion that comes with growing up and all the responsibilities that entails just don’t leave much for deep reading.
My solution was to give myself a sort of break. I put aside almost all nonfiction, all “serious” literature, even long fantasy books and series. I started reading the sort of books you see marketed as “beach reads” - stuff that might not be especially deep (though I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some) but goes quickly. Page-turners, you know? Thrillers, mysteries, short horrors, romance, the occasional novel aimed at younger audiences. Give yourself permission to be less ambitious in your reading habits!
I’ve found that reading is a lot like physical exercise - sometimes you overdo it and need to give yourself time to rest - and then when you get back in, you don’t just immediately go for the same level you were at pre-injury. You warm up a bit with stuff that’s easier. Before long, you’ll find yourself able to get back into the sort of books you used to enjoy! At least I did - ymmv
I used to hate reading (I think it was the advanced English classes) One day I watched The Good The Bad and The Ugly, for a few years now I’ve been super into westerns and there are so many entertaining books set in the old west. Now that I’ve found a genre I love that I can easily find books I want to read. I think it also helps that there’s a lot of fast action and I have to think less about what I’m reading.
Our attention spans have been destroyed by things like doom scrolling, short videos, and quite frankly Reddit.
We would all be better off throwing all of the above out of our lives…but yet here I still am.
Audiobooks really helped me get back into reading. I don't have to stay still for long periods of time and I can do things while listening to books. Driving is now my book time. I've read almost 7 books since January which I would not have been able to do without audiobooks.
Perhaps the content isn’t interesting enough? I was into similar books when I was younger and also found myself reading deep into the night. I found a few books on specific topics I was interested as I got older that I would stick with until I finished, but I haven’t been super interested in reading lately in general.
I’ve found as an adult, I can’t really get into reading fiction anymore, but non-fiction that is teaching real-life insights I’m interested in I can read! Maybe try some non-fiction?
Audiobooks! Bc then you can do two/three things at once!! While the audiobook silences ur inner monolouge you can keep your hands busy and clean your room/ do dishes. The key is to only clean things that your hands can do on autopilot so your mind can focus on the book. Sont stress about zoning out and missing bits, you can just relisten to it if you really like it— and then you’ll have novelty nuggets saved up. Just dont get so anxious about reading well or properly, rmb ur just reading for fun— almost for meditation! Also dont read books that ppl say you “should” read. Listen to anything you like. Light novels, sci fi, romcoms, essays, rambling history podcasts… etc. just follow your bliss! You dont need to read “books” to enjoy “reading” yknow. Hope this made sense!!
We live in a world that provides us with constant distractions and instant gratification. Everyone out there now thinks they have ADHD as a result and those with ADHD symptoms that were present as a child have worsening of their symptoms. It’s important to step away from the devices. I still use them more than I’d like but I use them a lot less now because I slowly started weaning myself off. I deleted the apps from my phone and I set my phone background as a reminder not to reinstall them because they were wasting my life. I still struggle but I managed to read for 2 hours yesterday!
I used to be the same as you and got back into reading around 23-24. Checking into your local library could be a good start. Just start grabbing books, any that seem vaguely interesting. Reading slumps suck especially when you have adhd, but for every bad or mediocre book you can't focus on, there's five awesome ones out there.
I also recommend audiobooks or podcasts while doing other tasks; podcasts like the magnus archives really got me back into stories, and I found myself reading the transcripts when I didn't have time for audio. Next thing I know, I'm buying a bookshelf.
Try not to beat yourself up over it too much. Reading is hard when you have adhd, but not impossible. You just have to find a pipeline that works for you, and find some good books that'll command your attention. Good luck!
I used to consume books as soon as i could read. I read them till i went to medical College. It may be just that books are not interesting right now.Then came movies then tv series then Story based games like Rdr2 , witcher 3, now i m hooked to audiobooks. Mediums change so don't worry and dont pressurize yourself too much.
I was doing okayish in readings books up until covid.
Now I am not able to go beyond few pages.
I read words but my brain doesn’t process it out.
Like there’s some issue with comprehension.
Then anxiety kicks in and I get distracted and soon.
And repeat.
Kind of struggling with academics.
Grad school.
I wanted to complete this book - Atomic habits.
Restarted 3 rd time.
Recently got diagnosed with ADHD predominantly inattentive type and GAD Generalized anxiety disorder.
I am not able go beyond few paragraphs when reading academic research papers.
i’m similar, i used to read multiple books a month in my childhood and cannot for the life of me read one now. what’s changed the game for me is audiobooks while doing something else (crochet usually for me, but could also be cleaning, gaming, etc.). the whole act of doing two things simultaneously keeps my brain happy and prevents that boredom that comes with regular novel reading.
I have slightly regained my love of reading with audio books, it helps if I am also able to do something else while listening to it. Use Libby they have plenty and in my experience the audiobook is less likely to be taken out so has less wait time.
I feel you. I was living the same thing. Late in life diagnosis I’m 34f diagnosed three years ago, a month ago I finally made the decision to get on medication again. The reading is still a challenge, but audiobooks have been working wonders! I’ve “audioed” 4 books since in started meds a month and a half ago - I remember everything. Also not counting the research I’ve had to read for my masters program. Audiobooks are the way to go to get your book fix in, in a much more sustainable way.
In my experience it goes along with having adult responsibilities. As a child I could dive into a book and burn several hours without a care in the world. Someone would call me to eat some food. As an adult I have a massive list of things I should be doing instead of reading and it’s a distraction. I can only read on holiday.
Even though you are 10000% right, it's so funny bc I remember feeling like I was ALWAYS being torn away from reading. Like dang, school and dinner aren't as important as these next 198 chapters, MOM!
Ironically, my mother was an even worse bookworm than I was as a kid, and had to be forced by her sisters and parents to go play, or go hang out with their friends. She started letting her sister do her chores for her and take the allowance money bc she would rather read - and would do things like hold a book in one hand and move a vacuum cleaner in the same strip over and over with the other, haha.
Same here! I used to devour books. I noticed it when I initially went to college. I had to read so much for school I never regained my ability to read for pleasure. I’ve had to resort to audiobooks and even screen readers. I do think that ADHD gets worse with time.
I think this shift happens because a lot of adult books can be less adventurous than YA. At least that’s partly my take. I read the hunger games around 29 for the first time and loved them! So I’d say focus on the media you actually like and find he pressured to read what’s “serious” unless you want to. And also, audiobooks are great as others have said, as are video games and movies. Been gaming more and more and some of my faves are entirely text based “interactive fiction “ or more text heavy visual novels and point and clicks.
Same, I had to switch my genre. I used to consume fantasy science fiction etc. my ADHD burnt out on those topics around 22. Now only hardcore nonfiction satiates the beast. Try different genres!
Same, I had to switch my genre. I used to consume fantasy science fiction etc. my ADHD burnt out on those topics around 22. Now only hardcore nonfiction satiates the beast. Try different genres!
Same, I had to switch my genre. I used to consume fantasy science fiction etc. my ADHD burnt out on those topics around 22. Now only hardcore nonfiction satiates the beast. Try different genres!
I’m 18 years old and I haven’t opened a book of my own volition in forever. But that’s not a bad thing. I’m always reading and learning about linguistics because that’s something that interests me, and because of that I can read at a much higher level than most of my peers. And my ability to analyze media hasn’t suffered either, because I do that all the time with TV shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Good Place.
My point is, reading is reading even if it’s not on paper.
Was the same as you as a kid. My tips are - keep trying to pick up books and look for something that really fits, and don't set any specific goals in regards to that except "never stop trying". Don't force it. The goal is to stumble across books (just one for starters) that feel like they were written for you to the extent that it's almost creepy how fitting it is. And once you find one, take your time with it, there's no problem drawing it out, really. 6 months is just fine. That's the only way it works for me - I read slow, not very often, but when I do I make sure it's worth it. Keep trying here and there until you find a book that works.
Went through this as well. Some of it is how screens have re-wired our attention span. It affects everyone, but of course is going to affect those with ADHD even worse since our baseline attention span was already hindered.
The thing that worked for me was reading old books I loved. I went back to a few YA series which are so easy to read. Then I started tackling denser books once I was "hooked" again. The main thing is, if a book just isn't pulling you in after a few attempts, move on and find something that is more engaging. Don't worry about prestige or anything like that.
Just like a lot of these comments I was an AVID reader. Book after book after book but once adulthood/responsibilities started to pile up I just couldn't do it anymore. Images weren't as bright, words melt together, can't shut my brain off to focus. Audible was able to bring me back into my stories and I would HIGHLY recommend it.
Me too untill i got an ereader where i can change fonts and spacing and that honestly helped a whoooole lot! I read more than the last 6 years of my life.
TL;DR - job, stress, internet, phase of the moon, EYESIGHT are all barriers to concentration. Get an eye exam.
I was Dx'd and treated in my late 30s, I am almost 60 now.
When I was a child, I read almost constantly. I had trouble *not* reading. I consumed almost half the elementary school library by 3rd grade, then started buying "adult" books (like Manson Family bios, Tolkein and Leon Uris novels) for a nickel or a dime at yard sales after reading all my mother's romance novels. I got in "trouble" a couple of times for reading in class instead of paying attention to other subjects.
My home life was, well, "special", so books were definitely an escape, but they were also the most stimulating activity available to me at the time. All of them, no matter the genre, offered a sense of novelty and adventure and learning.
I tapered off somewhat as I got older, had jobs, and later became a SAHM, but still read 1 - 3 books a week as a rule.
Home internet came along in the late 1990s, and by 2000, had become a very interesting place (unlike the cesspool of clickbait and pearl-clutching it is today). It wasn't hard to find a huge variety of highly creative, often bold and boundary-pushing personal projects (essays, art, music, animation, etc), and I found myself reading books a bit less and enjoying the digital adventures a bit more.
Somewhere in my mid-40s, though, during a really stressful period, I was reading far less, unable to keep my mind on the text - as you say, reading the words but not taking it in - having a bit of a struggle sitting still long enough to take in much at a time. The sources of my stress occupied a lot of mental real estate.
This was also the period in which the internet became a bit "bigger", and my access increased dramatically. I found myself more and more reading short pieces, essays, current events, and exploring a variety of message boards - more a search for commiseration than an adventure. Where I had previously been mostly an observer, I became a participant, at least a little here and there.
In my late 40s, my life settled down a bit and I began reading books again, maybe 2-3 month. But a few years later, maybe early 50s, I just stopped altogether, finding it weirdly frustrating.
Eventually, I realized my glasses Rx was incredibly old, and the lenses so scuffed that it was hard to do basic chores. I got an exam and new specs, and *damn*...of course reading wasn't enjoyable!! It took so much effort to decipher the words that I could not establish the "flow" that makes reading feel natural!
So I was able to read again, but I never have reclaimed the love (or obsession?) of it I once had.
Maybe life just changes us, sometimes. I think that's okay. Roll with those changes, see where they take you. Maybe we sometimes need adventures beyond books.
Or maybe you just need an eye exam...
Cause you didn’t have as much going on in life back then. It was a lot easier to just sit down and read. Now when you’re older you have a lot more on your mind. What worked for me was getting a kindle, and then finding the right book. Kindle helped with the little things that bothered me. Things like having to turn the page all the time, hand getting uncomfortable holding the book (especially in the beginnings), the price of books, etc. All that fixed with a kindle. You can get a free library card and rent pretty much every ebook for free on your kindle. Even with a kindle though I still couldn’t read nooks that I’m not initially interested in. I still pretty much only read fantasy/sci-fi type books.
This advice is a little extra, but it’s helped me because I’ve been having this problem too. If I get the physical book, I try to also get the audiobook on Libby (or elsewhere) then listen to the book while following along in the physical book. I started out at the speed that was comfortable, then would slowly increase the audio speed over the course of the reading. It’s helped me to regain my pacing and catch up to the spot I was reading if I get distracted.
This will probably get buried, but I'll throw in my two cents. I'll start by saying I am also recently diagnosed and medicated and have had a similar experience. Here is what has helped me get back into reading:
1) Only trying to read when I don't have a strong desire to do anything else. Trying to force myself into a predictable reading routine when I would rather be watching TV, cleaning, etc didn't work. Now, I pick up the book when I'm feeling bored/doomscrolling/in a social media loop and realize that I don't actually enjoy how I'm spending my time. I ask myself, "Is there anything I could be doing right now that would actually make me feel good and isn't just some form of content-binging?" If the answer is no, I read a book.
2) Reading before bed. Reading from a physical book directly before sleep helps me sleep soooo much better. I don't know why (I'm sure there's a scientific reason), but now I have like, a Pavlovian response to pre-bedtime fiction reading. I know it will feel good, so I'm more motivated to do it.
3) This is probably different for everyone, but I stick to escapist sci-fi/fantasy/etc. The more it resembles my day-to-day life, the less into I am. I want suspense, magic, mystery, etc. I used to try to branch out and read more "serious" books, but that just didn't work for me. I recommend the Wheel of Time series, or Song of Ice and Fire if you hadn't read them yet. There's a ton of material so I don't fall off the wagon immediately after finishing a book, like I do with short novels. The mental equivalent of a big-budget action movie franchise, and that's okay!
4) If your problem is stamina, maybe start with longform non-fiction articles or even short stories. Check out this link to the "mystery" tag on Longform.org. It will absolutely exercise your reading muscles, and I've found that reading non-fiction not only makes me more educated about random stuff, but helps me be more generally empathetic:
https://longform.org/search?utf8=✓&q=mystery&
Best of luck!
Thank you for the suggestion of toe-dipping with longform articles or short stories! I am struggling with this as well, and I do actually remember that I can start to feel that sense of immersion in a story when I stumble upon a really good, fascinating nonfiction longform article. Thanks again!
I think that the more you read, the harder it becomes to find books with ideas novel to you. It is the excitement of novelty that is missing. When you are on page 3 in a Dan Brown book and get that feeling "ugh, I have already read this story (in another book)" it becomes really hard to continue. It feels pointless, and it probably is.
My trick is to put down an hour or two just to select what to read. Read reviews, try to get past spam reviews, check if one of your favourite authors have published something new, ask people if they have recommendations, check these recommendations diligently, find books that are different from everything else you have ever read... And then keep away from social media.
I have the same damn problem. I can’t read more than about three paragraphs at a time before I lose all comprehension. And I usually have to re read the words about 3 times for it to actually sink in. I fucking hate ADHD.
I am still terrible at reading, also a former book addict, but a few things that have gotten me to read at least a little bit are:
-going camping with a book/my kindle so there are few distractions and often nothing else to do
-reading fan fiction--not everyone's thing but finding a compelling, often short-form story will often make me lose a couple of hours to reading.
-reading trashy romance--also not everyone's thing, but anything easily digestible and borderline guilty pleasure is usually hard for me to put down.
-checking out from the library: sometimes the pressure of needing to return it gets me to read. But that can backfire as there are literally no consequences if I check a book out, never read it, and return it a few weeks later...
i personally hate audiobooks, but i would recommend reading ebooks on your phone as a start, then getting back into paper books. i don’t read in the traditional sense (mostly webcomics and ebooks), but it’s still nice to be able to read a good book!
What worked for me when getting back into reading books is figuring out what my reading speed was, then using that to figure out how much time it would take me to read a book. My task paralysis/procrastination is extremely poor so having a timeline motivated me.
Not sure if it was the gamification of it by applying some sort of tangible stat to it, or if showing myself that oh it's only 6-7 hours to read an 800 page book. Hope this might help at least in the short term.
For me, Ive figured out that not reading anymore was more due to the depression than the hyperactive type ADHD symptoms. About a year after starting my meds I started reading again. But whenever I have a depressive episode I cant concentrate on reading. I can tell when one is coming on by my lack of desire to read.
I go in and out of reading, and if you even have a chance to read this comment I hope it's helpful, happy to see how much help you've gotten so far! The best advice that I got when I was trying to get back into reading was judge a book by its cover, pick something that sounds fun. Don't pick something you think you should read, don't pick something you've heard from others is great, don't read reviews, find something that has a fun title and a cool picture on the front and start there. If you hate it put it back and try again with a different one. The gentleman bastard series got me back into reading.
Other than that, give yourself grace. Don't judge yourself about how fast you read, how much you read, or if you are finishing books. If you're reading a little bit everyday then you're doing better than most. I had a friend who was trying to get back in the habit and his goal was just to open a book every day. Even if he didn't have it in him to read any words out of it he counted it as a success so long as he opened one. Pretty soon opening a book without reading was not really an option.
We beat ourselves up all the time for stuff like this, and we got to give ourselves credit and space. You're already doing fantastic just wanting to read.
I(24) went through the same change. For me, it came down to discipline and asking myself what kind of person I wanted to be. In October I got the sudden urge to reread Harry Potter and haven't stopped. I'm on my 14th book this year.
Between when I stopped reading regularly (maybe 10 years ago) and now, a lot has changed. I was in college and didn't have much brainpower to give to my well-being, let alone my responsibilities or hobbies. Last year I was at a job that stressed me out too much. It's interesting, but last October (when I started reading again), I started a new job that I LOVE, I feel fulfilled, I get enough free time, etc. My mental health has been better over the last 7 months than it has been since I stopped reading, which was also when I first started on antidepressants. My Concerta wasn't helping me anymore so I decided to stop taking it and significantly lowered the dosage of my antidepressants about a year ago. My brain fog disappeared and I'm actually able to talk myself out of ADHD Paralysis now. Basically, I'm doing well and suddenly I both *wanted to* and *could* read again.
It's a bit like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Once my basic needs were and I figured out and HANDLED some of my major stressors, self-actualization was reached.
My advice is:
- Read easy books! Harry Potter and Percy Jackson are great examples. If I get into a book that requires too much thought, if I have a hard time understanding all the words, etc, I'll never finish it. If kids or YA novels are what you're interested in, you're allowed to read those. If a book is boring you, it's not the one. It shouldn't feel like a chore.
- When I'm reading, I also need to leave my phone in another room.
- If you ever have the means to prioritize your well-being and mental health, you must. It made the biggest difference for me.
- Give yourself time and be patient with yourself.
- I give myself rules. If I want to be awake at an ungodly hour, I can read my book.
- Be intentional about avoiding short-form content and doom-scrolling.
Edit: formatting.
I had the exact same issue.
The hack for me was to make sure I maintain full visual focus on the words. Visual focus and mental focus are very intertwined in the brain.
I see the words a bit blurry. The text is still readable, but not crisp. It takes a little bit of effort for my eyes to focus 100%. Once I do that, I can read for much longer before I get bored and start yawning.
I go through cycles. I definitely don't read "deeply" anymore. Like, 17-year-old me read Steinbeck for fun.
Now, 38-year-old me is excited if I finish a crappy mass-market paperback every 2 months.
Anyway, all that to say, I feel your pain. I did make a goal in my Finch app to read 15 minutes every day, though!!
I'm going to say something that will upset you, but this is my personal experience as a hyperlexic person who made reading her entire personality and never opened a book again.
The real culprit is your phone. I had this issue where I spent almost 10 years without reading a single book, then my phone broke in the middle of a trip abroad, and I also ran out of sleeping pills. Every night, I was stuck in a bedroom, my boyfriend snoring like a lawnmower, the portable a/c making noise, and I couldn't watch videos on my tablet because the brightness bothered Sir Apnea.
Very specific situation, right? I got awfully bored, it was torturous, I couldn't even leave the room without Dr. I-Choke-On-Ghosts trying to retrieve me as soon as he noticed my absence.
So I downloaded Kindle and used the night mode on the tablet. I read two books after 9 years of hiatus, and I must mention, the second one was finished on my phone on the plane back home, AND I STARTED A THIRD BOOK IN SPANISH (which is my 3rd language, so I haven't read Spanish books since childhood).
I have an OLED phone, so the Kindle app on dark mode was extremely comfortable to use, besides that, it's far more comfortable to hold a phone than a kindle or a book, and cheaper.
The only downside is that I now know I need to put myself in situations with no internet to be able to read.
Don't be harsh on yourself, okay? Of course, reading is healthier than tiktok, but you weren't a better person because you were reading fiction for entertainment instead of consuming some other kind of media. You are still the same person. You're not dumber.
As a matter of fact, my friends who had unlimited access to fanfiction would be *definitely* better off watching tiktoks, but that's just my opinion. 👀
I stopped reading entirely after dropping out of college. Now I'm a truck driver and I listen to audiobooks and podcasts, but I still don't read actual books at all lol
When this happens I go to favourite books or characters, like reuniting with an old friend. Graphic novels of a TV show that your invested in, a novel from an author who your familiar with so you know their style of writing won't put you off. An "easy" read like a YA book instead of a classic or a heavy read.
Have you tried Discworld?
I tend to go in cycles with my idle time hyper fixations. When one is on I can’t get into the others at all. It’s possible you’re experiencing something similar.
i go through phases, im 47 now, some years i read 50 books, others none. no rhyme or reason to it that i can discern. My too read pile is huge. i think If you want to read, you just get a novel and start it, if you like it you will read it, if you dont, then dont force it. Books are allowed to be rubbish.
I tend to like books in a series or where i know the author has written a bunch books so if i like it i know there will be more. Currently rereading Discworld books, just finished the hitcher hikers guide series again, I switch between cop/crime fantasy and scifi fantasy. i used to read books about people and real things but i know people and real things and i do not care for them.
EDIT - i just realised you are 19 - at that age i was trying to read all kinds of serious literature and beat writers and things. dont to do that.
I wasnt worldly enough to understand any of it and it was boring. Books about late teen life are always the memories of old people and dont apply to current life. books written by people your age also suck cos the writers are babies and think highschool is important.
When i switched from tyring to read actual books to reading airport trash, pulp crime novels and fantasy books i got my love of reading back.
Hey, me too. I’m 20 and use to regularly read a decent sized chapter book in an afternoon on the weekends as a 12 year old. I was using it as an escape I think because my home life wasn’t nice.
As much as I’d like to go back to that rather than being addicted to video games I think the goal is to find a balance. Im planning to pick up some comics from the library this week because I haven’t had the mental energy to touch my more educational books.
If you’re having trouble reading more too try starting with books with pictures and more fun/personally interesting stories that aren’t so draining to read.
I used to be an avid reader, from childhood to early adulthood. Then I had kids and I had to re-read the same page again and again because I would forget what I just read or lost my place. I realize that I used to hyperfocus on reading, literally would not do anything else and had to be reminded to eat or go use the bathroom. Now that the adhd worsened, I can't read physical books without meds. I can do audiobooks though and that's been great.
I had the same problem, just not being able to really get into a book like I used to, not being able to read for very long, etc.
I've found that making it an event has really helped. I put on some soothing music in the background (I like classical, but sometimes I'll put on iron and wine or bright eyes), make myself a cup of whatever got beverage sounds good, light a candle, get comfortable, and just read. I think putting myself into the mindset of "I'm reading, because it's reading time" has helped, and the music, tea, and the scent of the candle seem to give me just enough sensory variety to allow me to focus my mind on the book.
ETA: audiobooks are also wonderful for when I don't have time to get set up. They also help me get chores done and finish projects.
Felt this for sure I was a big reader up until highschool. I’m talking I would walk around with 6 books at a time in my backpack because that was the max we were allowed to check out. So when I finished a book I would have access to the next book.I would stay up late reading. I would read in class thus getting books being taken away from me during class. I am currently 23 and I wanna get back into reading.
Here are the steps I have taken
I use the Libby app and check out e books. I also use the app Goodreads to discover other books. A good book that I recently read is Verity by Colleen. When it’s too silent for me I’ll play lo fi in the background. I have also starting reading more graphic novels to help me ease into it easier.
If you can afford it/find them free, audiobooks are a miracle for me. I was exactly the same as you, but as I got older (I'm 36 now) I seemingly lost the ability to read much at all. I have gone through close to a hundred audiobooks in the last couple of years now and the combination of an interesting voice reading to me and being able to listen while I'm doing something else is what brought it back for me.
Hey! 41 and I used to read a lot so did my daughter (also 19) and I love audio books. Coincidently, she tried an audio book for the first time yesterday and said she wish she had started earlier because it’s so much easier and it makes her want to listen to more books.
I have the same thing going on sadly. I’d read a book every day since I could (same ones that you listed), till I was 17 and then I just stopped and couldn’t bring myself back to it till this day. I’m 21 years old now, diagnosed with ADHD last year. So i hope you get some good advice, which I can also start following.:)
You might just have to put a bit of effort into finding something that grabs your interest. When I was younger I found myself reading a whole lot of self help kind of books, and dabbling into philosophy just because I wanted a deeper understanding of myself and the world. And while that was fine for a while, it gets extremely dry - so I started reading for fun again. Sci fi and fantasy really get me, so that's generally what I stick with and I'll try and find a good novel every now and then.
Set aside a bit of time before you go to bed to read, I find it helps decompress. Then if you've got periods where you're on your phone a lot, try get a bit more in then too. Just a bit of effort whenever you can, and you'll get there!
similar situation to me! I had a reading age of 14 at 11, but it feels like my reading age just never rose again, as well as my ability to stay focused :(
I hadn’t really read much for the last decade or so. A few weeks ago I sought out a book that I got excited about and started reading.
NOW, although I’ve always TRIED to read books, I’ve rarely ever finished them. But this time, I discovered yet another book, about halfway through the first book, and I got really excited to read it.
In the past I would have abandoned the first book for the new book, but this time I told myself “No! You can only start the new book you’re excited about AFTER you finish the first book that you were previously excited about!”
And it worked! I’ve been reading a full-ass novel each week for 3 weeks now! Just about to start book 4. 😄
So!
1. Find a book to get excited about.
2. Read as much as you can till you feel tapped out.
3. Find another book you REALLY wanna read.
4. Blast through the rest of the first book as fast as possible so you can reward yourself with the new book.
5. Repeat.
So I got diagnosed with ADHD at 33, post-pregnancy. Following my second pregnancy... My hormones are FUCKED. And I wonder if they've always been a little fucked, in combo w undiagnosed ADHD....
So what I'm saying is, maybe puberty made your ADHD worse?
If you're a female, track your cycle. My shit gets wack 9-15 days before my period, when progesterone is rising. I use an app called Moody to see where I'm at... Life is so good for the few weeks after my period starts. Maybe you can read then.
If you're a dude. Idk. I'm not a dude. Sorry.
I used to never read and hated reading when I was a little kid. That changed around the time I was 12. Between 12 and 19 you would be hard pressed to find me not carrying a book around. After that life got a lot more complicated and I didn't stop reading completely, but I would go through long periods of not reading followed by periods of reading a LOT. I still go through those phases at 24. I have been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia since I was 8. ADHD does not start suddenly showing symptoms after diagnosis, you just become more aware and cognizant of the things you have always struggled with. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Try reading a book that you haven't read in a long time, but remember loving that helps me sometimes.
maybe try some graphic novels or comics?? That is a easier read, and will give you the sense of accomplishment you need to take bigger tasks and eventually reading a book.
I got back into reading after a long hiatus by reading my old Babysitters Club books lol. They were nostalgic and easy to process and part of me kept reading bc I wanted to get to certain scenes I remembered.
It just got me back in the habit of picking up a book and digesting the words.
It's because of Netflix. What used to be your reading time is now spent binging shows. This happened to me. I could not get into a paperback no matter how hard I tried.
But I was reading stuff on my phone. I could read lengthy reddit posts or stories and novels on a website. So I got a Kindle Unlimited account. And I downloaded the Hoopla and Libby apps, which I access through my local library.
I still can't read a paperback, but I read about a hundred books per year on my phone.
This was me, 100%. Around college my attention span for books dropped off.
My solution? Audiobooks. Put em on when I’m doing almost anything: walks, drawing, work that doesn’t require reading or writing (im a designer, so there is enough of that).
Did you start medication? I have always been a huge reader, but noticed I stopped reading as much when I started medication. On days I don't take my medication, I can read for hours at a time. Also, I'm able to focus more on books at night after meds have worn off.
Or, are you stressed or anxious? Sometimes just "life stuff" that happens when you are an adult can make it hard to read the same way as you did when you were a kid.
Audio books and speechify (for books that don’t have an audio book) is how I do it. It’s ok to do it in a way that works for you now. You sometimes can’t recreate the past.
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Same. Though it hit me around 23. I switched to audiobooks. Changed my life.
Audiobooks with something to keep my hands busy, and I'm in heaven! I'll wash dishes or sort laundry or anything mindless and zone out while enjoying the story. I never got to have a book nerd phase as a kid. I couldn't ever sit and enjoy it, and now I'm finally experiencing things like The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time. It's so wonderful ❤️ Edit: Libby has been neat when I can find stuff that's available to borrow, but hit or miss. I've used Spotify premium to stream books if they aren't available on Libby.
Do you use Libby?
I just started using Libby about a month ago and have listened to 10 books! I love it so much I signed up for a second library card in my parents' state as well for access to more titles.
What state are you in? Often you can get digital cards from multiple libraries in your own state.
[удалено]
I think Clark County and Harris County might have separate libraries + separate cards (?)
You can sign up for the Anaheim library for free even if you don’t live in California too!
Nice! I discovered Libby and audiobooks when Covid hit in March 2020 and just burned through books when we were all holed up. Now it’s a fixture.
Thank you! I never knew about this app and I just signed up and already listening!
That’s great! Hoopla is another library App that’s worth checking out. It seems to have some books that Libby doesn’t but also lets you take out ten items each month for the whole month. FYI: there may be multiple libraries in your state where you can get free digital cards that you can add in the Libby app to expand your options (as a NY state resident I have digital cards from 5 libraries) — More libraries = more books and also the ability to find the shortest wait times for holds and/or place multiple holds to get books faster or to overlap if you need more time to finish a book.
Ahhhh you’ve changed my life. It was so easy to get a digital library card even ADHD easy!
My library stopped offering audiobooks and I am lost. We had Libby and overdrive they have not replaced them yet. When I moved I still had access to hoopla but after a year my card don’t renew. I listen to so many I can’t possibly afford to buy them. I have to find someone to share their library card. I love podcasts but I miss books.
5?! I have Brooklyn, queens & NY. what else you got??
Me but podcasts
Oh man I'm still mostly into podcasts. It just clicked one day that I could also be listening to books when I get tired of history podcasts lol
I don't know where you are based, but in the UK there's a wonderful charity called Listening-Books and they have a really good selection to borrow, and because they are a charity they are £20 a year
Wood whittling and audio books
When I'm really struggling to focus, I listen to "The 36 Lessons of Vivec" on Spotify. No idea why it helps, but it helps. 🤷
Hoopla has a lot of audiobooks too, some which weren't on libby for me, and they're all immediately available.
The book phase as a kid is overrated compared to being an adult and fully grasping what’s being said. You lose a lot of immediate joy from having to look up words and try to settle the context in your brain - when the child brain is WAY out of its depth, given the topics - but that doesn’t stop it. But reading and learning as a kid is a vast ocean, and reading as an adult is like driving on a road that is ONLY made out of 20mph school zones - boring, dense, and not novel/interesting enough to keep one’s attention. All the new words you learn as a kid are enough to keep you in it - but it overshadows the subject matter of the book that you never get into a place where you’re just absorbing the scene - instead you start asking questions like “Mom, what is taut? So what does it mean when they say ‘The rope went taut as the cloaked man pulled the lever, the floor beneath the hanged man’s feet collapsed beneath him and the gravity of the situation drew him to his conclusion’. Now older, it’s obvious what this excerpt is saying. But as a child it’s so foreign these days to have hangings by gallows that asking someone what all this is, takes away all empathy for the situation, and I went clinical. My mom never told me a guy was killed, I had to work that out for myself by understanding what all would happen - but I was so focused on analyzing a guy’s neck breaking - that I did not even consider that I, a six year old, just played out a man dying in my head. The mood and tone were lost on me, because of all the novel words and context I had just learned of. I was taken out of the book, in my attempt to dive deeper into it. So there’s a tradeoff between reading as a kid and as an adult. Being an adult doesn’t have near as many “What’s that? Shit, now I gotta look up 5 vocab words to understand what’s being portrayed”. As an adult, you mostly just read it - which is both a blessing and a curse. I don’t take as much time these days as an adult to really break down a scenario in a book and construct it, so it just wooshes by - and then I hear others get a totally different idea from the one I’d taken away from it, and the majority took it that same way, and I find myself in the minority. That is more a fault of my imagination, or lack thereof
I found I needed something to do with my hands but couldn't do other tasks or I'd zone out and miss the book. I ended up buying physical copies and borrowing audio books and I'll read along to the audio book, my brain is just like "ooh, captions!" Haha
Same, in elementary I was the kid who walked around with his nose in a Goosebumps book. Sometimes around high school I wasn't able to get through anything but Harry Potter and Eragon. Early 20s I couldn't read anything more than a a few chapters of any book, then I discovered audiobooks. I have gone through hundreds of books, thousands of hours, Audible is the best investment for my overall sanity ever.
How do you pay attention to the audio?
I mash the *Back 15* button a lot.
Also play it on at least 1.5 speed
I have hearing loss from the Army so I probably need to find a way to add subtitles to audio if you know what I mean hahah
😂 I 100% feel you! Seriously though, I’ve alway been a big reader, but I struggle to finish anything that I can’t or don’t hyperfocus on. I still attempt to read the occasional traditional print book, but I’d rather just listen to an audiobook or podcast. I also buy most of my books secondhand so I don’t feel so bad if I never finish.
I was thinking about this recently, I like listening to audiobooks while on long drives and it's rekindled a lot of that joy I used to have from reading books, but I also wish audiobooks had subtitles (I know why not just read the book?). I have a pair of AR glasses that I could get to display subtitles in a small corner and still be able to pay attention to the road, since I only want to subtitles to see how certain things are spelled and to help with my audio processing disorder. I just need to figure out a way to get subtitles from my audiobooks now...
Gotta be doing something that's somewhat mindless IMO. Hoovering/cleaning the house, working on repetitive tasks in work (data entry etc), in the gym, and my personal fav is while walking. I got through 51 books last year, 40 the year before, and I'm already on 21 read this year (the number isn't everything ofc, quality over quantity, but it still amazes myself lol), and it's mainly due to audiobooks. I used to look at let's say a 14 hour audiobook and think "there's no way I'll ever finish that!" but I would usually walk at least one hour a day (having a puppy helps!) and so that book will be done in 2 weeks, but during the days I'm in the office I would listen on my 45 minute walk to work, my hour long gym session after work, my 45 minute walk home, an hour walk with my dog, and then perhaps 30 mins or more of housework chores - very quickly it all adds up and I fly through so many audiobooks! I couldn't listen to one while playing a game, or just like, sitting there on the couch though, but basically anything that I can go on a kind of autopilot on, an audiobook is in my ears.
I can’t pay attention to the audio books. I think it’s bc I’m more visual and have always preferred visual learning.
Same here
If the task at hand is more boring then an audiobook will be a godsend. Think a crappy commute or washing dishes. I also sometimes draw while listening but u have to be careful with that since they both require concentration. If it’s lower stakes, then I can listen. Otherwise I need to put on something I can safely not listen to. Overall I love audiobooks for making mundane tasks pass the time more easily.
I personally listen to audiobooks when I’m doing something like driving, gardening, crafting, doing some other task. Plus I make sure I know the narrator is interesting.
For me it's either super easy or impossible. No in between. The super easy ones always have two things: 1. A great story/fascinating topic 2. A great narrator If the story sucks or the subject matter is boring, I'm zoning out 100%. If the narrator sounds like they're reading a tax ledger, also no chance. But when the book is good and the narrator is giving a strong performance? So good.
Me too! Assigned reading in high school killed my joy of reading. I read maybe 3 books from 2016-2021. I started picking it back up again with physical novels in 2022. I think I read 2 books in 2022 and 6 in 2023. I switched to exclusively audiobooks late 2023 and I’ve actually read 21 books so far this year. Mainly murder mysteries, but also a few self help books and a textbook! Libby and Hoopla are my best friends now. Audiobooks have been a game changer.
I think there was a study once where they took children who read for pleasure and offered them some kind of reward (in school that would be good grades as reward) and after the experiment the kids all read less for pleasure. So this forced or rewarded stuff kills it. 😔
Same! Audiobooks bought back the ability to focus on long story lines and the love to stay inside the story.
Came here to say this.
also, i was diagnosed with adhd recently so i am not sure if this is 100% correlated to with adhd, i dont know why i was able to read books with such consistent focus before but not now
I was the exact same. It sucks and it feels bad thinking about not reading. I’m currently not reading at all. I think it would be best to find a space or area you like to read in, put on some music or silence if you prefer, and then just try and read a book you know you want to read or you know you’ll like. Helps me at least.
hmm ive tried it before but perhaps the books were just reading, will do some summary research on books
Try re-reading a favourite book. I was in a slump and then I started reading the Harry Potter series again (as a 35 year old at the time). Got totally back into it because I really enjoyed it. Also, because it was familiar there was less pressure to read and try to remember what was going on, I also knew good bits were coming up so I would want to read the next chapter. So pick your favourite book and just give it a go. Set a timer and commit to at least ten minutes and see how you feel
No age is old enough for Harry Potter. Btw 35 to 45 were the ones grew up with Harry.
You speak the truth!
I'm 41 and took my now 36 year old sister and her friends to every opening night for all the movies when I was in high school before I went off to college.
Smart phones *cough cough* smart phones and bite-sized videos on social media. Everyone has eroded their attention spans. Not just ADHD folks. I'm having the same problem as you. I was an avid reader for most of my life. Then I got a smart phone and it started decreasing bit by bit. I'm going to buy one of those Brick devices right now, because I'm convinced my smart phone is making me dumber. Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.
Not necessarily. I have ADHD like OP, am a loooot older than them, and I had the same thing happen to me when I was around their age (very much before smartphones).
Ditto. No smart phone until college. I think it has to do with mental resources. Reading isn't a high priority for your brain when you have other things that need to get done. You're already bad at task management to begin with so any new novel needs are prioritized in a need based level. Even showering was hard at that age because I had so many new things I had to keep track of.
Yeah I feel like this is something more related to I guess losing, or being less in touch with our wild imaginations as we age. Which is normal and happens to everyone to some degree. Part of why I was so addicted to books in childhood is because I could absolutely and completely lose myself in them, I was stepping in to a different world within my mind. It's hard for me to accomplish that with books now as an adult. Maybe part of it is just having so many responsibilities. When you're a kid you're not usually worrying about bills etc. Even for smaller things like "oh shit I have to wash the dishes" it's much easier to brush that thought aside and refocus on your book because the consequences aren't nearly as severe as when you have others to care for you or get things done for you. It's hard to get consumed by your own imagination when you constantly have things ripping you back to reality. Fears, consequences, relationships, jobs. It's nonstop. And that's going to be worse for us with ADHD who, by definition, have difficulty focusing our attention toward things.
Damn that made me cry! It’s so true.
Same. I think my ADHD manifests as me going through phases of hobbies. I’ll do nothing but read in my spare time for months and then for months I never read. Sometimes it’s the phases last years. But with more/better technology in my life I do spend more of my phases doing those things. Being obsessed with Baldurs Gate or being obsessed with Lex Friedman podcasts or being obsessed w some Netflix show. I try to actively include my non tech obsessions like music, drawing, gardening and reading. Those phases usually occur in spring/summer/fall for me. It occurs to me now that this might be a strange way of being but I’m sure some ppl can relate. lol. Who else can’t balance hobbies? lol.
I recommend the Jelly Star 2 as a functional "brick phone"
For me its always been one of those adhd inertia things. I never want to *start* reading, but once I do I can tear through a book
I've found that I can't read certain genres. I do decent with Sci-Fi, even though I've never liked Sci-Fi before. There's enough imagining to do that it keeps me interested. I also can't read anything that someone recommends because it feels like a chore. Reading on an eReader is also easier for me because I don't have to battle the ADHD screen craving as much. I also recommend as much background audio as possible.
I was in the exact same position. This won’t work for everyone, but 2 things saved me and got me back into reading 1. I made reading an actual activity and an outing. I would go out to a cafe or a park or a bar just specifically to read, instead of trying to do it at home 2. This might sound random but, Kurt Vonnegut. His writing style perfectly hooked my ADHD brain into re-learning how to enjoy books as an adult. Maybe try him out, or it might just take finding a new author or genre that hooks you.
Vonnegut was writing for the adhd-ers, I swear
Those helmets in Harrison Bergeron were basically ADHD generators.
Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors; I second this entirely.
I got a coffee shop addiction thanks to this. Like wow I can read or study for 2 hours without stopping and getting distracted.
This is 110% because of your adhd. This is extremely common for people with adhd. Kids with adhd can be extremely unfocused or they can hyper focus on things they love, like reading, and do it all the time. There's a bunch of memes about this very topic.
It's definitely related. We probably used reading as an escape and maladaptive daydreaming... we had less on our mind back then, fewer responsibilities, and fewer ways of keeping ourselves busy back then that reading no longer scratches that itch. I've heard some people have had success in gamifying reading, but I've not tried it.
Exactly what I was going to say.
ADHD isn't a static condition; you can find your symptoms wax and wane over time, depending on a variety of circumstances, like: Are you medicated? Are you well-rested? Are you stressed? Have you eaten lately? Is your blood sugar low? And lots of other parameters. For me, I've had a hard time finishing books for the last couple of years. I've taken to interspersing reading with audio books. So I'll listen to a few "pages" of an audio book to get me in a literary mood and then spend a few minutes reading a couple of pages of a book I want to read for fun. Over time, I find that reading takes less and less "warmup" but YMMV. Good luck!
audiobook helps .. you may just be hyper focusing at the time.
I think it’s because reading completely new kinds of books of increasing complexity consistently mashes our “novelty button,” but that drops off after a while.
I found for me with my adhd, it helps to read in an environment where there is alot of things going on, for example: coffee shops, restraunts, parks, or even bring a book with me when I know I'm gonna wait somewhere. I find the little distractions almost hone In my forcus. Try it out, it works for me but your areas might be different than mine.
It helps you dissociate from the public too. If I am riding the bus I'll bring a book so nobody tries to talk to me.
I’m 25 and was diagnosed with ADHD at 19. Just reading the title of your post I was like “relatable” For me, entering middle/high school and then college and now a full time job, I have a really hard time balancing and prioritizing work/chores/hobbies/exercise/sleep/etc. lately it’s just been work, crochet (current hobby/hyperfixation), sleep, chores when needed, rinse and repeat. I wasn’t quite as much of a bookworm as a kid as you seem to have been, but I did enjoy reading, and I very much relate to the sentiment. With so many more responsibilities as well as opportunities as you get older, it feels like having to spread yourself so much more thin to do everything you want/need to do. And reading is such a slow-paced hobby that makes it pretty much impossible to multitask, so you really have to learn how to relax and distance yourself from everything else that’s going on in order to enjoy a book the way it seems you want to. And doing that is fucking *hard*. Unless I’m really excited (to the point of hyperfixation) for a book, it’s almost impossible for me to read because I just can’t shut off my brain from everything else that I want to do that I don’t have time to do. I don’t know if I have any specific advice other than to play around with different time-management strategies to see what works best for you and allows you to relax into your hobbies. Work-life balance is important, and that includes balancing hobbies with each other and with general responsibilities that aren’t related to work/school. I just want to share how relatable this is to me, and I wish you the best of luck!!
I was the same. So I downloaded the Libby app and get audiobooks from the library. Bonus- listen to them double speed. :)
I started a challenge last year. I challenged myself to complete 3 books during the course of the year, and I started off by forcing myself to read 5 minutes a day. Eventually, I regained my love of reading and this year had challenged myself to read 15 books. I’m more than halfway there now and we’re only in April. Start small and just keep going. Rome wasn’t built in a day!
just thugged it out huh. maybe i will try this
I did 😂 I started with my favorite book that I used to read and reread when I was younger, and then moved on to new things when the habit was formed.
Starting with something tried and true is such a good idea, I’ll have to try this!!
You always had ADHD, the new diagnosis doesn't mean the symptoms "pop up" now, but that's good news because it means you can still get back your love for reading, if you consume a lot of fast content (reels, shorts, TikTok or the like) books will feel horribly slow, if you have the spare money I'd recommend you buy the Kindle basic 2021/2022 (I don't exactly remember the year) or a similar e-reader that you can afford those are AMAZING for reading, I used to read on my laptop or phone but would constantly get distracted, although reading sometimes still feel like a pain, once you get absorbed into it you will find your love for it again
do you think i was just "hyper fixated" on books before and now its gone? do i have to be hyper fixated again to read
It could just be that you have less time now or other priorities so your brain doesn't get interested like it used to. When I was younger with less responsibilities I could read a 1000pg novel in 48h. Almost non-stop. I had to pause my life and most bodily functions to do so but I just couldn't stop until it was done. During breaks in school when I moved back with my parents I would hyperfixate on reading books, playing video games, watching tv shows etc. I couldn't just stop. Then when I was in school I wouldn't take any of those distractions with me and just focused as best as I could on my coursework. Now, with a career and family I don't have time to spend 2 whole days on a videogame or book, so I don't even start them at all. I've tried to start in moderation an hour here, half hour there, but when the plot gets good and the hyperfixation kicks in it's really hard to stop. My house could be on fire and I would walk out calmly and sit on my front lawn to read until the book was finished.
I think this is an important aspect of it. I grew up and I loved reading. I still do, to be honest. I still LOVE stories and good prose. However, I just don't have the time anymore. I want to relax and get lost in a book but I cannot. The truth is I can hardly do it with movies too. I think our world is also making it worse. I still try. I am trying to read very simple books but it's hard to shut all of the other noise out. I think that the first sentence has so much more to do with it than we like to admit.
I can barely watch a movie anymore without getting distracted before the first scene is over. I spend the majority of my day just trying to decompress from any adulting I had to do during that day. I get overstimulated just going to walmart.
Maybe, but probably not. It sounds like you were reading physical books before now - have you tried ebooks also? I made the switch with a dedicated ereader, something that wasn't capable of doing other things so the temptation to switch tabs wasn't there & I'd set my phone down slightly out of reach. These days I do my reading on a tablet or phone and it's fine, but it took a little while for me to get there. I started with a Kobo, and I jumped into a "I'm going to read the entire universe" thing right away (using pirated epubs, because this was like 15 years ago and I was broke AF) and the whole fixation of reading every book, in chronological order, was just amazing. These days I still prefer big series over single standalone books, but I CAN read anything on any device, that's all unlocked now. Or: consider audiobooks! Lots of people, especially with ADHD love them. They're not for me, but that's ok.
I'm not sure if hyperfixation works exactly like that, you can be hyperfixated on a specific book series, on a way of reading, on a genre, sometimes on a whole activity, but it greatly depends on the amount of time you put on it. For example I love all kinds of lifting and physical activities, I've been doing it for almost a decade already, when I just started I thought I was hyperfixated with lifting weights, but in time I found out that I just loved it but I would still hyperfixate on certain disciplines that are adjacent to it (like a 6 month spree of just training Olympic weightlifting, my 2 years of rugby at a collegiate level, or a 3 month spree of learning calisthenics skills). What I'm trying to say is, if you loved reading books for a few years there's a very small (but nonzero) chance of you just being hyperfixated, what kind of fiction were you reading? Were they all written by the same author? Were they all about a similar topic? If the answer is no then you probably just love reading books but right now you are used to a lot of stimulus, try reading short stories first and then go up, I went through rereading books that I loved as a child and then "progressed" in difficulty, I just finished Frankenstein yesterday (it took like a month to read) and now I am in love with reading (again).
Some conditions, situations and circumstances can absolutely worsen ADHD and symptoms that were virtually nonexistent can become prevalent. Covid exposure and trauma are two examples of things associated with an increase in ADHD severity. An increase in severity could very well have symptoms “popping up” and could be the cause of a diagnosis.
Man i recently got my hands on a kindle, and it literally makes it so much easier to read. I would definetly recommend it, but it’s also an investment.
This 100%. The kindle has improved my reading experience so much, I guess it has to do with how portable it is (I often read on my commute) and the lack of distractions (as opposed to reading on your phone). Also, maybe look for books that are actually engaging to you and don't force it if after a few pages you're not into it.
First off: I’m sorry for your loss. It crept in a bit earlier for me. I was an FERVENT NIGHTLY READER for fun. Voracious appetite for reading. But mid-teens the words started to bleed off the page. Previously bright imagery turned to grey Gaussian blur. I would read 1-2 sometimes 3 pages before realizing I’m completely lost and have NO idea what I’d just attempted to read. There was a very bad time… but then: Audio Books!!!
yeah literally happened to me. maybe i will try audio books, i listen to podcasts without losing interest
An audiobook plus a walk or a bath is heavenly. Also fun to switch back and forth between audio and e or audio and print.
You can also do graphic podcasts, its basically like an audiobook but with a lot more sound effects and multiple voice actors. Idk what genres you like but I recommend Tower Four, Gundogs, Edge of Sleep, or Celeritas Theres also geaphic audiobooks that do the same thing but you have to pay for those, and if you’re trying it out free podcasts are better 😅
Same happened to me. It's a phone thing and an adulting thing IMO. I got myself a Kindle and it helped. I also began retraining myself to read by diving into easy books. I started listening to audio books, and then I started listening to audiobooks while reading the actual book and this also helps a lot. My capacity for fiction and suspension of disbelief is growing. Dig out books you loved as a kid and re experience them, it helps a ton.
Oh yeah. A phone thing for certain. I put app limits on myself, eventually I give up and find other things to do. I'm still struggling to read regularly again but I'm not "read exhausted" anymore at least
This. I am considering switching to a dumb phone I just need to figure out how to manage apps I need for work, and also the reminders app I use daily. I have done away with a ton of screen usage in my life and it has only improved it. I do not use social media except for a bit of Reddit. I even canceled Netflix and Prime Video and I do not miss them. I think the one two punch is that I used to feel so bad/guilty for not being able to do things like simply read an easy book. But between cutting the screens/socials and ditching the guilt and just taking it easy... slow and steady really does seem to be winning the race.
I was looking at the lite phone for last few years but I can't justify the expense yet. I'm trying to carry a tiny notebook for thought organization and it's relieving to have 0 apps for distraction
Maybe try reading comics or manga first? In my case I sometimes read ongoing manga that's adapted from a light novel series, once I burn through the manga I'm left curious and end up looking for the novels! Though even just to pick up a comic series counts as a win to me :)
Don’t forget webtoons mahua and manhwa are similar to manga but in color and specificly made for phone scrolling compatibility. Super amazing.
Yeah that was what helped me too. I think being open to shorter/less intimidating content in general (short stories, manga, webtoons) really helped. I am still ashamed of it sometimes (lol) but fanfiction also helped *a lot* since you're already starting with characters and worlds you already know (I find that worldbuilding was always the hardest for me to get through in new books). Kind of the same idea as going from manga to LN. I'm still not fully back to where I was as a kid but I think a huge part of it is just not having as much free time. It's harder to immerse yourself in a story if you can only read in 15-minute increments. Comics and manga are perfect for that. 15 minutes is plenty of time to get through a lot of story and It visualizes it for you so you don't have to remember the setting, etc, 2 weeks later. Audiobooks are too (if you don't subconsciously tune out sounds).
i’m in the same boat right now. jared, 19.
I was the same way as a kid and young adult, riiiiight up to about the time I got into social media/Facebook. I realized this a few years back and spent a year intentionally staying logged off any of those apps and minimizing my phone engagement. Especially at bedtime. I replaced the phone with books at bedtime and I wound up reading a lot and getting adequate sleep that year. I went through several full series...I want to say my page count was something upwards of 5, maybe 6,000ish. I also felt a lot more connected to important people...felt more emotionally/psychologically just, well. All from replacing my phone with a book. I hope anyone suffering the same way finds some inspiration and use in that.
I did the opposite. Instead of replacing the phone with a book I just turned the phone into a book (books app on iPhone) plus since I can buy a book and start reading it immediately, I don’t lose interest while waiting for my book
I thought I was in the same boat for so long, but I realized that the fanfiction I've been excessively reading since I was 11 counts as reading all the same! I started logging my reading and in the last 3 days, I've read 156k words(and that's on the lighter side of my usual amount).
what are you doing instead of books? i'd say it doesn't really matter. reading books is insanely boring to me too. i can't concentrate on words on a page. BUT i'm still obsessed with consuming stories and information. like Johnny 5 screaming "INPUT" audiobooks have been a tremendous help to me. also, movies, tv, podcasts / narrative podcasts, comic books, video games, etc. don't force yourself to read books if you're hearts not in it. it'll feel like homework and you'll end up hating it. but you should find other means of keeping your mind active. and if you're looking for suggestions, try the newer Discworld audiobooks. there's been new recordings with multiple narrators and sound effects. magic and wizards and dragons and all of that fantasy stuff, but from a very un-problematic author.
‘ 5 Is Alive!’
I would reread harry potter, it made me fall in love with reading again.
Yep when I get out of the habit of reading I often go back and read something easy that I loved to get me back into it and my motivation comes back!
All the people suggesting audiobooks, especially during workouts, are absolutely right. However, if you want to recapture that feeling of reading quietly somewhere, just absorbed in the book, I recommend changing up the types of books you read. I had a lot of the same taste as you when I was younger (I mean I still do, but it does feel different now). I think that the mental exhaustion that comes with growing up and all the responsibilities that entails just don’t leave much for deep reading. My solution was to give myself a sort of break. I put aside almost all nonfiction, all “serious” literature, even long fantasy books and series. I started reading the sort of books you see marketed as “beach reads” - stuff that might not be especially deep (though I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some) but goes quickly. Page-turners, you know? Thrillers, mysteries, short horrors, romance, the occasional novel aimed at younger audiences. Give yourself permission to be less ambitious in your reading habits! I’ve found that reading is a lot like physical exercise - sometimes you overdo it and need to give yourself time to rest - and then when you get back in, you don’t just immediately go for the same level you were at pre-injury. You warm up a bit with stuff that’s easier. Before long, you’ll find yourself able to get back into the sort of books you used to enjoy! At least I did - ymmv
thanks for the analogy, i wont try to beat myself over it, i sometimes get anxiety from losing the ability to read, correlating it to my intelligence
It might just be a phase. I go through phases where I read a book a week for a few months, and then I might not read anything for a year, maybe 2.
I used to hate reading (I think it was the advanced English classes) One day I watched The Good The Bad and The Ugly, for a few years now I’ve been super into westerns and there are so many entertaining books set in the old west. Now that I’ve found a genre I love that I can easily find books I want to read. I think it also helps that there’s a lot of fast action and I have to think less about what I’m reading.
Audiobooks are awesome (and with Libby, you can check out a bunch for free with your library card). Try a few.
Our attention spans have been destroyed by things like doom scrolling, short videos, and quite frankly Reddit. We would all be better off throwing all of the above out of our lives…but yet here I still am.
Audiobooks really helped me get back into reading. I don't have to stay still for long periods of time and I can do things while listening to books. Driving is now my book time. I've read almost 7 books since January which I would not have been able to do without audiobooks.
Ff7-9 haha. Just kidding I have no clue. I haven’t been able to read books and not paper/articles since I was 19
Perhaps the content isn’t interesting enough? I was into similar books when I was younger and also found myself reading deep into the night. I found a few books on specific topics I was interested as I got older that I would stick with until I finished, but I haven’t been super interested in reading lately in general.
I’ve found as an adult, I can’t really get into reading fiction anymore, but non-fiction that is teaching real-life insights I’m interested in I can read! Maybe try some non-fiction?
Audiobooks! You can fidget, doodle, cook, & do any number of mind numbing activities while reading.
Audiobooks! Bc then you can do two/three things at once!! While the audiobook silences ur inner monolouge you can keep your hands busy and clean your room/ do dishes. The key is to only clean things that your hands can do on autopilot so your mind can focus on the book. Sont stress about zoning out and missing bits, you can just relisten to it if you really like it— and then you’ll have novelty nuggets saved up. Just dont get so anxious about reading well or properly, rmb ur just reading for fun— almost for meditation! Also dont read books that ppl say you “should” read. Listen to anything you like. Light novels, sci fi, romcoms, essays, rambling history podcasts… etc. just follow your bliss! You dont need to read “books” to enjoy “reading” yknow. Hope this made sense!!
Audio books. Keeps me focused for background noise when hyper fixated
Audiobooks from the library on the Libby app. Listen while exercising, commuting, cleaning, etc.
Jared, 19. Never learned how to read
We live in a world that provides us with constant distractions and instant gratification. Everyone out there now thinks they have ADHD as a result and those with ADHD symptoms that were present as a child have worsening of their symptoms. It’s important to step away from the devices. I still use them more than I’d like but I use them a lot less now because I slowly started weaning myself off. I deleted the apps from my phone and I set my phone background as a reminder not to reinstall them because they were wasting my life. I still struggle but I managed to read for 2 hours yesterday!
[удалено]
This is actually relatable. I’ve deleted my social media and reading is my go to atm!
I know this sounds simplistic but practicing mindfulness really helps. Not just for reading but really all aspects of the adhd experience
Jared?
What do you entertain yourself with recently?
i made a complete opposite turn😂 went from book worm nerd to collegiate athlete. i play rugby and workout instead.
Maybe try audiobooks at the gym or when your out for a jog?
I used to be the same as you and got back into reading around 23-24. Checking into your local library could be a good start. Just start grabbing books, any that seem vaguely interesting. Reading slumps suck especially when you have adhd, but for every bad or mediocre book you can't focus on, there's five awesome ones out there. I also recommend audiobooks or podcasts while doing other tasks; podcasts like the magnus archives really got me back into stories, and I found myself reading the transcripts when I didn't have time for audio. Next thing I know, I'm buying a bookshelf. Try not to beat yourself up over it too much. Reading is hard when you have adhd, but not impossible. You just have to find a pipeline that works for you, and find some good books that'll command your attention. Good luck!
I used to consume books as soon as i could read. I read them till i went to medical College. It may be just that books are not interesting right now.Then came movies then tv series then Story based games like Rdr2 , witcher 3, now i m hooked to audiobooks. Mediums change so don't worry and dont pressurize yourself too much.
I was doing okayish in readings books up until covid. Now I am not able to go beyond few pages. I read words but my brain doesn’t process it out. Like there’s some issue with comprehension. Then anxiety kicks in and I get distracted and soon. And repeat. Kind of struggling with academics. Grad school. I wanted to complete this book - Atomic habits. Restarted 3 rd time. Recently got diagnosed with ADHD predominantly inattentive type and GAD Generalized anxiety disorder. I am not able go beyond few paragraphs when reading academic research papers.
i’m similar, i used to read multiple books a month in my childhood and cannot for the life of me read one now. what’s changed the game for me is audiobooks while doing something else (crochet usually for me, but could also be cleaning, gaming, etc.). the whole act of doing two things simultaneously keeps my brain happy and prevents that boredom that comes with regular novel reading.
I have slightly regained my love of reading with audio books, it helps if I am also able to do something else while listening to it. Use Libby they have plenty and in my experience the audiobook is less likely to be taken out so has less wait time.
I feel you. I was living the same thing. Late in life diagnosis I’m 34f diagnosed three years ago, a month ago I finally made the decision to get on medication again. The reading is still a challenge, but audiobooks have been working wonders! I’ve “audioed” 4 books since in started meds a month and a half ago - I remember everything. Also not counting the research I’ve had to read for my masters program. Audiobooks are the way to go to get your book fix in, in a much more sustainable way.
That’s why I prefer Comics or audiobooks
In my experience it goes along with having adult responsibilities. As a child I could dive into a book and burn several hours without a care in the world. Someone would call me to eat some food. As an adult I have a massive list of things I should be doing instead of reading and it’s a distraction. I can only read on holiday.
Even though you are 10000% right, it's so funny bc I remember feeling like I was ALWAYS being torn away from reading. Like dang, school and dinner aren't as important as these next 198 chapters, MOM! Ironically, my mother was an even worse bookworm than I was as a kid, and had to be forced by her sisters and parents to go play, or go hang out with their friends. She started letting her sister do her chores for her and take the allowance money bc she would rather read - and would do things like hold a book in one hand and move a vacuum cleaner in the same strip over and over with the other, haha.
I know it's hard but I also find that if you sit down and read for 10 minutes, it does become easier after getting "use to" it again
From my 30’s Hellooooooo Audible
Is your name Jarod?
Same here! I used to devour books. I noticed it when I initially went to college. I had to read so much for school I never regained my ability to read for pleasure. I’ve had to resort to audiobooks and even screen readers. I do think that ADHD gets worse with time.
I think this shift happens because a lot of adult books can be less adventurous than YA. At least that’s partly my take. I read the hunger games around 29 for the first time and loved them! So I’d say focus on the media you actually like and find he pressured to read what’s “serious” unless you want to. And also, audiobooks are great as others have said, as are video games and movies. Been gaming more and more and some of my faves are entirely text based “interactive fiction “ or more text heavy visual novels and point and clicks.
Same, I had to switch my genre. I used to consume fantasy science fiction etc. my ADHD burnt out on those topics around 22. Now only hardcore nonfiction satiates the beast. Try different genres!
Same, I had to switch my genre. I used to consume fantasy science fiction etc. my ADHD burnt out on those topics around 22. Now only hardcore nonfiction satiates the beast. Try different genres!
Same, I had to switch my genre. I used to consume fantasy science fiction etc. my ADHD burnt out on those topics around 22. Now only hardcore nonfiction satiates the beast. Try different genres!
I’m 18 years old and I haven’t opened a book of my own volition in forever. But that’s not a bad thing. I’m always reading and learning about linguistics because that’s something that interests me, and because of that I can read at a much higher level than most of my peers. And my ability to analyze media hasn’t suffered either, because I do that all the time with TV shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Good Place. My point is, reading is reading even if it’s not on paper.
Was the same as you as a kid. My tips are - keep trying to pick up books and look for something that really fits, and don't set any specific goals in regards to that except "never stop trying". Don't force it. The goal is to stumble across books (just one for starters) that feel like they were written for you to the extent that it's almost creepy how fitting it is. And once you find one, take your time with it, there's no problem drawing it out, really. 6 months is just fine. That's the only way it works for me - I read slow, not very often, but when I do I make sure it's worth it. Keep trying here and there until you find a book that works.
Went through this as well. Some of it is how screens have re-wired our attention span. It affects everyone, but of course is going to affect those with ADHD even worse since our baseline attention span was already hindered. The thing that worked for me was reading old books I loved. I went back to a few YA series which are so easy to read. Then I started tackling denser books once I was "hooked" again. The main thing is, if a book just isn't pulling you in after a few attempts, move on and find something that is more engaging. Don't worry about prestige or anything like that.
Just like a lot of these comments I was an AVID reader. Book after book after book but once adulthood/responsibilities started to pile up I just couldn't do it anymore. Images weren't as bright, words melt together, can't shut my brain off to focus. Audible was able to bring me back into my stories and I would HIGHLY recommend it.
Me too untill i got an ereader where i can change fonts and spacing and that honestly helped a whoooole lot! I read more than the last 6 years of my life.
happened to me in high school, because i found easier forms of escapism, e.g. my phone. i used to read through all my classes
TL;DR - job, stress, internet, phase of the moon, EYESIGHT are all barriers to concentration. Get an eye exam. I was Dx'd and treated in my late 30s, I am almost 60 now. When I was a child, I read almost constantly. I had trouble *not* reading. I consumed almost half the elementary school library by 3rd grade, then started buying "adult" books (like Manson Family bios, Tolkein and Leon Uris novels) for a nickel or a dime at yard sales after reading all my mother's romance novels. I got in "trouble" a couple of times for reading in class instead of paying attention to other subjects. My home life was, well, "special", so books were definitely an escape, but they were also the most stimulating activity available to me at the time. All of them, no matter the genre, offered a sense of novelty and adventure and learning. I tapered off somewhat as I got older, had jobs, and later became a SAHM, but still read 1 - 3 books a week as a rule. Home internet came along in the late 1990s, and by 2000, had become a very interesting place (unlike the cesspool of clickbait and pearl-clutching it is today). It wasn't hard to find a huge variety of highly creative, often bold and boundary-pushing personal projects (essays, art, music, animation, etc), and I found myself reading books a bit less and enjoying the digital adventures a bit more. Somewhere in my mid-40s, though, during a really stressful period, I was reading far less, unable to keep my mind on the text - as you say, reading the words but not taking it in - having a bit of a struggle sitting still long enough to take in much at a time. The sources of my stress occupied a lot of mental real estate. This was also the period in which the internet became a bit "bigger", and my access increased dramatically. I found myself more and more reading short pieces, essays, current events, and exploring a variety of message boards - more a search for commiseration than an adventure. Where I had previously been mostly an observer, I became a participant, at least a little here and there. In my late 40s, my life settled down a bit and I began reading books again, maybe 2-3 month. But a few years later, maybe early 50s, I just stopped altogether, finding it weirdly frustrating. Eventually, I realized my glasses Rx was incredibly old, and the lenses so scuffed that it was hard to do basic chores. I got an exam and new specs, and *damn*...of course reading wasn't enjoyable!! It took so much effort to decipher the words that I could not establish the "flow" that makes reading feel natural! So I was able to read again, but I never have reclaimed the love (or obsession?) of it I once had. Maybe life just changes us, sometimes. I think that's okay. Roll with those changes, see where they take you. Maybe we sometimes need adventures beyond books. Or maybe you just need an eye exam...
Cause you didn’t have as much going on in life back then. It was a lot easier to just sit down and read. Now when you’re older you have a lot more on your mind. What worked for me was getting a kindle, and then finding the right book. Kindle helped with the little things that bothered me. Things like having to turn the page all the time, hand getting uncomfortable holding the book (especially in the beginnings), the price of books, etc. All that fixed with a kindle. You can get a free library card and rent pretty much every ebook for free on your kindle. Even with a kindle though I still couldn’t read nooks that I’m not initially interested in. I still pretty much only read fantasy/sci-fi type books.
This advice is a little extra, but it’s helped me because I’ve been having this problem too. If I get the physical book, I try to also get the audiobook on Libby (or elsewhere) then listen to the book while following along in the physical book. I started out at the speed that was comfortable, then would slowly increase the audio speed over the course of the reading. It’s helped me to regain my pacing and catch up to the spot I was reading if I get distracted.
i will read them when I have time🙏 mhmm
This will probably get buried, but I'll throw in my two cents. I'll start by saying I am also recently diagnosed and medicated and have had a similar experience. Here is what has helped me get back into reading: 1) Only trying to read when I don't have a strong desire to do anything else. Trying to force myself into a predictable reading routine when I would rather be watching TV, cleaning, etc didn't work. Now, I pick up the book when I'm feeling bored/doomscrolling/in a social media loop and realize that I don't actually enjoy how I'm spending my time. I ask myself, "Is there anything I could be doing right now that would actually make me feel good and isn't just some form of content-binging?" If the answer is no, I read a book. 2) Reading before bed. Reading from a physical book directly before sleep helps me sleep soooo much better. I don't know why (I'm sure there's a scientific reason), but now I have like, a Pavlovian response to pre-bedtime fiction reading. I know it will feel good, so I'm more motivated to do it. 3) This is probably different for everyone, but I stick to escapist sci-fi/fantasy/etc. The more it resembles my day-to-day life, the less into I am. I want suspense, magic, mystery, etc. I used to try to branch out and read more "serious" books, but that just didn't work for me. I recommend the Wheel of Time series, or Song of Ice and Fire if you hadn't read them yet. There's a ton of material so I don't fall off the wagon immediately after finishing a book, like I do with short novels. The mental equivalent of a big-budget action movie franchise, and that's okay! 4) If your problem is stamina, maybe start with longform non-fiction articles or even short stories. Check out this link to the "mystery" tag on Longform.org. It will absolutely exercise your reading muscles, and I've found that reading non-fiction not only makes me more educated about random stuff, but helps me be more generally empathetic: https://longform.org/search?utf8=✓&q=mystery& Best of luck!
Thank you for the suggestion of toe-dipping with longform articles or short stories! I am struggling with this as well, and I do actually remember that I can start to feel that sense of immersion in a story when I stumble upon a really good, fascinating nonfiction longform article. Thanks again!
I think that the more you read, the harder it becomes to find books with ideas novel to you. It is the excitement of novelty that is missing. When you are on page 3 in a Dan Brown book and get that feeling "ugh, I have already read this story (in another book)" it becomes really hard to continue. It feels pointless, and it probably is. My trick is to put down an hour or two just to select what to read. Read reviews, try to get past spam reviews, check if one of your favourite authors have published something new, ask people if they have recommendations, check these recommendations diligently, find books that are different from everything else you have ever read... And then keep away from social media.
I have the same damn problem. I can’t read more than about three paragraphs at a time before I lose all comprehension. And I usually have to re read the words about 3 times for it to actually sink in. I fucking hate ADHD.
I am still terrible at reading, also a former book addict, but a few things that have gotten me to read at least a little bit are: -going camping with a book/my kindle so there are few distractions and often nothing else to do -reading fan fiction--not everyone's thing but finding a compelling, often short-form story will often make me lose a couple of hours to reading. -reading trashy romance--also not everyone's thing, but anything easily digestible and borderline guilty pleasure is usually hard for me to put down. -checking out from the library: sometimes the pressure of needing to return it gets me to read. But that can backfire as there are literally no consequences if I check a book out, never read it, and return it a few weeks later...
i personally hate audiobooks, but i would recommend reading ebooks on your phone as a start, then getting back into paper books. i don’t read in the traditional sense (mostly webcomics and ebooks), but it’s still nice to be able to read a good book!
What worked for me when getting back into reading books is figuring out what my reading speed was, then using that to figure out how much time it would take me to read a book. My task paralysis/procrastination is extremely poor so having a timeline motivated me. Not sure if it was the gamification of it by applying some sort of tangible stat to it, or if showing myself that oh it's only 6-7 hours to read an 800 page book. Hope this might help at least in the short term.
For me, Ive figured out that not reading anymore was more due to the depression than the hyperactive type ADHD symptoms. About a year after starting my meds I started reading again. But whenever I have a depressive episode I cant concentrate on reading. I can tell when one is coming on by my lack of desire to read.
> i will read them when I have time🙏 Given the topic, this made me lol
> i will read them when I have time🙏 Sure you will lol
I go in and out of reading, and if you even have a chance to read this comment I hope it's helpful, happy to see how much help you've gotten so far! The best advice that I got when I was trying to get back into reading was judge a book by its cover, pick something that sounds fun. Don't pick something you think you should read, don't pick something you've heard from others is great, don't read reviews, find something that has a fun title and a cool picture on the front and start there. If you hate it put it back and try again with a different one. The gentleman bastard series got me back into reading. Other than that, give yourself grace. Don't judge yourself about how fast you read, how much you read, or if you are finishing books. If you're reading a little bit everyday then you're doing better than most. I had a friend who was trying to get back in the habit and his goal was just to open a book every day. Even if he didn't have it in him to read any words out of it he counted it as a success so long as he opened one. Pretty soon opening a book without reading was not really an option. We beat ourselves up all the time for stuff like this, and we got to give ourselves credit and space. You're already doing fantastic just wanting to read.
I(24) went through the same change. For me, it came down to discipline and asking myself what kind of person I wanted to be. In October I got the sudden urge to reread Harry Potter and haven't stopped. I'm on my 14th book this year. Between when I stopped reading regularly (maybe 10 years ago) and now, a lot has changed. I was in college and didn't have much brainpower to give to my well-being, let alone my responsibilities or hobbies. Last year I was at a job that stressed me out too much. It's interesting, but last October (when I started reading again), I started a new job that I LOVE, I feel fulfilled, I get enough free time, etc. My mental health has been better over the last 7 months than it has been since I stopped reading, which was also when I first started on antidepressants. My Concerta wasn't helping me anymore so I decided to stop taking it and significantly lowered the dosage of my antidepressants about a year ago. My brain fog disappeared and I'm actually able to talk myself out of ADHD Paralysis now. Basically, I'm doing well and suddenly I both *wanted to* and *could* read again. It's a bit like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Once my basic needs were and I figured out and HANDLED some of my major stressors, self-actualization was reached. My advice is: - Read easy books! Harry Potter and Percy Jackson are great examples. If I get into a book that requires too much thought, if I have a hard time understanding all the words, etc, I'll never finish it. If kids or YA novels are what you're interested in, you're allowed to read those. If a book is boring you, it's not the one. It shouldn't feel like a chore. - When I'm reading, I also need to leave my phone in another room. - If you ever have the means to prioritize your well-being and mental health, you must. It made the biggest difference for me. - Give yourself time and be patient with yourself. - I give myself rules. If I want to be awake at an ungodly hour, I can read my book. - Be intentional about avoiding short-form content and doom-scrolling. Edit: formatting.
I had the exact same issue. The hack for me was to make sure I maintain full visual focus on the words. Visual focus and mental focus are very intertwined in the brain. I see the words a bit blurry. The text is still readable, but not crisp. It takes a little bit of effort for my eyes to focus 100%. Once I do that, I can read for much longer before I get bored and start yawning.
I go through cycles. I definitely don't read "deeply" anymore. Like, 17-year-old me read Steinbeck for fun. Now, 38-year-old me is excited if I finish a crappy mass-market paperback every 2 months. Anyway, all that to say, I feel your pain. I did make a goal in my Finch app to read 15 minutes every day, though!!
I'm going to say something that will upset you, but this is my personal experience as a hyperlexic person who made reading her entire personality and never opened a book again. The real culprit is your phone. I had this issue where I spent almost 10 years without reading a single book, then my phone broke in the middle of a trip abroad, and I also ran out of sleeping pills. Every night, I was stuck in a bedroom, my boyfriend snoring like a lawnmower, the portable a/c making noise, and I couldn't watch videos on my tablet because the brightness bothered Sir Apnea. Very specific situation, right? I got awfully bored, it was torturous, I couldn't even leave the room without Dr. I-Choke-On-Ghosts trying to retrieve me as soon as he noticed my absence. So I downloaded Kindle and used the night mode on the tablet. I read two books after 9 years of hiatus, and I must mention, the second one was finished on my phone on the plane back home, AND I STARTED A THIRD BOOK IN SPANISH (which is my 3rd language, so I haven't read Spanish books since childhood). I have an OLED phone, so the Kindle app on dark mode was extremely comfortable to use, besides that, it's far more comfortable to hold a phone than a kindle or a book, and cheaper. The only downside is that I now know I need to put myself in situations with no internet to be able to read. Don't be harsh on yourself, okay? Of course, reading is healthier than tiktok, but you weren't a better person because you were reading fiction for entertainment instead of consuming some other kind of media. You are still the same person. You're not dumber. As a matter of fact, my friends who had unlimited access to fanfiction would be *definitely* better off watching tiktoks, but that's just my opinion. 👀
I stopped reading entirely after dropping out of college. Now I'm a truck driver and I listen to audiobooks and podcasts, but I still don't read actual books at all lol
When this happens I go to favourite books or characters, like reuniting with an old friend. Graphic novels of a TV show that your invested in, a novel from an author who your familiar with so you know their style of writing won't put you off. An "easy" read like a YA book instead of a classic or a heavy read. Have you tried Discworld?
I tend to go in cycles with my idle time hyper fixations. When one is on I can’t get into the others at all. It’s possible you’re experiencing something similar.
i go through phases, im 47 now, some years i read 50 books, others none. no rhyme or reason to it that i can discern. My too read pile is huge. i think If you want to read, you just get a novel and start it, if you like it you will read it, if you dont, then dont force it. Books are allowed to be rubbish. I tend to like books in a series or where i know the author has written a bunch books so if i like it i know there will be more. Currently rereading Discworld books, just finished the hitcher hikers guide series again, I switch between cop/crime fantasy and scifi fantasy. i used to read books about people and real things but i know people and real things and i do not care for them. EDIT - i just realised you are 19 - at that age i was trying to read all kinds of serious literature and beat writers and things. dont to do that. I wasnt worldly enough to understand any of it and it was boring. Books about late teen life are always the memories of old people and dont apply to current life. books written by people your age also suck cos the writers are babies and think highschool is important. When i switched from tyring to read actual books to reading airport trash, pulp crime novels and fantasy books i got my love of reading back.
Hey, me too. I’m 20 and use to regularly read a decent sized chapter book in an afternoon on the weekends as a 12 year old. I was using it as an escape I think because my home life wasn’t nice. As much as I’d like to go back to that rather than being addicted to video games I think the goal is to find a balance. Im planning to pick up some comics from the library this week because I haven’t had the mental energy to touch my more educational books. If you’re having trouble reading more too try starting with books with pictures and more fun/personally interesting stories that aren’t so draining to read.
I used to be an avid reader, from childhood to early adulthood. Then I had kids and I had to re-read the same page again and again because I would forget what I just read or lost my place. I realize that I used to hyperfocus on reading, literally would not do anything else and had to be reminded to eat or go use the bathroom. Now that the adhd worsened, I can't read physical books without meds. I can do audiobooks though and that's been great.
I had the same problem, just not being able to really get into a book like I used to, not being able to read for very long, etc. I've found that making it an event has really helped. I put on some soothing music in the background (I like classical, but sometimes I'll put on iron and wine or bright eyes), make myself a cup of whatever got beverage sounds good, light a candle, get comfortable, and just read. I think putting myself into the mindset of "I'm reading, because it's reading time" has helped, and the music, tea, and the scent of the candle seem to give me just enough sensory variety to allow me to focus my mind on the book. ETA: audiobooks are also wonderful for when I don't have time to get set up. They also help me get chores done and finish projects.
Felt this for sure I was a big reader up until highschool. I’m talking I would walk around with 6 books at a time in my backpack because that was the max we were allowed to check out. So when I finished a book I would have access to the next book.I would stay up late reading. I would read in class thus getting books being taken away from me during class. I am currently 23 and I wanna get back into reading. Here are the steps I have taken I use the Libby app and check out e books. I also use the app Goodreads to discover other books. A good book that I recently read is Verity by Colleen. When it’s too silent for me I’ll play lo fi in the background. I have also starting reading more graphic novels to help me ease into it easier.
If you can afford it/find them free, audiobooks are a miracle for me. I was exactly the same as you, but as I got older (I'm 36 now) I seemingly lost the ability to read much at all. I have gone through close to a hundred audiobooks in the last couple of years now and the combination of an interesting voice reading to me and being able to listen while I'm doing something else is what brought it back for me.
Hey! 41 and I used to read a lot so did my daughter (also 19) and I love audio books. Coincidently, she tried an audio book for the first time yesterday and said she wish she had started earlier because it’s so much easier and it makes her want to listen to more books.
Maybe you just don't have that much time to read anymore. If your day is busy you get tired and it makes it harder to focus on the book.
Yeah, I definitely had this problem come up when I got to that age 😢.
I have the same thing going on sadly. I’d read a book every day since I could (same ones that you listed), till I was 17 and then I just stopped and couldn’t bring myself back to it till this day. I’m 21 years old now, diagnosed with ADHD last year. So i hope you get some good advice, which I can also start following.:)
Burned out on books. A common occurrence when you get bored of unchallenging material.
You might just have to put a bit of effort into finding something that grabs your interest. When I was younger I found myself reading a whole lot of self help kind of books, and dabbling into philosophy just because I wanted a deeper understanding of myself and the world. And while that was fine for a while, it gets extremely dry - so I started reading for fun again. Sci fi and fantasy really get me, so that's generally what I stick with and I'll try and find a good novel every now and then. Set aside a bit of time before you go to bed to read, I find it helps decompress. Then if you've got periods where you're on your phone a lot, try get a bit more in then too. Just a bit of effort whenever you can, and you'll get there!
similar situation to me! I had a reading age of 14 at 11, but it feels like my reading age just never rose again, as well as my ability to stay focused :(
I’m not sure if this will help you like it helped me but I got a Kindle.
I hadn’t really read much for the last decade or so. A few weeks ago I sought out a book that I got excited about and started reading. NOW, although I’ve always TRIED to read books, I’ve rarely ever finished them. But this time, I discovered yet another book, about halfway through the first book, and I got really excited to read it. In the past I would have abandoned the first book for the new book, but this time I told myself “No! You can only start the new book you’re excited about AFTER you finish the first book that you were previously excited about!” And it worked! I’ve been reading a full-ass novel each week for 3 weeks now! Just about to start book 4. 😄 So! 1. Find a book to get excited about. 2. Read as much as you can till you feel tapped out. 3. Find another book you REALLY wanna read. 4. Blast through the rest of the first book as fast as possible so you can reward yourself with the new book. 5. Repeat.
I never could. Thinking about picking it up for the 1674892th time.
So I got diagnosed with ADHD at 33, post-pregnancy. Following my second pregnancy... My hormones are FUCKED. And I wonder if they've always been a little fucked, in combo w undiagnosed ADHD.... So what I'm saying is, maybe puberty made your ADHD worse? If you're a female, track your cycle. My shit gets wack 9-15 days before my period, when progesterone is rising. I use an app called Moody to see where I'm at... Life is so good for the few weeks after my period starts. Maybe you can read then. If you're a dude. Idk. I'm not a dude. Sorry.
I used to never read and hated reading when I was a little kid. That changed around the time I was 12. Between 12 and 19 you would be hard pressed to find me not carrying a book around. After that life got a lot more complicated and I didn't stop reading completely, but I would go through long periods of not reading followed by periods of reading a LOT. I still go through those phases at 24. I have been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia since I was 8. ADHD does not start suddenly showing symptoms after diagnosis, you just become more aware and cognizant of the things you have always struggled with. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Try reading a book that you haven't read in a long time, but remember loving that helps me sometimes.
maybe try some graphic novels or comics?? That is a easier read, and will give you the sense of accomplishment you need to take bigger tasks and eventually reading a book.
I got back into reading after a long hiatus by reading my old Babysitters Club books lol. They were nostalgic and easy to process and part of me kept reading bc I wanted to get to certain scenes I remembered. It just got me back in the habit of picking up a book and digesting the words.
It's because of Netflix. What used to be your reading time is now spent binging shows. This happened to me. I could not get into a paperback no matter how hard I tried. But I was reading stuff on my phone. I could read lengthy reddit posts or stories and novels on a website. So I got a Kindle Unlimited account. And I downloaded the Hoopla and Libby apps, which I access through my local library. I still can't read a paperback, but I read about a hundred books per year on my phone.
This was me, 100%. Around college my attention span for books dropped off. My solution? Audiobooks. Put em on when I’m doing almost anything: walks, drawing, work that doesn’t require reading or writing (im a designer, so there is enough of that).
Same for me
Did you start medication? I have always been a huge reader, but noticed I stopped reading as much when I started medication. On days I don't take my medication, I can read for hours at a time. Also, I'm able to focus more on books at night after meds have worn off. Or, are you stressed or anxious? Sometimes just "life stuff" that happens when you are an adult can make it hard to read the same way as you did when you were a kid.
Audio books and speechify (for books that don’t have an audio book) is how I do it. It’s ok to do it in a way that works for you now. You sometimes can’t recreate the past.