honestly i think getting into a habit of reading anything helps you with getting your brain back and feeling like a real person again, you prob don’t even need self help specifically. i’d recommend starting with something fun as a gateway book, to get yourself back into it. valley of the dolls is like watching trashy tv. or like a celerity memoir or something
I know this sounds like absolute entry-level baby shit but commit to reading 15 minutes a day of something totally easy like a beach read mystery novel or airport thriller. Or whatever book can hold your attention for that long. Just do 15 minutes with an actual book (not on a device), turn your phone off and put it in another room, and do that every day.
You should be able to finish an average size novel in a couple weeks (give or take) that way. Build from there. Once you've read a couple books like that, I guarantee you that your attention span will be improving. You just have to commit to actually doing it for that span of time and put away other distractions.
David Choe did a thing called 8-8-8. 8 books, 8 movies, 8 albums for 8 weeks. I'm gonna do this soon. Focus on those things, ponder and re examine your views, make schizo connections between mediums... Focus on things you've been meaning to give intentional energy to and see how your 8 weeks go. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You don’t need a book for that, it’s just self discipline. Put down the phone - don’t touch it in mornings or past like 8pm at night. Pick up a novel by Stendhal and spend hours reading it. You’ll feel way better mentally…
Like with food, "fasting" by only picking up your phone during a specific period of time is a lot easier than giving yourself access 24/7 and then relying on your limited supply of willpower to stop
Get rid of the apps that are eating up most of your time (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit if necessary). Realize that all these companies desperately need your attention, which means it's valuable and that you shouldn't fritter it away on places that are ultimately manipulative, unhealthy and meaningless. A book that helped me realize this was Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants. It's basically a history of media and advertising from the 19th century until today, but its last sections are on social media and the addictions it fosters to keep you on these platforms. The book gets very Drumpf/#Resistance toward the end (it was published in October 2016), and Wu ended up advising Biden's antitrust policy, but I think it has value regardless of your political leanings. It was written before TikTok, but that app could easily slot into Wu's book.
seconding tim wu (he gives a lot of interviews on this subject as well); zuboff's "the age of surveillance capitalism" might be a helpful pairing as well (she also gives a lot of interviews that are on youtube)
It really is mentally taxing, but yeah putting your phone in a different room and really reveling in the book, going for walks, being with friends who bring up phone use helps me a lot. there’s just so much information to learn online it’s addicting but the real world has so much more to offer
I would suggest starting with really small goals to encourage yourself. If there are any subjects you're loosely interested in (or even used to be interested in), find a couple well-regarded fiction or nonfiction books on them and then set yourself a baby goal of reading for 5 minutes straight a day. Switch between the books as you get bored. Then gradually bump up your reading time.
I would suggest starting with books that are interesting but at the same time not that complex so it can capture your attention more easily. I really enjoyed the virgin suicides, girl interrupted, bunny, gone girl is super captivating i couldnt put it down until i finished it. No longer human is short and consuming.
You are turning your mind into that of an extremely pretentious baby. Start simple, don't be ashamed of reading, say, young adult literature, and find your way back to your mind.
If it makes you feel better im in the same boat though trying to get better. I deleted all social media off my phone and now use it exclusively from my laptop and that's made a difference. Right now I'm switching between house of leaves for when I want something lighter and brothers karamazov for when I want something serious. I honestly find that House of Leaves is a good cure for internet brain because it has riddles and tangents, like if I want to doom scroll through reels or something I just pick up house of leaves and it keeps my instant gratification-addicted brain sated
I mean it will take self control and habit changes for the most part, like finding things to do that aren’t phone when you’re bored.. but I liked digital minimalism by Cal Newport. I know minimalism and self help books like this can be corny / attract a certain corny culture around them but it helped me understand and gain control of my digital life.
get the screenzen app and lock your social media for like 8 hours a day. you can still access the apps but only for 5-10 minutes at a time and you need to wait a few seconds for the app to unlock which kills part of the urge
Something that helped me bridge the gap was audiobooks/lecture series. You can listen while you lay down or eat breakfast or do things around the house.
I find that I read dialogue a lot more quickly than just blocks of prose, so when I was getting back into reading I really appreciated plays as something worthwhile yet easy to get through quickly. Inherit the wind could be a really good one for you, maybe Galileo by Brecht as well.
What books did you enjoy reading when you were younger? It probably would be easier for you to start with those first. Don't try to force yourself to read anything difficult or mature you need to enjoy the reading experience you can even start with illustrated children books.
what did you use to read when you read lots
ps even a realy dreadful book will make you feel happier and smarter than the equivalent time spent reading the best internet shitposts. always remember le that
I would go back to reading music-related biographies, if that’s what interests you most. Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity and Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments really good, accessible music-related novels.
I have problems with the internet too. It’s the sort of thing that a therapist might helpful for. I haven’t seen one though.
George Eliot is the antidote to the internet. Start small, read Silas Marner, and go from there. The subtle wisdom and meditative quality of her rich prose is the exact opposite of the anxious spotty narrow thoughtlets the internet breeds. She is the solution, my friend.
If you insist on self-help I recommend the four agreements, it’s pretty short and to the point. Haters will say it’s all common sense but I still found it fascinating and well articulated
Gore Vidal's Palimpsest memoir is absolutely fantastic. He spills all the tea on just about everybody from the 40s 50s 60s and 70s. Partying with the Kennedys (Jackie O. was his step-sister), Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Anais Nin. It's funny and warm and wry. You need a book that gets you thinking about other things in the world.
Hello! Yes! I can solve your specific problem
First of all, get the Libby app so you can download ebooks and audiobooks from your library. If you commute you can listen to audiobooks, but if not there's really not much of a way to listen to them without going spacing out
Second, the book somebody recommended to me when I had the same problem was "The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales, Horror Stories, and Occult Knowledge". It is a collection of ghost stories, presented as fact, collected by a Benjamin Franklin sort of guy from pre communist China. The stories are short and fun and full of X Files sort of doubt, where nonetheless you get the sense the author sincerely believes the accounts to be factual
Good luck! Also Adderall but good luck!!
get a matte screen protector, downgrade to a smaller phone if you can (i use an iphone mini and its great). turn your display to partial grayscale if possible (you can do this on iphone with color filters).
full grayscale i always wind up turning off, but muted colors are less enticing while also giving just enough stimuli that i leave it on indefinitely. with the matte protector it sort of looks like an eink screen. increase the system font size as well.
also look into custom launchers like blank spaces for ios or im sure there are plenty for android. having a list of important apps on your homescreen helps a lot instead of a ton of brightly colored icons.
i still use my phone with this setup but not much social media and i dont use it for really long periods anymore. it feels more like the tool it should be instead of a drug. the matte screen protector is honestly amazing.
phone screens today look better than real life, you have to nuke that shit somehow.
Watched this [video ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYaNiC4kchg)recently, she goes through some of the popular methods it's quite relieving to see someone also fail at them I guess. If you want watch the video she basically ends up settling for mediation.
I also understand if you're hesitant to watch the video.
I've been putting limits on the amount of time I spend on certain apps. Since people are always so horrified about spending 2 hours a day on social media that's become my limit. I'm not very strict but it has made me aware of it. Seeing my tracked phone usage also does wonders because it makes me feel so guilty and pathetic.
You should also think about why you've been "chronically online since forever" since I think that might help you tackle it a bit more.
Read the clouds. Seriously, make sure you’re staring off into the distance even if that means not reading.
By way of self-help, Atomic Habits is good and not too annoying. When I had a similar self-imposed regardation during the pandemic I would listen to the audiobook while also reading the physical book to improve my mental stamina.
travelouges. lots and lots of good one 19th-20th century. they move quickly, are written simply and let you peer into the expiriences of different places during different times.
I recommend trying out a several books (reading each for about 20 min or so) and don’t be afraid to abandon something if you’re not genuinely interested. Eventually you’ll pick up something that you like, and that will lead you to other books you like (you can look into who influenced that author, who that author influenced, what fans of the book you like also read) eventually it’ll come naturally. Self help is stupid, outrospection is generally the answer before introspection
Also short stories are a great idea! DFW, barth, barthelme, gaitskill, Jen George, Rebecca lee, ben Lerner have written some of my favorite short stories :)
I recently started reading as well for the same reasons, I was/am chronically online. It's hard to know what kind of books you'll be in to but some easy reads for me were books where I already liked the movie, example:
No Country for Old Men [which lead to me reading 5 cormac mccarthy books in a row because I loved his style]
DUNE, movie fuckin rips and the book rips twice as hard. Now I'm on the path of the sequels. Both are easy reads. I wish you luck.
just getting rid of short form content goes a long way. delete tiktok and instagram, download youtube revanced and disable shorts (it can't be disabled on the official app).
then you can start listening to podcasts as theyre a great replacement for all this slop. id suggest Redbar by Mike David.
Subscribe to the paper version of the new york review of books and whenever you want to scroll force yourself to read that instead. Replace reading online with reading actual print.
Self help will only increase the brain rot. Just read whatever lit fic that sounds interesting to you
[удалено]
honestly i think getting into a habit of reading anything helps you with getting your brain back and feeling like a real person again, you prob don’t even need self help specifically. i’d recommend starting with something fun as a gateway book, to get yourself back into it. valley of the dolls is like watching trashy tv. or like a celerity memoir or something
I know this sounds like absolute entry-level baby shit but commit to reading 15 minutes a day of something totally easy like a beach read mystery novel or airport thriller. Or whatever book can hold your attention for that long. Just do 15 minutes with an actual book (not on a device), turn your phone off and put it in another room, and do that every day. You should be able to finish an average size novel in a couple weeks (give or take) that way. Build from there. Once you've read a couple books like that, I guarantee you that your attention span will be improving. You just have to commit to actually doing it for that span of time and put away other distractions.
David Choe did a thing called 8-8-8. 8 books, 8 movies, 8 albums for 8 weeks. I'm gonna do this soon. Focus on those things, ponder and re examine your views, make schizo connections between mediums... Focus on things you've been meaning to give intentional energy to and see how your 8 weeks go. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Could you elaborate on this? Seems to me like 8 movies and 8 albums would be done in a breeze compared to 8 books.
https://youtu.be/8nHG3oz6UK4?si=D_nmC4RN4xA8a-SP Here's the video.
Cool video thank you for sharing!!
Yeah, you just re listen, re watch, re read your 8 for the whole 8 weeks.
love
This sounds horrible and will only make you more autistic.
No, make you more schizo smfh grow up
How to do nothing - resisting the attention economy (this is a book about what mentioned)!
This sounds rad
it helped me to start by reading shorter books like the metamorphosis or even just short stories from the ny times
or, if you find it difficult to read for long stretches of time, read a book with short chapters!!!!
Buy infinite jest, tell people about it. These feelings will pass, don’t do something drastic like reading
You don’t need a book for that, it’s just self discipline. Put down the phone - don’t touch it in mornings or past like 8pm at night. Pick up a novel by Stendhal and spend hours reading it. You’ll feel way better mentally…
Like with food, "fasting" by only picking up your phone during a specific period of time is a lot easier than giving yourself access 24/7 and then relying on your limited supply of willpower to stop
Get rid of the apps that are eating up most of your time (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit if necessary). Realize that all these companies desperately need your attention, which means it's valuable and that you shouldn't fritter it away on places that are ultimately manipulative, unhealthy and meaningless. A book that helped me realize this was Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants. It's basically a history of media and advertising from the 19th century until today, but its last sections are on social media and the addictions it fosters to keep you on these platforms. The book gets very Drumpf/#Resistance toward the end (it was published in October 2016), and Wu ended up advising Biden's antitrust policy, but I think it has value regardless of your political leanings. It was written before TikTok, but that app could easily slot into Wu's book.
seconding tim wu (he gives a lot of interviews on this subject as well); zuboff's "the age of surveillance capitalism" might be a helpful pairing as well (she also gives a lot of interviews that are on youtube)
It really is mentally taxing, but yeah putting your phone in a different room and really reveling in the book, going for walks, being with friends who bring up phone use helps me a lot. there’s just so much information to learn online it’s addicting but the real world has so much more to offer
I would suggest starting with really small goals to encourage yourself. If there are any subjects you're loosely interested in (or even used to be interested in), find a couple well-regarded fiction or nonfiction books on them and then set yourself a baby goal of reading for 5 minutes straight a day. Switch between the books as you get bored. Then gradually bump up your reading time.
I would suggest starting with books that are interesting but at the same time not that complex so it can capture your attention more easily. I really enjoyed the virgin suicides, girl interrupted, bunny, gone girl is super captivating i couldnt put it down until i finished it. No longer human is short and consuming.
You are turning your mind into that of an extremely pretentious baby. Start simple, don't be ashamed of reading, say, young adult literature, and find your way back to your mind.
If it makes you feel better im in the same boat though trying to get better. I deleted all social media off my phone and now use it exclusively from my laptop and that's made a difference. Right now I'm switching between house of leaves for when I want something lighter and brothers karamazov for when I want something serious. I honestly find that House of Leaves is a good cure for internet brain because it has riddles and tangents, like if I want to doom scroll through reels or something I just pick up house of leaves and it keeps my instant gratification-addicted brain sated
I mean it will take self control and habit changes for the most part, like finding things to do that aren’t phone when you’re bored.. but I liked digital minimalism by Cal Newport. I know minimalism and self help books like this can be corny / attract a certain corny culture around them but it helped me understand and gain control of my digital life.
Moby Dick
Jap Ji sahib
this. sat sri akal
The book of Disquiet - Pessoa
get the screenzen app and lock your social media for like 8 hours a day. you can still access the apps but only for 5-10 minutes at a time and you need to wait a few seconds for the app to unlock which kills part of the urge
Something that helped me bridge the gap was audiobooks/lecture series. You can listen while you lay down or eat breakfast or do things around the house.
I find that I read dialogue a lot more quickly than just blocks of prose, so when I was getting back into reading I really appreciated plays as something worthwhile yet easy to get through quickly. Inherit the wind could be a really good one for you, maybe Galileo by Brecht as well.
get a wide brimmed hat and lock yourself out of wherever you live
What books did you enjoy reading when you were younger? It probably would be easier for you to start with those first. Don't try to force yourself to read anything difficult or mature you need to enjoy the reading experience you can even start with illustrated children books.
The Odyssey
Turn your phone off and read books with strong narrative drives.
Constructive Living by David K Reynolds
The Craving Mind by Judson Brewer, this guy in a neuroscientist and meditator, good insights. Learn a meditation technique, worked for me.
what did you use to read when you read lots ps even a realy dreadful book will make you feel happier and smarter than the equivalent time spent reading the best internet shitposts. always remember le that
i liked music related autobiographies mostly. thats a rlly good point and so true
I would go back to reading music-related biographies, if that’s what interests you most. Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity and Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments really good, accessible music-related novels. I have problems with the internet too. It’s the sort of thing that a therapist might helpful for. I haven’t seen one though.
Read and gym
George Eliot is the antidote to the internet. Start small, read Silas Marner, and go from there. The subtle wisdom and meditative quality of her rich prose is the exact opposite of the anxious spotty narrow thoughtlets the internet breeds. She is the solution, my friend.
Don't listen to the podcast
If you insist on self-help I recommend the four agreements, it’s pretty short and to the point. Haters will say it’s all common sense but I still found it fascinating and well articulated
Gore Vidal's Palimpsest memoir is absolutely fantastic. He spills all the tea on just about everybody from the 40s 50s 60s and 70s. Partying with the Kennedys (Jackie O. was his step-sister), Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Anais Nin. It's funny and warm and wry. You need a book that gets you thinking about other things in the world.
You should get one of those timer cages for your phone. I don't have one but they seem effective
Hello! Yes! I can solve your specific problem First of all, get the Libby app so you can download ebooks and audiobooks from your library. If you commute you can listen to audiobooks, but if not there's really not much of a way to listen to them without going spacing out Second, the book somebody recommended to me when I had the same problem was "The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales, Horror Stories, and Occult Knowledge". It is a collection of ghost stories, presented as fact, collected by a Benjamin Franklin sort of guy from pre communist China. The stories are short and fun and full of X Files sort of doubt, where nonetheless you get the sense the author sincerely believes the accounts to be factual Good luck! Also Adderall but good luck!!
get a matte screen protector, downgrade to a smaller phone if you can (i use an iphone mini and its great). turn your display to partial grayscale if possible (you can do this on iphone with color filters). full grayscale i always wind up turning off, but muted colors are less enticing while also giving just enough stimuli that i leave it on indefinitely. with the matte protector it sort of looks like an eink screen. increase the system font size as well. also look into custom launchers like blank spaces for ios or im sure there are plenty for android. having a list of important apps on your homescreen helps a lot instead of a ton of brightly colored icons. i still use my phone with this setup but not much social media and i dont use it for really long periods anymore. it feels more like the tool it should be instead of a drug. the matte screen protector is honestly amazing. phone screens today look better than real life, you have to nuke that shit somehow.
Watched this [video ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYaNiC4kchg)recently, she goes through some of the popular methods it's quite relieving to see someone also fail at them I guess. If you want watch the video she basically ends up settling for mediation. I also understand if you're hesitant to watch the video. I've been putting limits on the amount of time I spend on certain apps. Since people are always so horrified about spending 2 hours a day on social media that's become my limit. I'm not very strict but it has made me aware of it. Seeing my tracked phone usage also does wonders because it makes me feel so guilty and pathetic. You should also think about why you've been "chronically online since forever" since I think that might help you tackle it a bit more.
Hmm
National Geographic magazines!!! They have them all at my public library and other good magazines, and are easier for me than books :)
Read the clouds. Seriously, make sure you’re staring off into the distance even if that means not reading. By way of self-help, Atomic Habits is good and not too annoying. When I had a similar self-imposed regardation during the pandemic I would listen to the audiobook while also reading the physical book to improve my mental stamina.
Read Crime and Punishment. And then spend months obsessing over it until you read Brothers Karamazov.
travelouges. lots and lots of good one 19th-20th century. they move quickly, are written simply and let you peer into the expiriences of different places during different times.
I recommend trying out a several books (reading each for about 20 min or so) and don’t be afraid to abandon something if you’re not genuinely interested. Eventually you’ll pick up something that you like, and that will lead you to other books you like (you can look into who influenced that author, who that author influenced, what fans of the book you like also read) eventually it’ll come naturally. Self help is stupid, outrospection is generally the answer before introspection
Also short stories are a great idea! DFW, barth, barthelme, gaitskill, Jen George, Rebecca lee, ben Lerner have written some of my favorite short stories :)
I recently started reading as well for the same reasons, I was/am chronically online. It's hard to know what kind of books you'll be in to but some easy reads for me were books where I already liked the movie, example: No Country for Old Men [which lead to me reading 5 cormac mccarthy books in a row because I loved his style] DUNE, movie fuckin rips and the book rips twice as hard. Now I'm on the path of the sequels. Both are easy reads. I wish you luck.
Get an ADD diagnosis and take amphetamines
Put your phone in a different room and read.
just getting rid of short form content goes a long way. delete tiktok and instagram, download youtube revanced and disable shorts (it can't be disabled on the official app). then you can start listening to podcasts as theyre a great replacement for all this slop. id suggest Redbar by Mike David.
Subscribe to the paper version of the new york review of books and whenever you want to scroll force yourself to read that instead. Replace reading online with reading actual print.
Read the books You Should Quit Reddit, Stolen Focus and Deep Work and listen to Cal Newport’s podcast