How to increase reading duration and capacity
For some individuals, reading is difficult and tiring not to talk of reading for a very long time.
As a student one must learn how to spend good duration of time to studies before success can be achieved to the peak.
This article will give you simple tricks on how to increase your reading capacity.
Consider the following
Start small
Start with a short book, ideally shorter than 250 pages. When you sit down and read an entire book, you will feel good and accomplished. You finished an entire book in one sitting! Starting with a huge 500+ page book will seem daunting and you will feel like you will be at the couch or chair for forever.
Extra side tip that relates to this. Start reading for a little more than an hour. For example, read for an hour and a half. Then the next day you read, increase that by 15-30 minutes until you get to 3 hours. That will help you gradually get into the mode for reading for longer periods of time. Especially if you are not used to reading for more than 30 minutes!
Take your time!
Now that you are cuddled up on the couch with your book, it’s time to savor those pages. Read slow (not too slow) and enjoy the story. Create a “movie” in your mind. This will help you want to keep going.
Also, take mini-breaks. Take 5 min. break to use the bathroom, brew some tea, stretch, walk around the house, etc. This will give you a mental break which is so important if you are doing a task for more than 2 hours.
Move away from all distractions
This one tip has helped me a lot when reading. Put your phone in another room while reading. Yes, don’t have your phone nearby for hours (you can do it!!). When you don’t have your phone nearby, you won’t be distracted by that thing we call social media. If you are reading in the living room, make sure to let people know to NOT turn on the TV. If that is not possible, I would create a reading area somewhere else in the house so you can have no distractions.
Distraction is a killer for reading.
Read in comfort
This should go without saying, but read in comfort. Wearing tight uncomfortable clothes with no blanket is just a recipe for disaster. Put on that loungewear set, put on the blanket, and have some tea (snacks optional). This will subconsciously help your brain relax, and therefore, you will relax. This will help you be in the “mode” to read for a long period of time.
However, word of caution. I would not wear PJs while reading unless you wear PJs all the time. If you only wear PJs to bed, subconsciously your brain will think it’s time for bed. And when you start reading you might get sleepy- which is not good.
Have a set goal
Have a goal in mind. When you sit down, think about how many pages you want to read. When you have a set goal, you will more than likely be in the mindset to achieve that goal. If you sit down and just say to yourself, “I will just read this book here”, you will be more inclined to be distracted after a short period of time. However, note that if the book you are reading is just not that good, it’s ok to not finish it! Start another one or take a break.
Thecaffeinatedbibliophile.com
