How To Build Focus For Reading - 3 Quick Tips

I think the most important piece of advice to take away from this awesome video is to read what you love. Don't read classics to seem "smart", don't read young adult romance to seem "trendy", just read what you genuinely think could make you enjoy your existence more. Thanks for the vid, dude! <3

1. Exercise 2. Read what you love 3 Appreciate your matrix 4. Build a tolerance 5. Don’t force something on yourself you do not truly want to begin.

my personal tip if you have trouble focusing is to read in a place where there’s a lot of noise. That may seem counterproductive, but i’ve found that silence and quiet makes me get lost in my thoughts or reach for my phone and having other stimuli around me helps me concentrate in the book!

I love the way there is no background music which feels completely different to most videos. Which is a very good thing because the most enjoyful read is when it's in silence.

Excellent tips as always. As a very selective, slow reader who annotates, I find it frustrating to see people posting to Instagram the stacks of 10 books they read each month. I have a full time job and kids, so maybe if I was younger I could get through more, but I started Plato's Republic on the 11th May, and I'm "only" halfway through Book III today. But annotating, reading two different translations side by side, I understand it a lot better than if I had just skimmed it in a week.

one of my insecurities is being (kind of) a slow reader (relative to the average booktuber), and therefore not being able to read 50+ books within one year…but thank you so much for sharing this perspective, i am sure this is going to help with it :)

Actually exercise makes the most sense because your brain functions better with the more oxygen it gets, improving concentration and memory. Great video!

I also find that reading a children's book once in a while strengthens my abilities as well. It helps me look at the world from a wildly altered perspective and challenges my focus because it's so easy that I feel silly and so I don't want to finish the book, (I especially don't want someone to SEE that I'm reading a book with print that's always really large and obviously for younger audiences) but when I push myself to continue anyways it can be really rewarding, challenging, and eye opening in a very different way.

For people who are reluctant to exercise or don't exactly ~love~ the traditional ways of doing exercise (going to the gym, running,etc), walking is a great option. The amount of walk you have to do can be adapted to your life and increased slowly. More importantly, do whatever it is that you enjoy and look at exercise as something that you look forward to do:3 you can walk, dance, calisthenics, or anything that involves moving your body 💖

I used to love reading as a kid, then I became an English major in college & started associating it with work thus ending up hating it.

Here’s my own personal tips; 1. If you don’t like reading to much words I recommend poems and poetry they are simple and easy to read but don’t over do it because you’ll end up having a lack of focus. 2. Limit your reading but don’t read to little or to long. 3. Audiobook highly recommended; not only it helps you to catch up but also improves your reading. 4. Stamina.

I have seen numerous videos with titles such as this but what I really appreciate about yours and what I got the most from this video was that to become better readers we need to focus on the internal. Building our love and appreciation while simultaneously building our "focus muscles" with the reading slightly-above-your-level concept is more in our control than simply "remove distractions and social media" tips every other video gives. Sometimes I cannot remove all distractions (I have a cat lmao) so those tips, while they certainly are helpful, are not as universal as the ones you presented so thank you!

I’m reading this book called Fixing my Gaze: A Scientist’s Journey into Seeing in Three Dimensions by Susan R. Barry and what I’m learning is that some people have undiagnosed vision problems that prevents them from reading very long. Not having stereovision (the ability to see in 3D) can interrupt people’s ability to stare in one spot for very long. Some people don’t understand that words aren’t supposed to jump around or blur on the page because they’ve always seen the world this way. They’re usually misdiagnosed as having something else like ADHD. People’s ability to focus is sometimes physical.

The idea of the stack is spot on. I used to be hardcore into the "Goodreads read X books per year" up until a couple of years ago. Now, I don't really care if I read one book a year or 40. What changed? Before, I had to make a conscious effort to sit down and read if I wanted to reach my target; now, it's part of my routine and don't even have to think about it. It all comes back to asking what your "why" is. I used the challenges in the past as an incentive to build a habit I wanted, and now they served their purposes and are no longer necessary to me.

Thanks for sharing Robin! I love these tips! I use some of these strategies to teach my 3rd-5th grade students to help them with their reading skills. Many of my students struggle with reading, but once they find the right book for them, they end up loving to read! :)

I love how you focus on the love of the reading process. This is so refreshing 😊

For me the first thing that helped me through my process of building focus on my readings was turn off social media, ipad, phone and so on. The first day was challenging but then everything was so much simpler and I wanted so badly to focus on important things for my growth, knowledge instead of scrolling infinite times. Then, I was challenging myself to reach everyday a point on my readings. (For example, 50 pages a day) that's because I knew that if I wouldn't do that my brain would get back to the scrolling which means losing time. 🙃 so, I needed to implement what was more important that losing my head in useless things until became an habit. I know that is so much easier said than done but it worked for me!

I really appreciate this perspective. The last couple of years I’ve struggled with reading beyond what’s required for work or school, and so have fallen back onto graphic novels as something that was easy and enjoyable. But after watching this, I realize that one of my hang-ups now is simply feeling like it shouldn’t take me so long to get through a book that may be more difficult or “slow.” Beyond just reading what you love, I like the reminder that reading can take time—and that’s okay!

Thank you, this helped alot. I've been so focused on finishing a set amount of books a year that I've, like you said started seeing reading as a chore sometimes. You're channel is great, I love reading philosophy so your video about analytical reading really blew my mind. Thank you for making videos about this topic!

This video!! 🙌🏼 These are so many of the things we tell our middle schoolers how to love reading and I can’t seem to get myself to follow the same things 😅 reading what you love and want to read is so important! I have not finished a book in AGES … I studied literature in college and wore myself out where I’ve developed a hate for reading , making it feel like a chore :’D I have given up trying to challenge myself with classics I have not been able to get through (for the moment) … I picked up Summer I turned pretty on a whim and I ATE IT UP. It’s not the best book out there but I was into it, and am reading the whole series now lol. It’s surprisingly good! I’m also reading The Bell Jar and enjoying it a lot! It’s resonating with me in ways I had not expected when I heard about it, and I think the sense of accomplishment of getting though the Jenny Han series is what encouraged me to get into The Bell Jar! Following what you want to read is so impactful. You’re right about this culture of wanting to finish books and have to read certain things - like there’s not such thing as bad books, just books that aren’t for you or aren’t for you at that particular moment in time. And I like to think that every book has some impact if I read it carefully and thoughtfully enough (even the fluffy YA romances!) I’m taking my summer to read all the fluffy fun books and even some children classics before I jump into the next school year and work. And will be following these tips for sure!! 🙌🏼 my reading goal this year is just 12 books, about a book per month and I am counting books I’ve read at school with my classes! I will never forget my Maniac Magee read alouds and discussions with my 5th grade class! That’s what reading should be - impactful and rewarding :)