I get this with games too. And shows. And end up just scrolling Lemmy instead of doing anything better with my time..
I have this WHILE reading. I'll just start reading a page, and after the first words my mind wanders, but my eyes keep reading the words. Then when I reach the end of the page I realize that I have no idea what I just read.
I enjoy doing this. I'm usually thinking about the book I'm reading, so, while it might take me twice as long to finish a book, I also got to experience much more of the book, even if it was just my imagination.
Of course, it's an absolute bitch when it's something I have to read within a certain time frame, like for school or something.
Then you have to go back and reread...it was a big reason why when I took tests back in the day I would do horribly on them. Math, science, and anything that was non literate I would do great on.
For me, I can usually get out of this by taking a walk. No headphones, just listening to my surroundings. Helps me to clear my head. Or a workout.
Was about to say "that's just ADHD" but then I saw the community
It's also not just ADHD. That happens to me a lot.
Wait
also fits depression
Well, not the sit still or focus issues, but the same result, an interest with no ability to act on it
ah, reading comprehension is not happening today apparently lol
yep, can confirm
I read so much in my youth, I could read cover to cover in one go thanks to the power of hyperfocus. Reading was fun and synergised greatly with my ADD-fueled daydreaming.
Unfortunately though high school came along and had to fuck up my intrinsic motivation by force feeding the boomer drivel that 'everybody should have read in their lives', and having to write book reports where you'd have to analyse those books to death. Assignments could vary from analysing all the different narrative arcs in the story to the relationship between each main character in the story and even more obscure stuff that I don't even (want to) remember.
Anyway, this meant reading the 'classic' Dutch writers like Reve, Mullisch, Wolkers etc and then analysing a story you didn't even care about. Fun fact: those writers seem to have an extremely limited repertoire: do you want to read about addiction, WWII, or sex? Ok ok, you had 'het Gouden Ei' by Krabbé, on which the movie 'the Vanishing' was based. Guess that was a breath of less stale air.
But in the end it sucked the enjoyment I felt when reading from my very soul and replaced it with the feeling that reading books is a chore. At times a slight shimmer of that old spark returns, but never for long. Depending on how often I feel like reading, getting through a book usually takes me months to years these days and rarely captures me like in the past. I'll never forgive the sadistic bastards who came up with this part of our educational system.
Anyway, sorry for dumping this on you, turned out to be more of a rant than I initially intended. If anybody knows how to convince my brain to consider reading to be fun again, I welcome any insights.
You're describing exactly what happened to me. In elementary school, I read so many books that I would win free books each semester. We had mandatory reading quizzes each month for books of our choice, and high scorers would select a few books to keep from a big spread. I would read larger, more complex books from the 3rd to 6th grades, as they would net me more reading points than simple books. Thus, my (competitive) book reading habit would feed into reading books I received for free, which in turn could be used to take extra quizzes to win more books.
Then, middle school happened. I was stuck reading books I didn't care for, covering topics I was already familiar with, and writing analyses that I was already capable of forming within my head. This continued through high school, where I found that I was so disillusioned with narrative literature that I much preferred non-fiction and educational content. I fell out of love with reading, and I don't think I've finished reading a book on my own time, out of enjoyment, in almost a decade (excluding textbooks and non-fiction).
I just can't find the strength to read through any narratives, as all the busy work ruined reading for me. My least favorite portion of reading for school was being made to fill out entire tables of characters, with details on the mannerisms, presentations, quotes, etc. of each. It was all bullshit.
Because of the hyper focus thing, I had already read all the required reading books. The teachers believed me too, because they saw how many books I was tearing through every year. I would turn in a summary of the book, and then go read something that was "at my level," such as The Divine Comedy, Canterbury Tales, War and Peace, or Dr. Zhivago. When I gave my analysis of those books, I at least tried to make them sound interesting, rather than ponderous.
The upshot was that when I got to University, I didn't tell them I already read the books, I just breezed through the work.
I enjoyed reading this rant, I found it very relatable, even though it sounds like we have quite different academic backgrounds. Nowadays, I read a decent amount of non fiction for fun, but I still struggle with reader's block if I don't feel like I have a reason to read, like a sort of self-given assignment to be studying for. That's probably school's fault too
I resonate with this. To get back into the habit I had to find ways to engage multiple senses: https://smoores.gitlab.io/storyteller/
My mom would have to make me put books down to eat dinner. Then came along 5th grade. We had to read 50 books, each one representing a US state and the states were grouped up in different categories. The books had to be chosen from a pre approved list and the books were anywhere from 6th grade to 8th grade reading difficulty. Then we had to write a full page summary on the book. Which meant on average we were reading more than a book a week. That piled on top of all the other homework the other teachers piled on and it was fucking miserable. I spent almost every school night from the moment I got home to the moment I had to go to bed doing homework, also I had to get up early because I was the first bus stop so yay getting up at 5:30 AM to make the bus. Bonus was I was also the last stop so I got to spend over 2 hours a day on the bus. I usually had so much homework that I'd start doing it on the bus home. Oh and if you fell behind in reading you got punished by staying inside for 2nd recess to read more. By the time I left 5th grade I hated school, I hated reading, I hated teachers, and I hated learning. And I still do to this day. I feel like the education system failed me and I'm suffering for it now.
Audiobooks with video games that don't have dialogue are what got me into books
I have a handful of "low focus" games for podcasts, audiobooks, youtube video essays, etc.
Vampire Survivors, or almost any "bullet heaven" type game works well. Old School Runescape also has a ton of ways to skill grind with minimal attention needed. Turn based RPGs with minimal story are great too.
Played through a handful of Pokemon randomizers and romhacks while binging King of the Hill.
But the king for me for a while was Elite: Dangerous. Hop in my cargo ship, use spansh road to riches to generate a trading route, and binge stuff while flying fron planet to planet in supercruise.
OSRS player here with 20 years under my belt for RuneScape as a whole and the amount of books I've read throughout those years is astronomical.
It's called Burnout.
Look at the sub you're on
oops :)
Is there such a thing as ADHD burnout similar to Autistic burnout? Might be at least not as far of topic then :)
It's not even reading the book, it's getting ready to read the book. Very frustrating
Don't forget getting ready to get ready to read the book.
Are there any resources on how to potentially improve this? I know audiobooks, but I do really want to actually read. I did talk to my therapist in the past about it but they were no help.
I have an e-ink ereader (Kobo Libra Colour) that makes it way less intimidating. Just turn it on any time and read just as much as you can whenever you find a moment.
I've got a Kindle that rarely leaves the bathroom anymore, for this reason. Captive audience with a few minutes to kill? Sure, I can get through a chapter...
I don’t know if this only makes a difference for me, but in case others find it useful: I use an e-reader and set it to have very large font size, resulting in a small amount of content per page. For some reason, when I spend too much time on a page, my mind starts to wander, but if I’m moving on to the next page quickly, I feel more engaged and stay with it more easily.
That actually did help me a lot, I think the feeling of finishing a page even though you technically didn't helps keep up the satisfaction as you don't feel like there is this monumental amount of reading left to do. I know with books sometimes I'll be reading, stop, look at the amount I have left, and it discourages me to continue.
I second the ereader suggestion. Since buying one I've been reading at the same insane rate I used to when I was a bored kid. It's a lower barrier to reading when there isn't a massive pile of books infront of you.
can't relate, my reader's block is that i could follow 100 stories with daily chapter releases and i'd still read them all in 5 minutes and then sit there crying because i'm bored out of my mind
I'm both. Somehow. I apparently switch between them.
I just gave up on reading. It simply does not provide enough brain stimulation for the time it takes.
There are some books I want to read but I wont, and thats fine I guess.
Try audiobooks. It got me out of that kid of block. Can listen during showers, commutes, doing chores. It's great!
In 2020 I bought a new tablet just so I could get back to reading books.
99% of time I've used it for YouTube.
I'm getting back to reading more ebooks just now, OK?
(A local ebook store said it's quitting this month. As I was transferring my EPUB purchases to Google Play Books, I realised I hadn't actually used this app for ages. Despite, you know, it being one of the few ebook readers I like.)
You might try out FBReader. It has lots of options to customize it, and you can store your books in Calibre where it can access them via OPDS instead of getting locked into some online BS like Google.
I'm like this with video games and shows tbh
This is the same reason why watching a movie on TV with ads is easier than pulling it up on whatever service you use.
Once you choose the movie, you’re committed to it.
Part of it is forcing yourself to read the books you haven't finished instead of browsing the internet during downtime. Doesn't always work, but it works sometimes.
Having a book club where you can talk about what you've read with your friends (and wine, a lot of wine) also helps.
I've been reading House of Leaves and I'm struggling to get through it because the characters are just abrasive fuckheads tbh. Only halfway through after like two months.
Are you able to give a short summary what it's about? I've had a few people saying it's fantastic and very special to them but I didn't really get much of an answer why. And trying to find anything on the internet hasn't been successful to the point where I get what's so appealing about it.
I could of course just try reading it for myself but it's currently in a backlog along with quite a few other books :P
People like to gatekeep it because it's unique in its formatting and style.
Basically it's a story with a ton of nested framing devices. You have:
The story unfolds in a way that invites you to read through footnotes, appendices, and sprawling side-narratives to a point where you can just get lost in random threads. Some people really like that, I find it annoying. It would be more involving if the characters were better. Even the side characters are mostly just assholes or set dressing, and every woman in the story is a loose slut to a point where it's weird.
Thanks for the explanation :D I remember some of the things I found out before and now it finally makes more sense. I saw some of the names you mentioned but it never clicked for me that it's (in-universe) multiple people's writings that make up the book. It definitely sounds interesting, and I'm fearing and looking forward to how cringe-worthy the characters can get.
I had a book not too long ago that I was really looking forward to reading. It was written by a guy I didn't know very well at the time, but it's a sci-fi novel using the park all us freak kids hung out in back in the 90s as the setting and featuring one of the very odd mentally ill people that came to the park who used to be sort of a mascot.
This is a professionally published book, not something from a vanity press.
After the fifth punctuation error, the second of two on that page, I put down the book without getting past chapter four.
It made me twitch too much.
The lighter side of ADHD
