10 tips for how to focus on reading

 Does it also happen to you that sometimes, even if you like to read a lot, it is difficult for you to stay focused?

It is more than a common problem when you have to read a text that is tedious, too technical or that simply does not interest you. But sometimes it happens even when you are with a wonderful book.

You may have been reading for a while and, after a page or two, look back and remember nothing. What's more, surely that has been happening to him his whole life. You may have thought this is inevitable, but it doesn't have to be. Reading is an activity that requires our full attention. Without it, understanding is reduced and effort is useless.

Here are 10 tips for how to focus on reading:-

1.Sleep well:

 If you follow an irregular sleep schedule or sleep less than 8 hours a day, you will hardly be able to concentrate on any activity.

You should assign yourself a specific time to sleep so your body gets used to it. This way you won't want to sleep at any time of the day, only during the specified hours.

2. Schedule time and space for reading:

 Establish in advance when and where you will read and prepare everything to meet that plan. Reading cannot be that which is done when there is plenty of time, but an important activity to which you assign its time and place.

3. Use your hand

The first thing I recommend is to use your hand while reading. Let him act as a guide during the reading.

This has multiple benefits, from pacing your reading to helping your fixes. But also, having a fixed point to follow (the tip of your finger) prevents the eyes from being distracted or lost in other things easily.

With this simple gesture, you are taking control over the reading, being more active and at the same time avoiding the unconscious burden of rereading the text when you have not fully understood. This makes your mind work harder and struggle to grasp the meaning, even if it doesn't seem like it.

4. Improve your attitude towards reading:-

 It is very difficult for you to concentrate if you are reading reluctantly. A negative attitude towards any activity causes it to be performed with lower quality, but with reading, this is worse, for the same reason that it requires that all our mental capacity is in it. Although many times we have to read things that we do not want, we can always improve our attitude and find what we are reading a greater meaning.

 

5. Distract your attention:

 If you get sleepy after reading a few pages, take your eyes off the pages and the book and glance around where you are for a few seconds (no less than 30 seconds). The change of focus, from short to long, helps reduce the fatigue that reading generates. It's worth a try, even if you have to stop every other page to look outside. In, In the beginning, you will focus better and over time you will need to do this to a lesser extent.

6. Take breaks

If you have to read a large amount, take short breaks of one minute every 15-20. In this way, you are training your brain to relax and get back on task with full attention.

It is the same as doing physical exercise, working with rest periods and periods of high intensity. It helps to strengthen you and, in addition, it also creates a repetition routine that strengthens your memory when it comes to retaining information about what you read.

Yes, reading strengthens your memory and you can read it here if you are interested.

And finally, these planned breaks will help you avoid fatigue and loss of concentration.

7.Eliminate all distracting elements:

 Read without having objects that attract your attention. Today, we can't seem to live without having cell phones and computer screens active. The power with which screens attract us and capture our attention is extraordinary. But we can control them, turn them off, silence them. We can also notify our friends that we will not be available for the time we have allocated to reading.

 

8.Eat a healthy diet:

 Include foods that have iron in your diet. In order to concentrate better, the brain needs the oxygen that is carried by the red blood cells. If your body doesn't have enough iron available, it won't be able to make enough red blood cells.

Examples of foods rich in iron are lentils, whole grains, beef liver, soybeans, chard, and spinach, meat in general.

Avoid fried foods and preparations that contain a lot of fat before you start reading, the digestion process or stomach upset may divert your attention and make you sleepy.

9. Have confidence

Many people, consciously or unconsciously, put themselves under great pressure to succeed when reading: “When I read something, then I have to understand it afterward. And every detail. Unfortunately, that's not how our brain works. The plan to have fully grasped a book after reading it once is usually doomed to failure from the start. But there is an effective antidote to the internal pressures many people put on themselves while reading, and that antidote is called trust.

Have confidence that both your brain and your subconscious will filter the information you need out of any reading material. Our subconscious in particular absorbs a lot more than we can rationally grasp and then presents the knowledge to us at the right moment.

10. Underline important information in the text and take notes

The best reading is worthless if you can't remember the information afterward. A very helpful way to do this is to take notes as you read and mark the important information.

So always read with a pen in hand and highlight everything that seems important to you. So you can concentrate on the most important passages afterward if you want or have to read the book again.