I have lost the ability to sit and read....

[whaaaatishappening]

I was/am an avid reader. Love nothing more than getting anew book and settling down for a few hours to read.

Last year has been hectic, marriage break up, setting up new business so i have not had the mind space or time to really get involved with a book.

Treated my self to trilogy - massive book and I've found the moment i start reading I want to fall asleep. I am not even managing a page, just cant get in to it. Its not the book as normally would really enjoy this kind of book and style its written in.

Has this happened to any one else. Ive lost my reading skills!

I firmly believe that social media/apps/the internet have killed my attention span. I’m constantly distracted.

Yes, loved reading but as pp said; t’internet has killed it. Could you try some short stories? That’s how I’m trying to slowly get back in to it.

I lost it from the start of the pandemic. Only just began to regain it in last few weeks.

@LadyCampanulaTottington

I firmly believe that social media/apps/the internet have killed my attention span. I’m constantly distracted.

Maybe you are right. How can I not read a book i was looking forward to but can aimless scroll on here..

@MajorCarolDanvers

I lost it from the start of the pandemic. Only just began to regain it in last few weeks.

Strange isn't it. My spelling has gone to shite too.

I feel the same. I still read books but much more slowly and with many more interruptions than I used to. I haven't found a solution yet other than sometimes putting my phone in another room so I don't get distracted by it. I also stopped using the kindle app on my ipad to read as I would often just start browsing the Internet instead.
I too tend not to read as much before bed as I used to as I just get too tired and fall asleep, but I guess in some sense I'm just glad I don't have insomnia as so many of my friends seem to.

You can get it back, but you have to create a space for it. I have a lot of reading to do for a course I am taking and at first I had to literally switch off the router otherwise I would find myself browsing on the internet every time I tried to open a book. I can now study for a couple of hours at a time. It just takes that first step. Leave your phone in a different room and promise yourself you will read a few pages each day.

I lost it from the start of the pandemic. Only just began to regain it in last few weeks.

Me too!!! I also can’t cope with anything that requires proper emotional connection - I think I’m just utterly burnt out from the stress of the last 2 years

Same. I too am blaming my bad habit of aimlessly browsing social media for my inability to concentrate on a book for more than a minute! I'm not impressed with myself.

Are you well rested? If you are physically exhausted then you will fall asleep when you are sitting quietly.

Otherwise stick on some music without words, make a cup of tea, and don't start with a massive book or a trilogy. Start with an old favourite you haven't read for ages, not too long and not too weighty

@LadyCampanulaTottington

I firmly believe that social media/apps/the internet have killed my attention span. I’m constantly distracted.

Absolutely, definitely has for me. I really need to try and get back to the books ☹️

@LadyCampanulaTottington

I firmly believe that social media/apps/the internet have killed my attention span. I’m constantly distracted.

Yes, I agree totally

I read in bed though - no screens upstairs

@LadyCampanulaTottington

I firmly believe that social media/apps/the internet have killed my attention span. I’m constantly distracted.

This is me too. I used to be an avid reader, now I hardly read. Changing this is one of my resolutions for 2022, but I'm not sure where to start.

Try building up to it. I found reading books on Kindle / fanfiction was an essential stepping stone to returning back to paper books.

I lost the ability to read novels after I had children (baby brain/mind fog/never being able to just sit for more than 5 minutes).
I got back into reading by reading YA novels as they tend to be shorter and easier to follow. Easy to pick up and put down when I had a few minutes. Yes, there is some utter shite, but there are also some pretty well written books out there (like any category, I suppose).
Kindles are also great as you can just slip them in your bag and dig them out whn you have a few minutes (or kindle app on your phone).

Yes I have been unable to read anything for a good few years. I thought it was a time thing and then during the first lockdown I ordered some books I really wanted to read- I haven’t managed to get halfway through the first book yet and that took several restarts to even get that far.

I’ve been trying to work this out - I think there’s also a bit of FOMO as well as attention skills deteriorating. On MN I feel connected to people and with the pandemic, working from home, generally being less social it’s harder to want to switch off whereas before reading was a bit of down time.

This happened to me after my marriage broke up and I moved house. I just didn't have the attention span for reading that I used to have (but managed ok at work thankfully).

Bear with it OP, it will come back, I took 18 months before I was back to myself in the reading for fun stakes.

Same. I’ve tracked the number of books I read for the past five years, and it’s declining each year since 2019. I do blame social scrolling.

I also have far less “oomph” to finish something if I’m not gripped immediately, which I am sure means I’m missing out on some great reads.

Similar here. I love reading but since the beginning of the pandemic have struggled massively to concentrate on anything new. A book that once would have taken a couple of days to read now takes a month. I’m rereading old favourites at the moment, that’s about all I can manage.

I can really only read on holiday these days, as I can't quiet my mind enough at other times. It's sad, because I was such an avid reader as a child and young woman. I'm hoping it may come back when I retire, but that's at least a decade away, probably more 😬

I do think it's easier to immerse yourself in a printed book than a Kindle etc and, interestingly, even my teenage Dnephews say the same.

T M Logan got me enjoying books again. After years of reading one book every two years!

I do think it's easier to immerse yourself in a printed book than a Kindle etc

100% agree.

Im the same, I can’t read at home anymore, too many distractions. I find I can only really properly read when I am on holiday and don’t have anything else to do. I am the same with films and TV etc, I really struggle to get engaged with them unless I have my phone and am scrolling through Facebook or playing apps etc at the same time.

I have just looked at my Good Reads app and I have only read 17 books this year (admittedly one of them was The Mirror and the Light) but that is a feeble total for someone who was a real bookworm.

I really do blame my iPad. I read a lot of serious news on it and use it for work, but I also waste quite phenomenal amounts of time on it too and it does seem to have drastically affected my attention span.

This happened way before Covid and lockdown.