Has anyone else lost their attention span?

[Nousernameforme]

I used to love to read. I would have 3 or more books on the go sometimes. I would reread books again and again. Anytime I had money to spare it would go straight to the bookshop. I also read on kindle so it wasn't just a corporeal book thing. However nowadays I just can't settle to it electronically or physically. Has anyone else had this and if so how did you get your reading mojo back?

I haven't had much attention span recently for books tbh. Between Xmas and dealing with my father's complicated estate (he passed away in May) I'm finding it a struggle. Hoping the New Year will be better and will find my reading mojo again. Good luck to you OP, hope you find yours too!

Me too, struggling to finish books at the moment! I manage to get about 3/4 of the way through and then stop 😁

It's ironic given my user name but I have really struggled this year. I think I have got to the actual end of about 3 books. I have given up and abandoned so many or taken ages to read something that would normally been read in less than a week. I have tried different genres - going back to a genre I used to love (saga fiction) but even that couldn't get me excited. I am hoping 2020 will be better. I came across a book by Michelle Magorian (writer of Goodnight Mr Tom) that I haven't read before in a charity shop so I am starting with that.

Completely and utterly

So much so it's my new years resolution to force myself to read til it comes back

Me too, and I’m sure it’s from mindless web surfing.
I did get it back briefly last year when someone gave me Big Little Lies. I literally hadn’t read a book for years (about 5) and suddenly I couldn’t put it down.
I need to find another page turner and turn off this phone.

Me too. I really feel the lack. And, from knowing exactly where every book was on my bookshelves (and I have many!), I can no longer immediately tell you "Yes, I have that book" and find it instantly. Not only that, but there are many books on my shelves that I haven't read. And under my bed, and by the sofa.

Originally I think my voracious reading dropped off as my eyesight got worse. My eyes just got so tired. But now it feels like my brain is tired, too.

Definitely. I used to get through a book a week easily. I was off work 4 years ago for 4 months and reading is what kept me sane. Now I flip from website to website and on a quiet day I could do this all bloody day.

At least if you are reading you feel like you are doing something and if someone asks you what you did today, if you answer "Oh I read a great book" you don't feel guilty whereas if you were surfing all day I just couldn't admit to that.

Me too and I used to love reading.
I’m aiming to read more this year. We should have a support thread. Maybe start with an aim of 30 mins reading a day. Hopefully, it’ll come back.

What ages are we all? I'm 47

This is something I've been increasingly struggling with over the last 10 years but I've put it down to my mental health issues - extreme anxiety which means my mind can't stay focused, even watching tv I repeatedly rewind if I were watching with someone else it would likely drive them nuts

I'm somewhat relieved it's not just me actually

I see nobody has yet found a solution?

I too used to read voraciously! I've been reading novels since the age of 5 and from the age of around 9 would have 2-3 books on the go at once. I'm even a lit grad! During my degree I was needing to have 4-5 books on the go at once primary reading and goodness knows how many secondary but you don't read them straight you dip into the chapters relevant to the assignment you're prepping for, but also I'd have journal and online articles (which I'd print out to be easier on eyes) I'd be reading.

Now I struggle to focus even on much loved and many times re-read favourites

I think the solution is just to read. Turn the phone off and persevere with reading. Does it rewire or reignite the neglected neural pathways or something?

Keep old favourites to hand, they help me sleep and reading even a paragraph or two dropping off keeps the stress of the day from waking you as the dreams combine or is that just me?

Yes. Definitely. But it was easy to get back - I just needed to keep off the sodding internet. I uninstalled chrome on my phone so I can't mindless surf the web on it. I was really strict with myself about picking up a book and not the computer when I felt at a loose end. I have now read 3 books in the week or so. And I started meditating. I don't know if that helped though.

@Whowantstogotothepark

Hit the nail on the head. Reading practice and meditation

It’s too easy to get quick fix from reading in the phone and surfing.

Stress/mental wellbeing is a big factor, but I think practice definitely helps. I made a conscious effort to up my reading about five years ago. I started with "easy" stuff - favourite re-reads, lighter, shorted fiction - and within about 6 months was back up to speed. And it's so very worth the initial effort!

Me too. Usually get through books quickly but read a little bit and find my mind wandering, can't concentrate. Not like me at all.

We all need to put our phones down and read a book.
I don’t even read long posts on here no attention span.
Try reading your favourites again. That’s what I’m planning to do.

Same here. Like others I think it comes from mindlessly pootling about online.
I’ll complain I don’t have time to read but then I’ll have spent a couple of hours reading crap online.

I find reading in the bath is the answer. I have a waterproof Kobo e-reader so I put my phone out of the way and read in the bath.

Same here- I was a voracious reader until I got an iPhone (which did also coincide with having 3 children, to be fair). I think I got into the habit of web browsing while they were sleeping in our room and needed the lights off and then it got harder and harder to get into books again. I could use the kindle app but I find it hard to read proper books on a phone.
On the flip side, if I do start a book that really grabs me I can’t put it down and nothing gets done until it’s finished! Only happens about twice a year at the moment though.
I really need to get back into books again- feel like I’ve missed a decade of reading somehow. It’s a shame.

I use to travel to work on the train 20 mins each way. That’s 40 mins of reading a day I don’t do anymore. Plus 10-15 in bed before dropping off. Still read in bed, but it’s a lot less than before.
Stop fannying about on line and read a book.
That’s it New Years resolution.

Me! I love reading but I haven't found the last 5 books I've read interesting-and they were a variety of genres...I was sick over Christmas and usually would read whilst in bed recuperating but just mindlessly surfed internet on the phone or watched terrible telly.
Books have always been my lifeline. It's a bit weird!

Yep! That’s me completely. I used to read voraciously, was part of 2 book groups, and in all honesty I just read constantly. Then 3 years ago DH was diagnosed with cancer and since his diagnosis I have maybe only finished 2/3 books. I try but I just can’t concentrate like I used to. I find that I don’t care enough about fictional characters to really get into fiction books, and I don’t have enough faith/hope/self belief to read the Christian writers I have read for years - even the ones who are writing about doubt and fear and trauma.

To be fair, I don’t watch movies anymore either - I can just about keep concentrating through TV series episodes but movies just require too much concentration.

I wish I could get back to reading. I feel like my brain has gone to sleep and hasn’t woken up yet.

i am trained to 'read' audiobooks now so i really struggle with paper books!

I'm sure smart phones have a lot to answer for I am thinking about getting a non smart phone for home so I can switch out the sim card. In the hopes I won't get so distracted.

I've restarted an old Phillipa Gregory book. It's going well so far I just need to remember not to leave the book somewhere and forget about it.

Yes I used to be an avid reader - constantly head in a book. Then got a smart phone about 10 years ago and since then have just dwindled. I read 1 book in 2019 and it took months. I'm shocked really but I can't concentrate on it. I spend all my free time mindlessly staring at my phone and if I force myself to read I just don't take it in, have to re-read the same bit over and over and then my mind wanders and I end up thinking "i wonder what the forecast is for tomorrow" or something, and pick up my phone to check and that's it I've lost the reading and am back on my phone.

I used to love that I could carry a library about in my pocket. I always had something to read. Then I upgraded my phone and somehow lost all the books I had downloaded. Why didn't I redownload them?

Where did the habit go?