How to Focus While Reading: 12 Proven Techniques for Distracted Readers | Chapterly Blog
How to Focus While Reading: 12 Proven Techniques for Distracted Readers You sit down with a book, read three pages, then realize you absorbed nothing. Your eyes moved across the words but your mind was somewhere else entirely. You reread the same paragraph for the third time. Eventually, you put the book down and pick up your phone. If this sounds familiar, you are not broken. You are experiencing the same attention challenge that almost every modern reader faces. Our brains are wired for novelty, and the devices in our pockets deliver an endless stream of it. Reading a book, which requires sustained attention on a single topic, goes against the grain of how we spend most of our day. But focus while reading is a skill, not a trait. It can be trained and improved. Here are 12 techniques backed by research on attention, cognition, and habit formation that will help you read with greater focus and comprehension. 1. Put Your Phone in Another Room This is the single most effective thing you can do to improve your reading focus, which is why it comes first. Research from the University of Texas at Austin found that the mere presence...