start small

I have a commitment that I will read for 20 minutes before sleep, no matter what. I can read more, but not less. My books are on the kindle app on my phone. I am comfortable. It doesn't matter how much progress I made.

I was like this too and was so frustrated because I used to love reading. I asked my therapist and she said to stop using my phone (and reddit lol) so much. My brain is addicted to the quick dopamine hit you get from funny cat gifs etc. So I started limiting my screen time and that absolutely helped.

I also started picking books that were shorter, less challenging and more immediately rewarding (gossipy Hollywood bios, short adventure novels etc).

Everyone is different but that's what worked for me!

Totally agree with dragon blues comment, it’s definitely affected me in recent years and I had to make myself get back into long form reading. Sounds obvious, but why not start with short stories? The best can be really satisfying as fiction and be thought provoking too. No idea what you like, but the short stories of Irish writer William Trevor are rightly famous for being perfectly formed little gems.

As someone with ADHD who tried medication and decided not to... It might not work like you think. The key here, is patience. It takes patience to get a diagnosis, it takes patience to figure out the right med, it takes patience to figure out the right dose, it takes patience to give yourself the time to figure it out. Your brain has allowed itself to get distracted every day all the time. A med won't just rewire that. You have to set realistic goals for yourself, set timers, and read stuff you're really really interested in. Good luck, friend.

This, I also cut back phone/screen time. And I picked up some Harley Quinn books. Suddenly, I was knee deep in my TBR.

I wouldn’t necessarily try forcing yourself to read for 20 min before bed. ADHD normally comes with difficulty keeping routines, forcing a reading time is normally counterproductive. Instead, after distancing yourself from the phone, find a interesting book (at the library, store, or one you forgot about on your shelf) that is short. Don’t start reading right away. Instead, force yourself to clean or something. This way, it delays the gratification a bit.

> I’m pretty sure it’s got to be ADHD so I’m working on getting treatment for it

Did you get diagnosed?

> How do I fix this?

Depends, is this a medical issue or a self-inflicted dopamine issue?

Yup. Putting one's phone in another room or turn it off of something can help with this.

I'd also throw in mysteries as a starting point. They tend to be enticing enough to get you to keep reading.

Yeah I have ADHD and meds have been incredibly helpful for me.... but they're no silver bullet.

Yeah.

I have ADHD and I really resent people especially people who are undiagnosed and may not even have it in the first place assuming that that's why they can't read.

I literally used to work in a bookshop so I read books all the time. Doesn't make my diagnosis less valid.

Medication doesn't magically fix everything either. It actually takes time to get the right medication/dose.

Are you in school still? I have ADHD, and I could not read for pleasure when I had to read for school. It took me about 3-4 years of being out of school before I could read.

Do you listen to audiobooks? When my attention for reading isn’t great, I still try to keep it up with audiobooks. They are great for multitasking with your hands. Reading while you fold laundry. Reading while you do dishes. Reading while you drive.

Do you read long form journalism? These are the magazine or newspaper articles that take 45-90min to read. reading those might be a good start to grow your attention to reading. There’s a subreddit for good long form articles. I think it’s long form or long reads or something.

What are you reading? If a book doesn’t interest you, stop reading after 10-30 pages and then find another one. Start developing a “taste” in books. What do you like? What appeals to you? Think less about content/themes/reputation in what you select to read and think more about pace, plotting, character development, narration style, genre, pacing, setting.

For example, even though literally every book I read is about queerness, I automatically pass on queer short stories because I realized that I hate short stories. I really dislike the beginning of books and ends of books, and love the middles. Short stories sucks for me because they are literally just beginnings and ends, and no middles.

Also, you don’t need to read classics. It’s not worth my attention to slog through 19th century prose. All of my friends (and everyone on this sub) is like OMG JANE AUSTEN! I hate doing reading that feels like school (and I have a PhD), so I just don’t want to read stuff like that.

ETA: stop buying books, too. Get books from the library. And then if you like it, buy a copy of the book after the fact. This will help you feel less guilty if you don’t finish it. I like keeping used copies of books I liked at my house because then I just gift them to my friends.

I will say that 2 years on adderall in my 30s helped me learn how to organize myself in ways that I didn’t know before. I don’t take adderall most days anymore and see fundamental changes in my ability to control my attention when I’m not on stimulants. They can be beneficial.

That said, I don’t like reading for pleasure on stimulants. Stimulants make it harder to read for pleasure because stimulants change my brain’s reward drive. When I’m on a stimulant, I feel satisfaction and accomplishment for getting shit done. Reading isn’t conducive to “getting shit done” and therefore feels like a chore to complete on adderall.

I struggle to cook on adderall, too. Like, I can cook on adderall, but the aesthetic and creative pleasure of cooking is gone when I take adderall. It’s just another thing I had to get done and it’s tedious.

Hi there. This subject has been very popular in the past. Please use reddit search and/or check the /r/books/wiki/faq.