I used to think that I could never listen to an audiobook because I could never retain what I was listening to. Then, I discovered that if I was doing a mundane task (like cleaning the house) the physical actions that I’m doing are so repetitive and don’t require much thinking that I can focus on the audiobook while going through the motions.
I’m actually a housekeeper so discovering this have been life changing for my job! It’s such repetitive easy work that your mind goes numb, but with an audiobook, I can clean on auto pilot and tune into the plot! I still do find my mind wandering sometimes while listening, but nowhere near as much as if I’m just chilling and listening. I’ve even adapted to be able to listen to audiobooks on long car rides where I’m driving on the highway.
Long story short, maybe you just need to find that task where your brain can focus on the story. Or maybe a certain type of book is needed, something that can grab the attention better? I find that my mind wanders most when I’m not interested in a stretch of the book or a part that is too stretched out with little action. Anyway, I hope you can find what works for you and if not, at least we all still have our trusty paper books which I really do prefer. Something about holding the book and seeing the words on the page makes the story come alive in my mind so much more vividly than an audiobook. It’s like the audiobook version is grey-washed in my mind while the paper book is flushed with colour.
Mindless_Mint83 t1_ja6jldd wrote
Reply to Does this mean audiobooks aren't for me? by IAmNotAFetish
I used to think that I could never listen to an audiobook because I could never retain what I was listening to. Then, I discovered that if I was doing a mundane task (like cleaning the house) the physical actions that I’m doing are so repetitive and don’t require much thinking that I can focus on the audiobook while going through the motions.
I’m actually a housekeeper so discovering this have been life changing for my job! It’s such repetitive easy work that your mind goes numb, but with an audiobook, I can clean on auto pilot and tune into the plot! I still do find my mind wandering sometimes while listening, but nowhere near as much as if I’m just chilling and listening. I’ve even adapted to be able to listen to audiobooks on long car rides where I’m driving on the highway.
Long story short, maybe you just need to find that task where your brain can focus on the story. Or maybe a certain type of book is needed, something that can grab the attention better? I find that my mind wanders most when I’m not interested in a stretch of the book or a part that is too stretched out with little action. Anyway, I hope you can find what works for you and if not, at least we all still have our trusty paper books which I really do prefer. Something about holding the book and seeing the words on the page makes the story come alive in my mind so much more vividly than an audiobook. It’s like the audiobook version is grey-washed in my mind while the paper book is flushed with colour.