Having problems concentrating when reading

Some of our students have problems concentrating over boring or complex texts. I also have similar problem with some challenging texts. What usually works for me is rereading the text using various mindsets. I am asking myself:
1. How can I use this information?
2. Why is it different from common knowledge?
3. What is important for the author to say?
4. Where can I use it?
5. When did I see something similar?
6. Which kind of mindset should I use next time I read this text?
 When all of this fails, I try to follow the steps of the author and redo the activity myself. Of cause, very few texts are worth THAT MUCH effort…
Some discussions from the course:

Hi, great course so far. I have a problem where I read but I dont understand what am reading the first time around, It is like am passing over the words on a cloud. I would have to re-read sometimes twice to understand what I am reading. Also Sometimes I am reading but my mind drifts off, and i am thinking about something else, but in my head I am still reading somewhat.

any advise?

  • It seams that you have some rare situation. Your issues may be related to too many things connecting with each other. You really need to break sentences into smaller bits and pieces… Try to generate markers per smaller parts of each sentence… Any time you think of something ask yourself: does it belong to what you are reading? If not, try to regain focus on the text. Pause after each paragraph, and if you cannot recreate the paragraph, reread the whole paragraph, not just a couple of words…

  • Interesting… I have the same problem of having to read over something that I just read several times to remember it. I also seem to be able to read without actually reading. I find that imagining(visualizing) what I’m reading as I read it sometimes helps me stay focused enough.

    Dr.Gold, I have used your technique of pausing for each paragraph to make sure that I retained it and reading it again if I hadn’t, but that doesn’t guarantee that I’ll remember what I just read again. I often have to visualize what I’m reading or else they just seem like random words on a page for me.

    Dr. Gold, do you perhaps have anymore advice that could be useful in this situation?

    Btw, thanks for an amazing course!

  • Thanks for the advise Dr. Gold…I will try this and hopefully it works for me.

     

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