Why the Mind Wanders While Reading (and How to Fix That)

If you find your mind wandering a lot, you’re not alone. Researcher Matt Killingsworth used an app to measure participants’ concentration spans and he found that 47% of the time our minds are wandering. We live in a fast paced modern world that doesn’t allow for reflection or true relaxation. It’s no wonder that your mind wanders when it has become accustomed to a barrage of noise and stimuli. It’s hard to find seclusion in a mind full of noise.

It can be frustrating when you’re trying to read and your mind just won’t focus, but you don’t have to be a victim.

The first thing you should *really* do to improve your studying is work on your ability to focus and retain information. Doing this sooner rather than later means you can do in 3 hours what most do in 6. You get a massively unfair advantage from doing this. Download the free audio-book from a chess grand-master ‘Unlimited Memory’ and watch your results improve dramatically.

External order, internal peace

Our outer environments aren’t just a reflection of our inner state of mind. It’s two-way traffic. Creating a calm environment helps you focus and reduces tension. Studies have shown that we find it harder to fall asleep in cluttered rooms, even if we cannot see the clutter. Make sure you have a tidy, neat place to read.

Choose a quiet place to read, somewhere you won’t be disturbed.

Are you sitting comfortably?

It’s not just a cliche, sitting comfortably will help you to focus on what you’re reading and make sure your mind doesn’t wander.

Remove and eliminate distractions

You won’t be able to read if twitter is right next to you. Make sure that your phone is switched off and better still, out of the room. If you have to read on a device, try downloading an app to help you concentrate without distractions. Read in a room without a TV or radio playing in the background.

But then sprinkle some deliberate distractions in

Research by Nilli Lavie at University College London shows that deliberately creating small distractions actually helped people to concentrate on reading material better. A funky border, light background noise (YouTube has lots of white noise videos or spotify’s studying playlists) doodling or chewing gum all meant that participant’s minds wandered less whilst they read. Lavie posits that these distractions are “filling slots” in our brains, leaving us no room to focus on anything but what we’re reading.

Mindfulness

It’s become a pop culture cliche, but mindfulness isn’t just for hippies, spiritualists or leftie radicals. Mindfulness helps focus the brain. You could download an app to help you with a mindfulness exercise or try this simple mindfulness technique.

Breathe in deeply for 7 seconds and out for 5. Repeat 3 times. Think about your feet, feel them, move them gently, bring them into your awareness. How do they feel? Now move up to your lower leg, flex it ever so slightly, how does it feel, bring it into your awareness. Move up your body, bring every limb under your awareness. When you have finished, breathe in for seven seconds and out for 5, three times.

Our minds are always calm and focussed, our minds just aren’t always in control. Letting your mind take over every part of your brain, means your tension ebbs away and you can sit still and focus on the task in front of you.

Take note

At the end of every paragraph, jot down a little summary of what you read. It should be no more than a sentence, even a word will do. When you are thinking about and evaluating what you are reading, you engage with the content on a deeper level and then your mind will wander less.

There’s an app for that

If reading is genuinely difficult for you, then there are several apps that will read text aloud for you, even printed text. These apps were primarily developed for dyslexic users and have proved useful for ADHD sufferers who find that the combination of audio and visual helps them focus.

Bribery and corruption

Nothing motivates us like money, chocolate or a small prize. Whether it’s a beer, a piece of chocolate, a new CD, a walk in the park, find a small way to reward yourself. When you lack motivation, you will find it hard to focus and achieve anything. Artificial motivation can steer you back on track. Make sure not to cheat!

Sleep your way to success

When we’re tired, we can’t focus on anything. You need to be well rested, watered and fed to be able to read properly. It’s Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, reading is knowledge and self actualisation which is tier five, if you don’t have sleep, tier two, then you cannot achieve or attain goals from the higher tiers.