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Reading with ADHD Tips

Out of a Reading Slump — with ADHD

And into the fire (of reading)

Me at age 7 with my favorite book, Alice in Wonderland, in its Hebrew version for children

When I was a child, if you were to seek me, you were most likely to find me behind a book, not responding even if you called me.

Not so much because I was hiding, but because I was hyperfocused: engulfed in the fictional realm to such a degree, that I didn’t even know you were there.

Reading was practically synonymous with me being me, and yet, as the years went by, I found myself unable to read for fun, and suffering while reading for studies. What happened?

Why do many ADHDers stop reading?

It took a late ADHD diagnosis (at age 37) and years of finding and connecting with my fellow ADHDers to realize many of us share this same reading story: we were hardly ever caught without a book as children — yet struggle, as adults, to stick to a habit that we love to the point of seeing it as part of ourselves.

Yes, ADHD makes it hard to focus not only on the boring, the unpleasant or that which we deem nonessential, but also on the things we love the most and see as crucial.

Returning to reading

As with anything else, convincing our ADHD brain to cooperate with reading can be tricky, and usually requires a few different approaches before something works. Even then, what works for us today might not work tomorrow. We will probably need to switch strategies every so often just to keep going.

This isn’t always fun, but it’s reality. We can’t change our brain, so we’d better make the best of it! In my experience, accepting this as a fact of life is a necessary first step to succeed in anything. And anyway, consistency is overrated. Long live ADHD inconsistency! For better or worse, this is part of what makes us unique, and it won’t go away if we resent it, so we might as well embrace it.

Here are some ideas from my own and others’ experience that might help you find your way back into reading. No two people are the same, with or without ADHD, which means that not all of these will work for you—but you might not know until you try.

Strategies to ease reading

1. Set small goals, like a page a day, or five minutes reading. When I decided, after years of non-reading, to return to my books, I chose to treat this as a necessary task — a “job” I had to do: reading one page every evening in bed. Yet, even a single page sometimes felt like a lot. If, after four or five attempts to keep going, I absolutely couldn’t connect — I put the book aside. I was still fulfilling the task, as I was dedicating myself, in these few minutes, to reading.
2. You don’t have to finish every book. Sometimes the problem is the book choice. This period was the first time in my life to ever ditch a book. This in itself can feel like a failure, but I’ve since learned that knowing when to give up on a wrong goal is at least as beneficial as persevering on the right one. Try once, and if you wish — twice or thrice, but if the book remains a stranger, leave it, and be proud of it. Put your efforts where they matter.
3. You don’t have to stick to one book. Reading several different books at once might help to see which one grabs you, but can also serve as a reading strategy in itself: feel like learning? — continue with the non-fiction book you’ve started; rather be entertained? — move on to the humorous science fiction; fancy an intrigue? — switch to a mystery!
4. There are many ways to read. Have you tried them all? Audiobooks? E-books? Print books? Each of these caters for a different reading experience and different focus styles. Perhaps your brain struggles to remain attentive to written lines, but follows spoken words easily?
5. There are many things to read. Comic books, graphic novels, short stories, plays, fanfiction, innumerous genres… Each creates a very different reading experience. Reading cozy fantasy is hardly similar to reading historical horror. Also, it is quite legitimate to read outside of your designated age group — good books have no age. Experiment with “adult”, “new adult”, “young adult”. Some of my favorite books are classified as “children’s books”: Alice in Wonderland, The Narnia Chronicles, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz…
6. Sometimes it’s easier to stick to the familiar. Are you into a certain movie? TV series? Video game? These are often based on books! I use this trick for language learning, choosing a book I’m already familiar with because I’ve either read it in a different language or watched a movie based on it. This makes book-attachment a breeze!
7. Read together. The obvious way to do this is to join a book club, but this might be intimidating with ADHD — following someone else’s book choice, meeting a deadline, etc. However, you can simply set some time aside to read together with one other person, physically or online, and you don’t even need to read the same book! This is called “body doubling”: just being together while reading can make this either more relaxing or more challenging, depending on your needs and your set-up.
8. Read together on Fable. This works best with well-known books, but worth a try with lesser known ones, too. Fable is a book clubs app where you can join any number of book clubs at once, to which you are not committed, because the other readers do not depend on you! Find the book you want to read, look for book clubs currently reading it, join the club and share your thoughts with the other members.
9. Use a reading app to track your progress. Fable can also be used for this, as well as GoodReads, StoryGraph, HardCover and a number of others. If seeing how much you’ve already read, following friends or setting reading goals is your thing, try one (or more) of these!
10. Talk about what you have read. If you can’t find anyone to read with, try finding someone who might just be interested in hearing your thoughts and impressions of a book they are not (yet?) reading.
11. Write about what you have read. If no one is willing to listen to you, perhaps you can simply jot down your thoughts for your own reference. Some readers find it adds to their focus and enjoyment to highlight, underline or note on the text they are reading, and not only with non-fiction or studying material but with fiction, as well.
12. Read aloud. This might feel a bit weird, but worth trying. While some might get all the more distracted by hearing their own voice or focusing also on speaking, others may find this centers their attention on the words and minimizes internal distractions.
13. Use a physical aid. With a bookmark, a ruler, or even your finger, trace the line you are reading to keep your brain focused on it. Very helpful for those times when something else gets your temporary attention, and looking back at the book, you’re lost!
14. Be prepared to fight internal distractions. Do you get your best ideas while reading, or remember all those things you need to do, then can’t focus on reading for fear of forgetting them?—have either a pen and paper ready to note everything down, or an app on your phone, and free your mind to get back to reading.
15. Either block, or use, noise. Noise canceling headphones might be helpful to block out external distractions; white /brown noise, or music, can help to enhance internal focus on reading.
16. Create a set reading time. I can’t believe I’d remember to read most days, as much as I want to, if it hadn’t been my pre-sleep ritual! This also helps if you feel like reading is a “waste of time” (which it certainly never is) because you have too much to do, and can’t afford this time. You still deserve some wind-down time. Reading could be that, be it with your morning coffee, after lunch or whenever else.
17. Change your set reading time. Perhaps you’re used to reading before bed, but this doesn’t work for your brain anymore. You might be too tired to read by then. How about experimenting with other times throughout the day?
18. Create a set reading spot. A cozy armchair with dim lighting and a purring cat? A well-lit sofa and a cup of strong coffee? Find a comfortable place with the right temperature, lighting and other factors and train your mind that this combination means it’s reading time.
19. Change your set reading spot. Yeah, you guessed it. Perhaps your brain got tired of this routine; perhaps the season’s changed; maybe the armchair got so many claw marks it must be replaced…
20. Incorporate movement. This is one of the most common ADHD advice for everything, and not by coincidence. If you listen to audiobooks., this might be the perfect combination. If you need to look at the book, try getting some exercise before you start reading, or whenever you feel your focus waning.
21. Always have a book with you. Life can surprise you, and so can reading! Train is late again? You have your book! Waiting too long for your doctor appointment? Great time to forget everything and read. If you have it, you can seize the chance; if you don’t, you can’t.

This publication is part of The Cozy Reading with ADHD Club, which you are most welcome to join!