As it turns out, there’s science
behind Woodson’s reading trick. Studies show that incorporating up to 30
minutes of uninterrupted slow reading in your day can improve cognitive
abilities — while other research shows that quickly reading
articles online encourages us to skip important details, and skim over content
that would otherwise be meaningful to us if we slowed down to read mindfully.
In a world that urges us to scroll past the details, “slow reading” has become
a strategy that allows us to slow down, and to read more mindfully. “As
technology moves us faster and faster through time and space, it seems to feel
like ‘story’ is getting pushed out of the narrative,” Woodson notes. “The world
is getting noisier… but books are meant to be read slowly, to be
savored.”
If you need some help slowing down
and getting more from the words you’re reading, here are a few tips to try.
Block out enough time
Oftentimes, you may find yourself
zooming through pages of your book simply because you don’t give yourself
enough time to take your time, Larry Rosen, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus at
California State University and co-author of The Distracted Mind: Ancient
Brains in a High-Tech World, tells Thrive. “Research has shown that
individuals read for three to six minutes before they get distracted,” he
explains. “Regardless of how smart you are, this is not enough time to process
information, extract the pertinent ideas, and integrate them into other
information stored in your brain.” Rosen says giving yourself enough time to
read mindfully and thoroughly is the first step in absorbing the words you’re
reading, and avoid the “continuous partial attention” we often give to the
stories in front of us. (Experts recommend approximately 30 minutes each day,
but Rosen says the exact amount will vary per person.)
Set 15-minute alarms
If you’re used to skimming quick
news stories on your phone, it might feel overwhelming to sit down with a book
and really take your time. If you’re finding it difficult to slow down, Rosen
suggests setting alarms in 15-minute intervals, so you can better focus on
reading for time-limited periods. He says that doing so can help you gradually
work your way up to reading each page more mindfully, and worry less about the
time that’s passing. “Set the do not disturb on your phone for 15 minutes to
start,” he suggests. “ And then increase that slowly to at least 40-60
minutes.” That step-by-step increase will “train your brain to focus” in a new
way, and shift your previous “Pavlovian responding” habits to create new
ones.
Make your reading area phone-free
We know from
research that technology has changed the way we interact with our
environment, and has made focused information consumption increasingly
difficult with all of our in-pocket distractions. According to Rosen, these
distractions can hold us back from getting the most out of what we read.
“In our research we find that the biggest culprit in distraction is technology…
and the smartphone in particular,” he explains. To avoid temptation, try
removing all unneeded devices and programs from your reading area, which will
make your space more conducive to mindful reading, he says. And if you really
want to check your phone, don’t completely deprive yourself — or you’ll end up
getting more distracted. Instead, “Try silencing your phone and allowing
yourself a one-minute break after a ‘do not disturb’ period,” he urges. Doing
so can improve your “focus and attention, sleep, mental health, and
communication.”
Source: https://bit.ly/3qW6m5j
About the
author
Rebecca
Muller is the Community Editor at Thrive Global. Her previous work experience
includes roles in editorial and digital journalism. Rebecca is a graduate of
New York University, where she studied Media, Culture and Communications with a
minor in Creative Writing. For her undergraduate thesis, she researched the
relationship between women and fitness media consumerism.
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