10 Reading Tips for the Easily Distracted

Yoohoo! Hey there! Over here!
Are you easily distracted? Do you find that the minute you sit down to read, a million things suddenly require your attention and pull you away from the pages of your novel?
Have you ever been in the middle of a book and found yourself suddenly inspired to bake six batches of cupcakes for your friends? Have you ever been reading one minute and reorganizing boxes in the attic the next? Does the sound of pigeons cooing and cars passing make you forget the paragraph you were reading? Does reading the word “pie” right now cause you to reflexively google the closest bakery?
If so, then you might be an easily distracted reader, just like me! I prefer to call us “multitasking-inclined” rather than “easily distracted.” Whatever the term, finding the right time and place to read can be difficult for our activity-prone kind. No matter how much we love to read, everything in the outside world seems to ping, tweet, beep, and beg for our attention. Here to help, 10 reading tips for the easily distracted:
1. Build a blanket fort, just like you did as a kid! It’s a secluded place to read, you won’t know what’s going on outside, and the blanket will help muffle the noise.
2. Speaking of, earplugs work wonders if you find noise distracting.
3. Read in the bathtub. It’s the one place in your house where you can’t check your phone or laptop, and you’ll be too relaxed to want to move. At least until the water gets cold and your fingers get pruney.
4. Go to the most boring place you can think of. Read there. Some suggestions: the DMV, the airport, hotel lobbies, bus stops…
5. Exercise a ton before you sit down and read. That way you’ll be too tired to respond to distractions. If you throw down a 10-mile hike in the a.m., I bet you’ll stay put on that couch with a book for a few hours in the afternoon.
6. Turn off your phone. I double-dog dare you.
7. If TV is your weakness, hide your remote control somewhere inaccessible (or ask someone else to hide it for you).
8. Put sticky notes that say “Go back to your book!” on your laptop, your TV, your fridge, your door, your phone…
9. Set a timer for how long you’ll be reading. Whenever you feel yourself getting distracted (“Hmm, I should wash the car…or go get froyo?”), tell yourself you can do it as soon as the timer goes off.
10. Switch up the books you’re reading, and be honest with yourself about what kind of book you’re in the mood for. You’ll be more easily distracted if you’re reading something dense and dramatic when you’d rather be reading something light and funny, so be sure to give yourself options!
How do you avoid distractions when you’re reading?