Photo by Luis de Bethencourt
I thought there was something wrong with me until I read about other bloggers having this same problem.
After an hour or two of scan-reading of events on the Internet, including surveying the latest news sources, browsing through Wikipedia for information (and some useless trivia as well!), and catching up with my favorite bloggers, I find that it is difficult to shift gears to hardcopy print.
I found that I could do OK with newspapers and magazines, which are often just hard copy versions of what I find on line, only with more color and pictures. It was a different story with books–real books with no pictures, no diverting links, just lines and lines of type sprawling across the page. Those were giving me major headaches.
A case in point: I picked up Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek for a reread yesterday. But I experienced some problem. All those words started to blur together and the concepts went zipping past my ears without soaking in. I thought I was losing my mind.
Then I realized what was happening. I just needed to make a brain shift. There was a physical shift I needed to do, as well as a mental one. Here is what helped me.
Take a five minute break. Before starting any ’serious’ reading, I need a physical break, preferrably with eyes closed.
Insert eye drops. I forget to blink when I’m ‘net scanning’ and my eyes get dry. I need to rehydrate for serious reading.
Have good lighting. Computer screens are backlit, books are not. Plus computer screens are at a lower resolution, typically 72 dpi versus 300 or more for hard copy. I want good reading specs and good lighting.
Consciously slow down mental process for a different focus. Instead of going for quantity, I want to remind myself that quality is equally important. Rather than an objective of ’bottom line’ word-bite speed reading, when doing this kind of reading, I shift to word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence comprehension.
There are layers to this slower type of reading. For example, what is the content? What is the wordsmithing involved? What themes are present? How does it relate to my present life and life goals?
Both types of reading have value. They just have different processes and end results. I know how to do both, but I had just forgotten.
When I remember to shift, my brain cells thank me. The words acquire a deeper dimension with richer meanings. And most important, I discover that I really do like to read again.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
How interesting! Now that you’ve said it…I may just have the same problem too. It’s really quite a lot to read everyday from the web to hardcopy print then back to web copy again!
Evelyn Lims last blog post..Heroes Of Healing: Neale Donald Walsch
Yep all those things you mention are good and I can’t really function without them. My challenge is the location. I used to be able to put my feet up and get into a good read in my office but now forget it. That monitor is just too big of a reminder of unfinished projects any other responsibilities. So my break needs to be after a brisk walk outdoors and then I’ll stretch out on the deck and read there.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Works last blog post..Authoring Your Own Life
@Evelyn–I think that is the hardest shift, to go back and forth from one to the other.
@Tom–Aha! The solution to that one is to hang a big fat beach towel over the offending screen.
I think changing mediums is important as a writer and/or blogger. I find I can break through a case of writer’s block by shifting gears and raeding some thing different or taking a break.
Patricks last blog post..TradeKing Review
I really like the idea of a five minute break - it sounds like a great way to get re-focused on what’s in front of us.
The idea of lighting - I used to not think lighting was so important. Now, it’s more important than ever if I’ll be reading. Especially hard copy material. Which reminds me, I haven’t done much of recently. I guess that’s because of all the good blogs out there (like yours).
Lances last blog post..Sunday Thought For The Day