How to Read Books When You Have ADHD • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#111

Post by yigitcakar » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:37 PM UTC

Leparamour wrote: post #95

yigitcakar wrote: post #48

The article lacked substance but I am glad that we are talking about reading with ADHD here. I don't feel guilty about not finishing books because most of the times if I force myself to finish a book that I don't find interesting enough, I don't remember the information in the book anyway. Over time I have learned to trust my brain, and figured that it will remember the important parts I read. If the book bores me th…

Do you follow a certain system for taking notes for non-fiction books?

I don't use a particular system. I am using Evernote to take all my notes because I take notes on many machines and when I started note taking Evernote was the only one I found with multi-device support.

Rarely, when I come across an interesting sentence structure or a great way to express an idea I write the exact words that is in the books.

Usually, I paraphrase what I have read, and jot down why I find it worthwhile. If the idea leads to new ones I follow those as well. I used to skip these thoughts because I thought reading the book was more important, but now I am focused on getting the most out of a book and following my thoughts, and thinking about the information is part of it.

Before, the title of the notes used to be the book's title and I would organize my notes based on titles. But for a couple years I have been taking notes around subjects. Since I also read around subjects, my note taking and my reading support each other nicely. If you consider starting to take notes while you are reading, I'd suggest going with subject based organization. If a note can be part of more than one subject, I copy the note to the other notebooks.

This subject based note taking also helps with understanding my interests, because some subjects grow dramatically while others grow marginally.

It also works as an early alert system when you are slacking off on areas you have to know but skip because you find them boring. This early alert system is extremely important for people with ADHD. I don't know about you, but I tend to over-focus on areas that I find interesting and don't touch areas that I don't. Then I try to make the areas that are important more interesting.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#112

Post by czrnb » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:37 PM UTC

tudorw wrote: post #66

yigitcakar wrote: post #48

The article lacked substance but I am glad that we are talking about reading with ADHD here. I don't feel guilty about not finishing books because most of the times if I force myself to finish a book that I don't find interesting enough, I don't remember the information in the book anyway. Over time I have learned to trust my brain, and figured that it will remember the important parts I read. If the book bores me th…

Great comment, I nearly read all of it, go me ;)

You beat me, I skipped to yours :)

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#113

Post by Twinklebreeze » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:38 PM UTC

arethuza wrote: post #61

Gene_Parmesan wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah same here. I only tried audio books once or twice, it just didn't do it for me. I need the physical images of the words in front of me in order to keep them in my head. I've also found physical books to be much more forgiving of micro-distractions. When some sound from across the house distracts me, all I need to do to "pause" the reading is... stop reading. My eyes can wander around the page briefly and I don't…

I consume a lot of audiobooks - but I can really only listen to them in certain contexts when I am doing something else that requires a certain level of concentration: driving, gardening, cooking, cleaning and most of all walking. If I try and listen to them without doing something else I just fall asleep and I can't listen to them when doing something that requires a lot of concentration either. I now have a lot of…

That's how I am. I mowed for a job two years ago, and that was the perfect activity to listen to an audiobook for me. It keeps me physically busy, but requires no thought. I can autopilot all day while listening.

I always describe multitasking this way as needing two different stimuli. I need something to engage my brain, and something to engage my body. I went though a phase of learning a Rubik's Cube while watching movies. That helped me focus greatly while it lasted.

I try to slot everything I can into one of those two categories. Things that take little thought, and things that require little physical action. Then I can mix and match them.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#114

Post by CubsFan1060 » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:39 PM UTC

interleave wrote: post #91

nicolas_t wrote: post #78

I have the opposite problem. My problem with ADHD is that if I start a novel and the novel is decent, I will not stop reading until I finish the book or series of book. No matter what work I need to do, I'll even forget to eat and will not go to sleep until I'm either finished or I'm so tired that I need reread the same sentence multiple times before I understand it. It's great in that I've read a lot of books, but i…

I very much agree and share a similar experience. Struggling with ADHD is not a matter of not being able to focus. Part of the issue is directing and keeping attention on non-pleasant tasks that are stacked up against a brain chronically low on dopamine and norepinephrine transmission. As someone with diagnosed and treated ADHD, these articles are misleading. In my opinion it's dangerous to claim "Do this ONE behavio…

> Please, consult with a medical professional instead.

I feel like this might be a dumb question, but what brand of medical professional should you go to? I've discussed with my GP, but those discussions usually don't have any meaningful advice.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#115

Post by Secretmapper » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:45 PM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #94

teekert wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have the diagnosis but certainly recognize add elements in how I navigate the world. My conclusion was that there are actually quite a lot of books that just start out great and objectively become worse as the page count goes up (like The subtle art of not giving a F. You really start feeling "yeah, ok, I get it." There are also books that are the other way around (like Atlas shrugged) where you struggle thro…

> The subtle art of not giving a F* This is a great example. I liked this book, but it could have been a blog article, or hell, even a single sentence: Konmari can also apply to obligations.

IIRC it was a blog article, and the author was got a book deal out of it.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#116

Post by gunshowmo » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:47 PM UTC

CubsFan1060 wrote: post #114

interleave wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very much agree and share a similar experience. Struggling with ADHD is not a matter of not being able to focus. Part of the issue is directing and keeping attention on non-pleasant tasks that are stacked up against a brain chronically low on dopamine and norepinephrine transmission. As someone with diagnosed and treated ADHD, these articles are misleading. In my opinion it's dangerous to claim "Do this ONE behavio…

> Please, consult with a medical professional instead. I feel like this might be a dumb question, but what brand of medical professional should you go to? I've discussed with my GP, but those discussions usually don't have any meaningful advice.

This would be helpful to be as well. Even my family doctor wanted to stay as far back away from me as possible when I brought up getting tested for ADHD.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#117

Post by yigitcakar » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:53 PM UTC

teekert wrote: post #64

yigitcakar wrote: post #48

The article lacked substance but I am glad that we are talking about reading with ADHD here. I don't feel guilty about not finishing books because most of the times if I force myself to finish a book that I don't find interesting enough, I don't remember the information in the book anyway. Over time I have learned to trust my brain, and figured that it will remember the important parts I read. If the book bores me th…

I don't have the diagnosis but certainly recognize add elements in how I navigate the world. My conclusion was that there are actually quite a lot of books that just start out great and objectively become worse as the page count goes up (like The subtle art of not giving a F. You really start feeling "yeah, ok, I get it." There are also books that are the other way around (like Atlas shrugged) where you struggle thro…

Sadly, publishing world is guilty of turning popular blog post series into books because the bloggers have a platform to promote. Then the bloggers turn each paragraph in their famous blog post into chapters in their book. You can understand that kind of books by reading the first few paragraphs of each chapter. As an example, Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life comes to my mind. I think he turned a Quora answer to a book for that one.

I love books that make me think along, and take me a lot of time to finish. James N. Frey's How to write a damn good novel is my example for that kind of book.

I would love to hear the books you have studied thoroughly.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#118

Post by hundchenkatze » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:07 PM UTC

CubsFan1060 wrote: post #114

interleave wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very much agree and share a similar experience. Struggling with ADHD is not a matter of not being able to focus. Part of the issue is directing and keeping attention on non-pleasant tasks that are stacked up against a brain chronically low on dopamine and norepinephrine transmission. As someone with diagnosed and treated ADHD, these articles are misleading. In my opinion it's dangerous to claim "Do this ONE behavio…

> Please, consult with a medical professional instead. I feel like this might be a dumb question, but what brand of medical professional should you go to? I've discussed with my GP, but those discussions usually don't have any meaningful advice.

Not a dumb question at all. I feel the same way, any GP I've mentioned it to never seemed interested in really helping.

I think your ADHD got the best of you today, because the comment you're replying to suggests working with a psychiatrist. :)

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#119

Post by AntiImperialist » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:11 PM UTC

Yawn. Help me read this first.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#120

Post by fao_ » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:14 PM UTC

CubsFan1060 wrote: post #114

interleave wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very much agree and share a similar experience. Struggling with ADHD is not a matter of not being able to focus. Part of the issue is directing and keeping attention on non-pleasant tasks that are stacked up against a brain chronically low on dopamine and norepinephrine transmission. As someone with diagnosed and treated ADHD, these articles are misleading. In my opinion it's dangerous to claim "Do this ONE behavio…

> Please, consult with a medical professional instead. I feel like this might be a dumb question, but what brand of medical professional should you go to? I've discussed with my GP, but those discussions usually don't have any meaningful advice.

(Since you called them a "GP", I'm guessing that you're in the UK)

I mean, nobody can really tell you anything about your set of circumstances without you giving info. For some people under the NHS, with good doctors, they go to their GP and the GP listens to their reasons why and then refers them to a psychiatrist who can diagnose them formally, and they are given other interrim support in the meantime, along with the necessary doctors notes to explain things to work or whatever is required.

However, for other people whose GPs are overworked or just incompetent, they could be met with something like "Well you don't seem like you have that" (Personally, I had this with a fatigue problem I was experiencing).

The solution to this is already built-in to the NHS. You are allowed to choose your primary care provider. The solution is to do what most people with disabilities learn to do -- you "shop around" doctors until you find one that genuninely gives a shit about you and wants to work with you to help you diagnose and cure your ailments. While it can feel dirty, and sometimes mean to the individual doctors -- many incompetent people still have the best intentions -- ultimately they are there to help you and your health and quality of life is the primary concern here.