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15 points roundstars | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.258s | source

I have bought multiple books, but most of the time I don't find myself motivated to read them. Instead, I prefer to watch hour long documentaries/TED talks/programming tutorials on Youtube.

I feel that it's important to build the habit of reading books to improve my cognitive skills. Are there any tips for me please?

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prxtl ◴[] No.45844679[source]
You can read a lot if you read things you enjoy, instead of things you feel you ought to read as a goal/achievement.

I used to read a lot in high school and then lost the habit as I went through undergrad. The way I got back into it was by ignoring best sellers and hype titles and the feelings of "I should read this because all my hacker friends keep referring to it".

I started reading a lot more fiction, especially stories from my country and culture. I stopped forcing myself to finish books that bored me. And because this is expensive to do, I bought physical books from a used books store instead of 1-click-buys on my Kindle.

Eventually, this built enough reading muscle for me that I moved to reading more ambitious things and I was able to persevere longer and battle through some really boring stuff (on topics that I cared about).

replies(1): >>45845607 #
1. carlosjobim ◴[] No.45845607[source]
> I stopped forcing myself to finish books that bored me.

This is the solution. If a book is boring you, skip a few pages, skip a chapter, put it away and get another book, or delete it / throw it away.