If you dont like to read how do you motivate yourself

Question

i have to read a book for school. and i do not like the book. how can i get myself to read it and understand it enough to take a test on it in a few weeks. but it doesnt intrest me at all.. what should i do?

Answer 1

Perhaps try giving yourself a limited time that you 'have' to read the book and then you can quit. For example it could be only 20 minutes a day - you sit down and make yourself do it, knowing at the end of the 20 minutes you can stop.

Also, keep focused on your goal - which is getting good grades at school -so that you can have more choices for college etc. Keeping an eye on the big picture might help it be a little less painful.

I hope that helps. :)

Answer 2

Decide what you can stick to and add a little more.  If you can stand only a paragraph make it two then do something you like for ten minutes.   What ever you do stick to it that grade is important to your future.  If that seems to far away think about the future as your next report card.

Read play read play read play.  That's how I get dishes done.  (I hate washing dishes)

Answer 3

self discipline and the ability to do something that does not immediately gratify you is what we are talking about here.  Stay away from the internet until you finish.

Answer 4

record whats in it and listen  

Answer 5

Remember what Mark Twain said:  "There is no difference between a man who can't read and a man who won't read"

Answer 6

makes sure you read something that make u interested in is u can't find just read the summary and the one u like is the one u'r going to read the story  

Answer 7

Make sure that book is the only reading material next to your toilet, not only will you be forced to read it but so will the rest of your family.

Answer 8

"Active reading" is the answer! Exactly how you do this depends on the kind of book, which you're not very specific about, and what kind of test you will be taking. The main point is that you don't just sit down and read through the book, which can be hard if the book doesn't interest you, and which isn't the best way to understand a book either; instead you keep making notes, asking yourself questions, and thinking over things as you go. The links I provide below explain about the different kinds of Active Reading techniques you could use for different sorts of books.

The best way to start is to ask yourself "why am I being asked to read this?" and "what does the teacher expect of me when I've finished?". Whatever the book is, they will not expect you to have memorised it from cover to cover, but if it is a factual book for example you will probably be expected to know the key facts, and to show that you understood what the book was talking about in general. It might help to look at other tests your teacher has set to get an idea of the kinds of questions they are likely to ask, and then you could write yourself a few questions that you think the teacher might ask, which will help to keep you engaged with what you are reading.

As you read through the book, keep making notes on anything that seems important or any questions or thoughts that come to mind. These notes can be in any format you like; my own personal favourite is a "mind map" (see the links below for more info or just type "mind map" in a search engine) which puts the information into a diagram rather than just writing a list of words (which is how a lot of us are taught to make notes). Your mind map can look however you want it to, it doesn't have to look exactly like the pictures on the websites (mine usually have the words written in boxes, clouds etc at the end of the lines rather than on the lines like they do on a lot of the sites, and I draw lots of pictures to help me remember the important bits). However you make your notes, make them personal to you, don't forget the important thing is whether they make sense to you and help you remember the important stuff. Good study notes are often difficult for other people to understand, but make perfect sense to the person who wrote them!

When you get to the end of a section (or even a page, if it is complicated) of the book pause and think back over what you have just read, to see if anything else comes to mind. Sometimes this is where you see links between things that you might have missed otherwise.

And when you've finished, look back over the notes you've made. If they  are difficult for you to read and understand then you might need to re-write them, which you might think is a bit of a waste of time but is actually a great way to get the info stuck in your mind!

Reading actively, rather than trying to sit down and read it from cover to cover as you might with a book you actually enjoy, makes it a lot more interesting and helps to keep your attention on what you are reading; it also helps you to understand and memorise it better. It's a really useful skill to learn.