When I'm reading something different takes place in my brain???

Question

Sometimes when I'm studying for college and reading a LOT of information I find myself not retaining what I'm reading. It feels like I don't even know or understand what I'm reading. It's like I'm just reading words and during my reading I'm thinking about other things. Is this because I'm not focusing enough on what I'm studying? Please help with this. Thank you.

Answer 1

I don't know if you would call it ADHD but when I'm in a meeting, reading/studying, or listening to a long speech I have a really hard time focusing or sitting still.

(lol maybe that is what you would call it)

But when I read I have to read outloud. I tend to skip large chunks of pages when I read in my head.

I'm a visual learner so I like to annotate and take lots of notes.

Experiment :)

Answer 2

Yes I used to have the SAME problem!

You just have to read reaaaaalllyy slow and concentrate and try to comprehend what it's saying. You have to stay focused. It's just that your brain is wondering and your bored and not into it.

I read long stuff all the time and then get done and realize i didn't comprehend any of it and nothing i read retained in my brain. Then I have to go back and read it all over again and concentrate really hard.

It just takes practice.

Answer 3

seems  your  bored  just  my  opinion  .have  mind  on  other  things  take  break  every  30Min's  .really  depends  on  how  much  you  want  to  get  through  this  course  .wish  you  luck   study  is  hard  ..  we  all  have  other  issues  beeping  in  doesn't  help   I know  ...but  you  will  get  there  ..have  night  off  one  night     good  luck    

Answer 4

Everyone learns differently

for me i figured out i understand the topics i lot better if i LISTEN to what i am learning.  i just cant memorize things easily if i have to read it from a textbook.  maybe you can get an audiobook that highlights the important topics or try reading aloud :)

Answer 5

I hear you on this one, I would get to the end of a page and realize I had no clue what I had just read.

some things that have worked for me include:

1) taking a break!  

get up, walk around outside for 5-10 minutes, or strum a guitar, etc..  It gets your blood flowing, relaxes your brain a bit and makes a big difference when you sit back down.

2) making an outline.

this one can kinda suck and be intensive, but simply writing out an outline and defining things in your own terms will force you to actively engage the text instead of passively letting it slip right by you

3) break down huge amounts of information into smaller, more manageable chunks.

This kind of happens on its own if you can make a good outline.  Choose one section from a chapter at a time (or maybe a few concepts or several of those very helpful boldfaced words) and work on that until you know it.  then move on to another small chunk.

#s 2 & 3 are things that most students are almost never willing to do because they are so time consuming.  

But #s 2 & 3 are why I get to finish at the top of every class I'm in while other students whine about the professor being unfair.