How to focus while reading

Notice what pulls you away

Before fixing your focus, notice what breaks it. For most people it is one of four things: the phone, noise or people around, being tired, or a book that does not hold them. Each needs a different fix, so it is worth knowing which one it is tonight.

Put the phone out of reach

The phone is the biggest distraction because it is always one glance away. While you read, put it face down, in a bag or in another room. If you use your phone to time your reading, start the timer first and then lock the screen.

On iPhone, a Focus silences notifications for a while. In Settings, under Focus, you can add one for reading and choose which people and apps may still reach you. On Android, Do Not Disturb does the same: you can let calls from starred contacts and notifications from chosen apps through.

Read in short blocks

Attention is easier to hold for twenty minutes than for two hours. Read in a focused block, stop for a short break, then start another. The guide to reading sprints explains how to set them up.

Choose your moment and place

The same book can be easy at ten in the morning and impossible at midnight. If evenings are when you lose focus, try reading earlier, even for ten minutes. A quiet corner, a comfortable chair and good light help more than you might expect.

Write down stray thoughts instead of following them

Sometimes your mind wanders because the book made you think of something. Instead of following the thought, write it down in a few words with the page number and go back to reading. You can come back to it after the chapter. The guide to taking notes while reading shows a simple way to do it.

When the book is the problem

If you keep drifting with one book but not with others, the book may be too dense for the moment or simply not for you. A hard book reads better with a few techniques from the guide on how to read a difficult book. If it has not worked for several chapters, it is fine to set it aside.

Let Pagetime keep time quietly

In Pagetime, start a session and lock your phone: the timer keeps running on the Lock Screen (on iPhone, also in the Dynamic Island), so there is no reason to unlock it to check. Pagetime does not send its notifications while you are reading. When a thought is worth keeping, the note button next to pause and stop opens a note for the book you are reading, and the timer keeps going.

The free version holds up to 5 books and includes 20 page scans with text recognition in total. Deleting a note does not restore a used scan. Notes and the timer work offline without an account; sync is free after signing in. A subscription removes the book and scan limits and unlocks your full stats history, year in review and folder export. Pagetime is coming to iPhone and Android; you can leave your email below to hear when it is available. Until then, put your phone in another room for the next chapter.

This independent guide is published by Pagetime and is not authorized, sponsored or endorsed by Apple Inc. or Google LLC.