http://blog.stmatthewsunichurch.org.au/2009/02/28/reading/ Ideas, thoughts and ramblings from the Unichurch staff Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:36:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://blog.stmatthewsunichurch.org.au/2009/02/28/reading/comment-page-1/#comment-126 Catherine Juniper Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:02:56 +0000 http://www.stmatthewsunichurch.org.au/blog/?p=311#comment-126 I think persevering with a book is a skill that you have to develop. Often the books that you somehow can't get through are the best ones, and are good worth reading because of the quality content. Harry Potter is easy to read, just like a Women's Weekly because it takes very little brainpower to absorb the information. In my experience the more you force yourself to focus and keep at what you are reading, the better you get at it. My tip is - instead of reading a paragraph then switching on the TV coz its easier, consciously set aside a period of time to read (not at 11:30pm when you are about to jump into bed in exhaustion) and make yourself do it. Start small if you have a short concentration span. It gets easier! But some reading material is just dead boring and a waste of time, so in that case ditch it and find something worth reading (ie something well-written, thoughtful, broadens your mind, edifying etc). For example, I got about 100 pages into Bill Clinton's autobiography before I abandoned ship - there is so much good stuff out there you can't possibly hope to get through it all, so best not to waste precious time. I think persevering with a book is a skill that you have to develop. Often the books that you somehow can’t get through are the best ones, and are good worth reading because of the quality content. Harry Potter is easy to read, just like a Women’s Weekly because it takes very little brainpower to absorb the information.
In my experience the more you force yourself to focus and keep at what you are reading, the better you get at it. My tip is – instead of reading a paragraph then switching on the TV coz its easier, consciously set aside a period of time to read (not at 11:30pm when you are about to jump into bed in exhaustion) and make yourself do it. Start small if you have a short concentration span. It gets easier!
But some reading material is just dead boring and a waste of time, so in that case ditch it and find something worth reading (ie something well-written, thoughtful, broadens your mind, edifying etc). For example, I got about 100 pages into Bill Clinton’s autobiography before I abandoned ship – there is so much good stuff out there you can’t possibly hope to get through it all, so best not to waste precious time.

]]> http://blog.stmatthewsunichurch.org.au/2009/02/28/reading/comment-page-1/#comment-118 Adrian Fry Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:04:09 +0000 http://www.stmatthewsunichurch.org.au/blog/?p=311#comment-118 I don't read much, my sister gave me the NIV on mp3 and I found that I can get through more bible, in less time while understanding it better- *individual results may vary*. It's good as long as you pay attention, and it doesn't just become 'white noise' in the background, and it's probably best suited to narrative... doesn't work so well trying to figure out Paul in the NT. I don’t read much, my sister gave me the NIV on mp3 and I found that I can get through more bible, in less time while understanding it better- *individual results may vary*.
It’s good as long as you pay attention, and it doesn’t just become ‘white noise’ in the background, and it’s probably best suited to narrative… doesn’t work so well trying to figure out Paul in the NT.

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