Read on your phone without getting distracted
The phone is the reader you always have in your pocket. It is only bad for reading because it is also the source of distraction. Separate the two jobs and it works.
Silence everything that is not urgent by default
Let calls and messages from real people through. Everything else, social, games, promotions, goes permanently silent. You do not need a notification to know someone posted.
Read full screen
Every notification bar that appears steals a piece of the chapter. Close everything that is not the book. If the reading app has a full-screen mode, always use it.
One app at a time
Switching apps mid-read is where the scroll starts. If you opened the book, stay there until the block ends. The rule sounds rigid, but it is what separates ten minutes of reading from ten minutes of feed.
Reading settings
- Larger than default font. Less text per screen tires you less than tiny type.
- Warm background at night. Cool light hurts sleep afterward.
- Paged scrolling. Swipe scrolling imitates the feed gesture and pulls your hand back to the old habit.
Block the feed during the reading window
The setting that helps most is taking the feed out of reach. Lergate blocks the scrolling apps and sites in the interval you choose and opens the book where you stopped. Worth it even if you read in the browser.
If you read files in another language
A book in the wrong language tires you twice as fast. You can translate the file into your language and read it on the same device, in the format you already use.