I used to love books, but now I can't read a single page. How using my 'ears' helped me get back to it.

Are you becoming afraid of opening a book?
You come home from work and happen to look at your bookshelf.
You think, 'Oh, I haven't read that one yet,' and pick it up.
But the moment you open the page, the words just slide right off.
Not a single line sinks in. Your eyes feel gritty and tired.
In the end, you close the book, stare at your smartphone, and the day is over.
And all that remains is the self-loathing of 'I couldn't read again.'
This is a story about my past self.
What was I doing after I stopped being able to read?
I was playing games.
I was watching anime, too.
It wasn't that I had started to dislike them.
If anything, they should have been enjoyable times.
However, the problem was what came after.
After I finished playing a game,
after I finished watching the final episode of an anime,
I would happen to look at the clock.
'Ah, nothing was left for me today either.'
There was a part of me that would think that.
I don't dislike games or anime.
But what remained after they were over
was more of a feeling of 'I wasted my time'
than 'That was fun.'
The fact that I wasn't reading books
was slowly chipping away at my self-esteem.
That's why I became even more afraid of opening a book.
Because I felt that if I opened one and couldn't read it,
it would confirm that 'I really am hopeless.'
I used to love books so much, but now that I'm an adult, I can't read them. I seriously worried, 'Has my willpower weakened?' or 'Has my curiosity dried up?'
But that wasn't it.
The reason you can't read books isn't because your willpower is weak.
It's just that the 'eyes' and 'brains' of modern people are exhausted from processing text information.
You can't run a marathon with a broken leg.
But if you have 'tools,' you can still move.
Reading is the same.
Here, I will write down the method I used to stop 'reading with my eyes' and switch to 'listening with my ears' to bring reading back into my life.

Instead of 'reading,' 'let it flow in'

What I want to propose is 'listening to books' using the text-to-speech function on your iPhone or iPad.
This isn't about needing an expensive audiobook subscription. Your smartphone is enough to start with.
What you do is simple.
Stop 'following the text with your eyes' and press the play button.
Just doing that changes the situation.
• Your eyes don't get tired
Since you aren't using your vision, it doesn't matter if you have dry eyes, presbyopia, or are in a dark room.
• You can do it 'while doing other things'
You can make progress on your reading on a crowded train, while washing dishes, or while taking a walk.
• It doesn't stop
When you read with your eyes, it ends the moment you get tired.
But audio keeps playing on its own. The story moves forward.
This is closer to 'the task of letting stories and knowledge flow into your brain' than it is to reading.
No matter how tired you are, you can at least manage to play the radio. You should treat books with that same feeling.

The Kindle app was the easiest for the first book

I tried the standard iPhone features and several other text-to-speech methods.
With that said, the Kindle app's text-to-speech function (Assistive Reader) was the easiest for my initial rehabilitation.
The reason is simple.
It's hard to stop even if you handle it roughly.
• It's hard to stop even if the screen orientation changes
• It's hard to stop even if a notification comes in
• It's easy to continue even in situations where you can't use your hands
What you need when you're tired is not high functionality, but continuity.
You don't have the energy to get hung up on detailed settings.
You might think, 'Isn't machine voice boring?'
I was the same at first.
But once you get used to it, you start focusing more on the content than the voice. The goal is not to 'read comfortably,' but to 'return to the world of books.'

The shortest route to turning 'unread books' into 'completed books'

If you have books piled up in your room that you think you'll 'read someday,' I want you to open one of them today and press the play button.
You don't have to understand 100% of the content.
It's okay to let it wash over you.
It's okay if your mind wanders in the middle.
Even so, after a few dozen minutes, you will have the experience of 'having engaged with a book.'
This small success experience will be the reboot for your reading.
Since switching to this method, I stopped counting my 'reading volume.'
That's because reading books has returned to my daily life to the point where I don't need to count it.
If your feet hurt, you don't have to walk.
If your eyes hurt, you don't have to look.
If you use your ears, you can return to the world of books.
Postscript: For those curious about settings and verification
'How do I set it up specifically?'
'What about misreadings?'
'Why Kindle?'
I've summarized these 'technical topics' in a separate article.
You don't have to read it right now.
Once your rehabilitation progresses and you have more breathing room, it will be enough if you remember that 'there is such a thing.'

▼ [Verification] The Kindle app (v7.48.1) is linked to the iOS dictionary. The technical reason why I graduated from iPhone text-to-speech

To you who love paper books
'But I only have paper books on hand...'
'I don't feel like I've read it unless I have the texture and smell of paper.'
I understand that feeling painfully well. I was originally a 'paper person' too.
To be honest, there are ways to 'listen' to paper books.
You could take pictures with a camera and use optical character recognition (OCR), or cut them up and scan them...
But please don't do that right now.
That work is a 'hellish task' that is troublesome even when you're feeling energetic. If you try to do it with your current tired brain, you will definitely end up hating books.
Please try using Kindle (e-books), telling yourself it's 'only during the rehabilitation period.'
When you feel better and have regained the physical strength to follow text with your eyes,
you can open them (the paper books) again, as they wait for you on the bookshelf.
For now, you don't have to force yourself to go see them.