# Does your brain get tired from reading too much? How do you handle it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074 "2013-11-16T19:34:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/1 "2013-11-16T19:34:18Z")
Does your brain get tired from reading too much so that further reading becomes too difficult? If this happens, how many hours of reading does this take? What do you do once you’re tired? If it doesn’t happen, what’s going on? Are you not reading enough? Or do you have a system for preventing fatigue? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/2 "2013-11-16T20:57:54Z")
I don’t get tired of reading any more than I get tired of doing anything I enjoy immensely but don’t particularly want to do for hours on end. I love to play my ukulele and can do it for a couple of hours at a stretch, but then I need to do something else for a while, or just take a break. Same with reading, depending on how engrossing the material is. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/3 "2013-11-16T21:00:24Z")
OP: what kind of reading are you talking about–reading for pleasure or for a job or for school/college? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/4 "2013-11-16T21:04:14Z")
It really depends on what I’m reading. If it’s just a modern novel, no. My brain seems particularly geared (or maybe I trained it up real good like) to do that for hours on end. More technical stuff is different. I’ve been reading studies about homelessness for the past few hours and my brain is a little tired. But I could easily go grab my Kindle and read a mystery on there even now. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/5 "2013-11-16T21:04:21Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > OP: what kind of reading are you talking about–reading for pleasure or for a job or for school/college? Pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/6 "2013-11-16T21:11:54Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Pleasure. Is it something new, or has your brain always gotten tired doing it? Could you actually be bored rather than tired? I usually have multiple books going at a time, a combination of novels and non-fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/7 "2013-11-16T21:36:31Z")
I read for pleasure and don’t find it tiring at all. When I get sleepy, I sleep. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/8 "2013-11-16T21:39:12Z")
What kind of tired? Bored? The reading itself doesn’t tire me. When I’m reading academically and I get tired I come and procrastinate on the Dope: more reading. Reading novels I don’t really get tired. Just sleepy. Or bored, if it’s _War and Peace_. Sometimes, but rarely, jittery. So… I don’t really know what you mean. Do your eyes hurt? Are you sleepy? ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/9 "2013-11-16T21:40:29Z")
I can read myself into a blurry, buzzing kind of state. I have to have been reading all day though, something like six to eight hours without much stopping. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/10 "2013-11-16T21:48:49Z")
I’m the exact opposite. Back when I was working and I used to do double shifts from two in the afternoon to six in the following morning, I read during the night because reading kept me awake and alert. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/11 "2013-11-16T21:55:16Z")
I don’t get tired of reading for pleasure, by definition. But if my brain did start hurting, I’d stop and do something else. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/12 "2013-11-16T22:37:50Z")
My eyes give out long, long before my brain does. If my eyes were younger, I could read for 12 hours straight, take a nap, read for another 8 hours, and enjoy every second of it. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/13 "2013-11-17T01:12:30Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > What kind of tired? Bored? > > The reading itself doesn’t tire me. When I’m reading academically and I get tired I come and procrastinate on the Dope: more reading. > > Reading novels I don’t really get tired. Just sleepy. Or bored, if it’s _War and Peace_. Sometimes, but rarely, jittery. > > So… I don’t really know what you mean. Do your eyes hurt? Are you sleepy? My head hurts. My brain feels like goo. I can’t concentrate on what I’m reading and lose focus more easily. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s odd because I know when I talk about this with some of my friends they understand either. They don’t get tired from reading books for pleasure. I thought maybe they were doing something different when reading? I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/14 "2013-11-17T01:37:11Z")
Brain tired? Never. I really can’t even understand the concept. I read for relaxing and fun; it’s never tiring. BODY tired, on the other hand, yes. If I lay down and read, I’ll fall asleep. I think it comes from reading myself to sleep my entire life. Sitting up, though, I’m fine. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/15 "2013-11-17T02:06:01Z")
I can’t lay in my bed and read because if its a good book, it keeps me awake “…just one more page and then I’ll turn the light off, oh wait, just one more page…” If I’m sitting in a chair, I’ll put my drug of choice down and snap out of it long enough to go to bed. I’ve honestly had more bad days at work because I stayed up until the crack of dawn reading than I have because I was out debauching. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/16 "2013-11-17T06:23:43Z")
My brain doesn’t get tired from reading, but I do get tired from reading. I often fall into a slumber when I’m reading. Maybe I shouldn’t read on the bed. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/17 "2013-11-17T23:44:13Z")
My brain does sometimes get tired from reading. But a short break usually freshens me right up. So, I fix a cuppa, use the jakes, do a few stretches, and then the reading experience is “reset” to being as fresh as when I began. In my older age, I do find my attention wandering more, and I sometimes have to stop and go back a few lines to focus on what I had just “read but not actually perceived.” I find this highly irritating. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/18 "2013-11-18T16:32:56Z")
I read for a living. Eight hours a day, five days a week. Yes, the brain stops seeing things. I’m an editor, so I think there is some fatigue involved – we start missing things after a while. The other negative side effect is the dreaded eye twitch from eye strain. The remedy for these things is to take short but frequent breaks, refocus your eyes on something else for a few minutes. Sometimes, at work, we just take a walk around the building just to reboot and refresh the brain. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/19 "2013-11-18T17:38:32Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > My head hurts. My brain feels like goo. I can’t concentrate on what I’m reading and lose focus more easily. Could this be (1) eyestrain or (2) fatigue? When you feel like this, what do you do instead? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074/20 "2013-11-18T17:51:19Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > My head hurts. My brain feels like goo. I can’t concentrate on what I’m reading and lose focus more easily. > > I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s odd because I know when I talk about this with some of my friends they understand either. They don’t get tired from reading books for pleasure. I thought maybe they were doing something different when reading? I don’t know. If you’re getting actual headaches, it could be eyestrain from either needing glasses or a better prescription or it could be from some kind of tracking problem. Some people have no problem focusing their eyes, but have trouble smoothly tracking across the words. There can also be problems with mental focus, but I think you’d notice having trouble with things besides reading. Oh, do you ever have trouble following an audio book? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-brain-get-tired-from-reading-too-much-how-do-you-handle-it/674074.md?page=2)