Expert: Norm Bishop - 7/11/2010

Question
Hello Norm -

 This may be outside your realm, but here goes: I'm a single  male of 59, semi-retired from work in sales and have been an enthusiastic reader most of my life.  My favorites: 'quality' papers like the NY Times, Toronto Globe&Mail, Guardian UK.  Topics: 20th century history, military & political affairs.

 Lately, I've found that I have a hard slog when it comes to any substantive book, such as my current project - The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism.  The avalanche of unfamiliar names, dates, geographical references, facts & factoids slows me  to a crawl.  The most I can manage is about 10 pages a day.  My question: is this normal? (Background thought - I think often of the Times reviewers who crush 500 page books in one sitting.)

Thanks - Mark

Answer
I only have one subject that I can relate to the problem you describe and that would be me.  I am close to your age range and recently enrolled in a Doctoral program so that I can complete that lifelong goal.  While throughout my life I continued to read at work, read books, and the daily newspaper, I find it really difficult to stay focused on text that doesn't grab my interest levels.  I have had to learn new strategies to obtain the detailed information that came so easily when I was younger...things like taking some notes at the end of each section, creating study guides after the initial reading, forcing myself to read at a faster level the first time through, eliminating all distracters (I read in my office in total silence#..., write interpretive summaries at the end of sections...#writing seems to really help my mind grasp it#.

There are some physical reasons that may contribute to this for males advancing in age.  This is medical doctor realm, so understand this is not expert information rather, based upon my personal experience.  A man's testosterone level decreases as we age, as a females estrogen level decreases.  Levels lower than 300 in men begin to effect us in several ways...our belly's grow fat #beer belly#, but we carry no fat elsewhere...#in fact the larger your belly is in relation to your body, the lower the testosterone levels#.  What that does is to lower your sex drive, and performance #which really isn't related to reading), decrease concentration levels, give you less energy, loss of muscle tone, etc.  The big thing for reading is the decrease in concentration levels.

I find that I just need to take the extra time to gather the information by using other study techniques.  I am not treating my low t as of yet, but am in the process, hoping things will get easier as I regain my concentration levels.  Write me in six months and see how it is.

Of course, if you see yourself in the description you need to first see your Physician and see if you are in need.

By the way, my son works as a sports writer for the NY Times and he consumes six to ten newspapers per day...but he is 30...I used to read 3 or 4 papers per day...hate to say it but we were sharper in our youth, but are much more wise now  :)

Norm