November 2024
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    The problem: Your neck is sore from looking down to read.

    The false solution: You lay down and hold your book above your head. This causes either: a: your arms to get tired from holding the book up or b: you to drop the book on your face.

    The real solution: You utilize an existing, or purchase a new, glass coffee table. You place your book facedown on the glass and lay underneath (possibly propping your knees up on the couch). You read from this position.

    The science: optimal body positioning encourages increased spinal alignment and easier digestion, while the book's position on the glass tabletop allows for any mid-read naps without loss of page.

    I believe that implementing this strategy correctly will allow for increased performance by limiting "reader fatigue".

    What are your thoughts?

    by sad1799

    42 Comments

    1. But. If you. Read quickly. That’s a lot of page turning that is very cumbersome. Though, I appreciate the enthusiasm.

    2. Get a smart projector, install ereader app. Project to ceiling, lie down and read. Turn pages using remote control.

    3. Sounds totally, absolutely, completely normal. Bonus: You get an idea of what the glass ceiling is like!

      You know, they do make reading stands that hold the book in place and can be angled towards someone who is lying down or reclining. I can’t post a link here, but search for “hands free book stand” (or holder) and you’ll probably find one.

    4. Periscope glasses:

      EDIT: Can’t include the direct link, but do a google search for 90 degree reading glasses

    5. daviana_roze4257 on

      Read on an ereader. Prop ereader on stand. Lay on side like in bed. Just make sure you turn off the rotation on the ereader so the screen stays long ways while propped on its side

    6. Two words: hammock chair. Holds you at the optimal position to keep stress off your lower back and neck while allowing you to prop your book on your stomach.

    7. Nah, just get an e-ink device, lay on your side in bed with a good pillow (prop the device up with another). Turn over when you’re shoulder starts to bother you. Done. No clunky setup needed.

    8. Glass coffee tables are annoying to keep clean. If you get up and stretch your neck every 45 mins you shouldn’t have any pain. If reading for 45 minutes gives you neck pain you need to go to a physio.

    9. No no no, like this. You lie down in bed, with one pillow beneath your head, then grab another pillow that you set across your chest, then you rest the book on top of that. Minimal arm energy is expended, your neck is still happy, and you’re cosy af.

    10. You could buy one of those industrial robots. They’re easily capable of choreographing the movement of large car parts around, so a small paperback should be manageable. I daresay swiping a kindle for a page-turn would be achievable with a few months programming, and it could tuck you in bed when you’ve finished reading for the evening.

    11. seems like more of a hassle because you have to reach up to turn the page. For a fast reader, the pages turn every minute or two so that a lot of up and down motion for your arm.

      plus, when you get fatigued from reading indicates that its a good time to go walk around and stretch for a bit before returning to the book. Not good to stay in that one position for hours at a time.

    12. I recently discovered the best position for reading: standing. Not only is it healthier, it also makes it easier to concentrate: it may not be a universal problem, but when you sit down to read, your mind can wander off, because you are too comfortable. While you’re standing you can move a little bit, even do stretches with your book in hands. And your brain “accepts the challenge” of working, so it doesn’t wander off as much.

    13. Lay – the act of putting something down.

      Lie – the act of putting yourself in a lying position.

    14. My husband is a horrible book-dropper. He’ll lie on his back holding a book above his face, and then when he starts falling asleep, the book will tilt or drop and hit him. Then he wakes up, starts reading again, and the whole thing repeats. If I try to take the book away when he starts falling asleep, he’ll wake up, demand his book back, and continue reading until it hits him in the face.

      Finally fixed this with an e-reader and a strap that lets him bungee-cord the thing to his hand.

    15. How do you turn the pages?

      You’ve got to reverse it. lay down so half your body is on a bed/couch, but your head is on the glass table looking down. Put a pillow under your forehead to give your nose some clearance from the glass. Then place the book on the ground to read it through the table, turning your page with a arm hanging down between the table and your couch.

    16. superherowithnopower on

      Get an audiobook, sit down in a recliner with a glass of bourbon, fall asleep halfway through.

      Some people may not like it, but this is peak reading performance looks like.

    17. Use a kindle and one of these ipad holder grips with an articulated arm. Hang by your face, be it from your bed rest or at your desk. All you have to do is tap to move to the next page.

    18. Suspend your body in a tank of amniotic fluid with hundreds of snaking wires from the beeping medical equipment bursting through ports in your skin, nurturing you and blurring the line between man and machine.
      Mount book on a music stand outside of tank in front of you.
      Turn pages with mind controlled robot hand.
      This is the optimal reading position

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