Attention isn't a moral quality. If reading has become hard, it's usually because the format, the environment or the book is fighting you — and all three are adjustable. None of what follows requires more discipline.
Change the format before you change yourself
Audio is the single biggest unlock for a lot of restless readers, because it lets the hands and body move while the story continues. Walking, cooking, cleaning — the fidget gets a job and the attention stays. Text-to-speech turns any book into that; see how to listen to any book.
Reading along while listening is even stronger: two channels carrying the same information leave less room to drift.
Make the page less punishing
Bigger text, shorter line length, more line spacing, warmer background. A wall of small dense grey text is genuinely harder to track, and people blame their brain for what is really a typography problem. Spend two minutes on reader settings once — it pays off for years.
If a page looks like effort, your brain will treat it as effort. Make it look easy.
Short sessions, and stop before you're empty
Ten focused minutes beats an hour of re-reading the same paragraph. Set a small target — one chapter, one scene, ten pages — and stop at the end of it even if you could continue. Ending while it's still good is what makes you want to come back.
Choose books that pull rather than books that impress
Pace matters more than prestige here. Short chapters, strong momentum, clear stakes. That's also why YA works so well for adults and why short books break slumps. A literary novel that requires patience you don't currently have is not a test you need to pass.
Put a person on the other side of it
External accountability does for reading what it does for the gym. Knowing someone else is in the same chapter, or that a comment is waiting on a passage you haven't reached, gives a restless brain a reason that isn't willpower. That's what Arwy is built around — as you read, it connects you with people reading the same book, and reading stops being a solo endurance task.
Fewer taps, bigger text, and someone to read alongside. Try Arwy.