How to Read Faster
It may be that you have a lot of reading to cover within a short time, probably you find out that when exams draw closer, there’s more fear and panic due to the load of materials you have to read up. Or are you somehow looking for a faster way to read more information and cover more within good time? In any case reading faster is actually a good thing, and can turn out to give you an edge. Think about being able to gulp in more bites of information, and still being able to pick the necessary details you need to. Like some other activities, reading involves techniques, and if you can master the right techniques, then you will be better off. The following tips should give you more knowledge to leverage on in improving your reading speed.
Stop Voicing the Words Outside or Inside
Some may be doing it consciously reading out loud, for whatever reason they have to do this, they might think it probably helps one way or the other. But the truth is that we don’t need to voice the words out verbally before we can assimilate or process what we are reading. The eyes just need to catch the word and then the brain does the processing. Therefore you can reduce the time it takes you to cover a piece of writing be it article or novel, by eliminating the habit of reading it out loud again. Probably at young age when still trying to learn the words, you had to do that but now you recognise the words and know what they stand for. Also, you should try to eliminate the unconscious or subconscious habit of reading inside, we are used to this, if you are reading next time, and you pay attention to yourself, you might discover that there’s an inner voice you are reading with, and this is likely taking more time. Try reading without voicing the words inside, just let your eyes see the words and keep going, you will discover you are able to read faster and you are also able to assimilate the information in the piece of writing.
Don’t Go Back on the Words
When trying to read, it is most likely that your eyes are trying to go back on the words as this is reportedly what happens to the average person while reading. You may even be doing this without knowing which even makes it more tricky. One way to help yourself overcome this tendency is to use your hand to guide you while reading. It may look childish using your hand to guide your reading, but this will help you to know consciously the words you have already read and not try to go back on them again. Try to buy back that time the eyes take to want to flip back and forth on the page by using this method.
Apply Peripheral Vision
This is probably a special one. Try reading using the peripheral vision method which involves looking at the middle of every line and using your peripheral vision to read the rest.
Check Some Basics
If you have to read a book, especially when what you need from the book is not every single thing written in it, but the important and relevant ones to you. You could first go through the table of content, this will give you a basic idea of what the book is about and you will may probably be able to decide whether or not you want to read the book or move on to another book. But you might have to go further by reading the first chapter. If it’s not what you want to read, you can drop it and save the time to move to another book. If it happens to be an article or piece of writing, you could just read the first and last paragraph and you may likely have gotten the main message in the write-up.
Set Time
Try setting time for yourself to read up a particular work. Check the time it took you to read it up. Keep setting the time and trying more and more to beat your normal speed. Setting the time will help you to measure your reading speed and to consciously work towards faster reading.
Know More Words
When you come across a word you don’t know while reading, you’ll likely pause to look it up somewhere so as to understand what it means. This will of course slow down your reading speed, what if you have to check more and more words because you don’t know them? You may want to help your reading by committing yourself to learning more relevant vocabularies, so as to have less words to check-up. Learn words that are applicable to the register relevant to things you read more often. Just flowing while reading will save more time and you will be able to cover more.
Don’t Do Other Things
Avoid multi-tasking when you have to read, trying to do something else to combine with your reading may not really help your concentration and the flow of your mind with the content. It is better not to divide your attention, give your full concentration and set your mind to assimilate the content you are dealing with at the moment. Find a good time of the day when you will be less distracted if it is a serious reading like preparing for exams and create a good space as well to aid a suitable environment for a better reading experience.
Keep at It
Like many other things, practice makes perfect. The more you give yourself to reading, the more it forms as part of your habit and likely the better you get at it. As you may be able to find better ways of reading and getting a better flow.
Read with a Goal
Try to give yourself a Target to meet. How much do you want to read per day, per week? Try working towards it. The goal can affect your mindset as to how you take the reading just trying to ensure you meet up.
Try Reading Apps
While it is good to practice reading faster by yourself using normal methods, you might want to try out fast reading apps if you really want to do it well. Reading apps like Spreeder, Read Me, SEVEN SPEED READING APP, OUTREAD APP, QUICK READER, ReaderPro, REEDY. You may have to pay for some of the apps and others are free, simply take your fast reading quest to the next level.
Be Selective
Try to avoid irrelevancies, when reading, if a portion of the text you are reading is not important, then you should skip it. This will help you not to waste time on trying to read or assimilate what’s not important at the moment. Read selectively.
Be Present
Always try to be fully around when reading. Don’t just be looking at the page absentmindedly, let your mind be at alert to take in every bit of information. If your mind keeps wandering back and forth, you will have to be going over a portion of the text so you can understand it. Don’t read mindlessly. The time you might spend going back to re-read can be saved if you are mindful enough to understand what you are reading once and for all by being present without being absentminded.
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