In the information age, where there is too much to learn, too much to read then Speed Reading may be your superpower. An average person reads about 150-200 wpm (words per minute) but a trained reader can read 600-700 wpm. Speed Reading is also a trainable skill that anyone can learn.
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.
--George R.R. Martin
According to Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, “There were 5 Exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every 2 days.” Our technology is growing in an exponential way. To keep up with the information we should also learn how to read more efficiently.
If you want to know your current reading speed, then just start a timer on your phone right now... then continue reading...
Myths about Speed Reading:
- Faster you read less you understand: Just take this example — you are driving a racing car at a very slow speed then what will you do — just look around, enjoying the surroundings, talking with your friends, etc. It will take less focus to take a turn. Now you speed up the car — your full attention will focus on the driving. Now it will take more focus to take a turn. It's the same for speed reading. The faster you go, the more focused you are.
- Speed reading takes more effort: Everything is based on habit. If you practice enough, it will actually take less effort.
- Can't appreciate well: Being an artist, I can say to appreciate a drawing you need not understand every brush stock that the artist made. Just like that if you can learn something from reading some article or book, it doesn't matter every word in there you understand or not.
Tactics for Speed Reading:
- Use Visual Pacer: Our mind was programmed a long before for noticing movements( any movement in the nearby bush - may be a predictor) in our surroundings because at that time our life depends on that. So our eyes track movement better. Use your finger under the line where you are reading and try to move it fast as you read. You will notice that your eyes will keep up with the speed of the finger. If you are reading an e-book then use the cursor (what I use ) as a visual pacer.
- Use Peripheral Vision: When we read we start from the very left word on the page. But in our peripheral vision, we are able to see the white background of the page. So what we have to do — just start with the 2-3 words from the left to the 2-3 words from the right from the line and use your peripheral vision for reading those words. On the first try, it may be problematic (as I also faced the same problem) but the more you practice the better will be your peripheral vision. This small change will also increase the reading speed.
- Minimizing Subvocalization: This is the main barrier to become an ultimate speed reader. If you don't know this you will never be able to cross the threshold of 250wpm. Let's know why— Subvocalization is the voice in our mind that is created when we read something (actually we are saying out loud in our mind what we are reading). (250wpm is the limit of our speaking speed, that's why it's the threshold) . Let's know why —How we created this habit. When we first learned how to read then we are said that you have to read out loud. Then as we grow up we can't read aloud all the time so we just silent it in our voice but keep it in our mind. You should know that you need to say the word to understand its meaning. We never say those punctuation marks (like - ?/." etc), when we see it we know what that means. What we have to do now is to do it for every other word. So the trick is to count numbers while you read. First starting it by saying it loud then you can say it in your mind. What it will do is that it will make your brain busy and your brain will stop saying those words. When you cross the 250 wpm the brain will almost stop repeating (but never completely stop). At first, it may (it will) feel awkward but after some time you will have no problem with that.
Benefits of reading:
- It's an exercise to your brain
- Improve Focus and memory
- A better understanding of a topic
- Improve Vocabulary etc...
It's your time to use these tactics and increase your reading speed. (My current reading speed is 400-450 wpm —it always depends upon what type of text you are reading).
Now just stop the timer. There are 673 words — so the speed is = 673 * 60/ (time in seconds) wpm. Don't worry if it's less (for my first time it was only 124 wpm). The more you practice the better you will be.
If you want to read more about this please check the book Limitless by Jim Kwik.
Let me know your current reading speed in the comment section and share it if you find it helpful.
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