7 Tips To Increase Your Reading Effectiveness
October 9, 2007
Photo by margolove
In this information age, the ability to quickly read and acquire new knowledge is one of the critical skills necessary for success. Be it for work, for leisure or for self improvement, there are tons of materials to read; much more than we have the time for.
For myself, being an avid learner and knowledge seeker, I constantly struggle with my growing list of reading materials. Each time I enter a bookstore, it is almost predictable that I will step out with at least one book purchased. My curiosity and desire for knowledge always get the better of me, and prompted me to buy more books. However, once home, the new books are usually left stacked on my shelves as I still have to slowly finish reading books I had bought earlier.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that my reading efficiency is less than desirable. With such strong desire for knowledge and growing list of reading materials, it was apparent that I need to read faster and comprehend more. As such, a couple of months ago, I decided to take time to research and learn reading skills to improve my reading effectiveness.
Today, my efforts are already paying off; I can finish a 200 pages book at 30% to 50% of the time it used to take me, depending on my familiarity with the topic. At the same time, I am able to comprehend and remember more than what I used to remember. Below are some reading tips which I have learned in the process, which I like to share with you.
Tip #1 - Have A Purpose For Reading
Not every reading material is the same. Books like novels and fictions stories are mostly read for leisure, non-fiction books are mostly for knowledge, and newspapers, journals are mostly for staying up-to-date. Except for leisure reading, you should have at least one specific reason for reading i.e. a knowledge that you hope to gain after reading the book. Keeping this purpose in mind as you read will help you focus on the relevant materials and not waste time on the irrelevant stuff.
Tip #2 - Do NOT Read From Cover To Cover
Again, unless you are reading for leisure, you should NOT read the book from cover to cover. Many amateur readers make the mistake of reading a book from first page until the last page. Such a reading method wastes a lot of time, as not 100% of the materials in the book will answer your purpose; at the same time, your comprehension rate will drop dramatically as you have to process a lot of irrelevant information before you actually get to the real stuff which is purposeful to you.
The fact is that the author’s key ideas can be found in about 4% to 10% of the book. The rest of the book merely serves to emphasize or elaborate. By going straight for the key ideas, you will already cover about 80% of the value of the book.
A common fear is that you will miss out important information if you read selectively. Here is where Tip #1 ‘Having a Purpose’ becomes really important. You have to keep the purpose in mind as you read, or you will get lost in the maze of information. It’s quite sad to take a week to read a book, only to discover that you have not learned much due to information overload.
Tip #3 - Always Preview The Book
So, if you have to read selectively, how do you know which part to read? The trick here is to preview the book.
Read the foreword, introduction, table of contents. Without getting into the details, browse (not read) through the chapters and look out for keywords, diagrams, pictures, quotations which seems to fit into your purpose of reading this book. The purpose of preview is to set the context of the book. The step of previewing is like building the frame and structure of a house before the walls, fittings and furnitures are fleshed in; as it is proven that our brain can better comprehend and remember things in a context, rather than standalone facts.
Tip #4 - Focus Your Reading Through Questioning
During the preview, some keywords and key phrases which seems relevant to your purpose would catch your attention or tickle your curiosity; these are the potential areas that you will want to investigate in more details later. It is very likely you have a question in mind related to these areas.
For example, let’s say you are reading a book on time management, you previewed it and a section titled “80/20 Principle” caught your attention. If you have not been expose to this principle, you may be curious what this principle is about; or if you know what this principle is, you may be curious how this principle helps in managing your time.
Make a note of these questions so you will remember to revisit these sections in later passes of the book.
Tip #5 - Go For the Answers To Your Questions
When you are reading with purpose and questions in mind, you can zoom in to the relevant sections that contain the answers with a laser-like focus and precision. By doing so, you already cut out the many cluttering information in the book and will likely achieve 70% to 80% of key information in the book. In doing so, you increase your reading speed.
At the same time, by immediately finding the answers to your questions, without going through distracting information, your comprehension rate is increased.
The key ideas of the book are contained in less than 10% of the words. This precision will enable you to connect and string the overview concept of the book without getting lost in the details. It is proven that our brain remembers better when ideas/facts are connected in a coherent manner.
Tip #6 - Read The Book In A Few Passes
At first, this may seem counterintuitive to effectiveness; but trust me, reading a book in a few passes is actually more effective than reading it all in one go. The difference is that for each pass, you only zoom directly into the sections of the book relevant to your questions, not read the entire book.
In your first pass, you would have found the answers to your first set of questions. At this point, do a quick review; have your fulfill your purpose of reading this book? Perhaps you have fulfilled the earlier purpose, but now have a new one? Do you have more questions from the last pass? Is there any specific area you like to examine a little more?
If it’s yes to any of these questions, then you will want to have another pass on the book. Each pass that you have continues to be with laser-like precision as you zoom into the relevant sections that will answer your question.
If you don’t have any specific questions, but still feel that you may want to read the book further, go ahead and read sections that simply interest you. The difference is that by this point, you should already have a pretty good idea of what the book is about; you’ll have a good overview and captured the key concepts. Any additional reading will be supporting these key concepts, which enhance your comprehension. It will be fleshing in the details of the framework which you have built up through previewing and first two passes of the book.
With each pass, you will dive deeper into the details. There is no standard number of passes that is required. It will vary depending on your purpose, your questions and familiarity with the topic. A guiding principle will be the “Law of Diminishing Returns” when it comes to deciding how many passes you need. Read until a point when you feel that you have understood enough of the book, and any further detail is not going to be much more beneficial.
Tip #7 - Read In Blocks Of Time
Set aside blocks of time in 30 minutes to read. With each block with a 5 to 10 minutes break in between to rest and “digest” the information. Our brain works optimally in blocks of short duration. Such a reading style enables better concentration level and effectiveness as compared to pulling off a 3 to 4 hours of non-stop reading.
Once you hit the end of a time block, physically move away from the reading area. Go have a stretch, take a drink. Take your mind away from the book. You will be surprised how this short break allows your mind to absorb the information and to recuperate your concentration level. When the next round start, you are refreshed and ready to receive more information.
Complement With Speed Reading
By now you should see that this article is not about speed reading.
I have once attended speed reading classes and was somewhat disappointed with the results. In speed reading, it is advocated to increased your reading speed by not vocalizing the words inside our mind, and to use peripheral vision to take in blocks of words at a time. However, one fundamental problem with speed reading alone is that speed is increased at the expense of comprehension rate.
As such, the tips advocated here is not solely to read faster per se, but to read smart.
Nonetheless, this does not mean that you cannot apply speed reading techniques with the above tips. In fact, during your passes of the book, it is recommended to speed read to pick out sections that can answer your questions, and you may then choose to slow down when you come across any important areas. Hence speeding reading technique can in fact compliment the tips we have covered.
Try them out and let me know how it works for you.
No comments yet.