In all this struggle to make time for writing, you’ll probably come along an extremely long article which you absolutely must finish reading, but don’t have the time.
There’s a difference between PhotoReading and speed-reading. Photoreading is skimming massive blocks of texts for keywords and absorbing important information.
Speed-reading is done when one reads anything, from books to highway signs. Please consider these three pointers to help you achieve more in less.
- Read bigger chunks — Most children read one letter/one word at a time. When you become an adult, it’s important to read big blocks of text at a time. Eventually you’ll be able to read whole lines at a time. I’ve even heard of geniuses that could read paragraphs at a time. This is probably the most crucial part. Linger on a sentence and more on. When the letters join up and become words, you’ll be able to see their meaning without actually reading the text.
- Move faster through chunks — it’s also a matter of how fast you can move from one block to the next. If you constantly move your eyes faster, eventually they’ll adapt and you’ll be reading more. Don’t move your eyes back either. People tend to go back if they skipped a word or two. Train your eyes to only move forward. This way, your brain will start retaining more of the information on the first try.
- Use a pointer. A finger works. Pencils are also good. This helps your eyes focus on a single dot instead of lingering back or skipping forward.
- Don’t try to hear the words in your head. When most people read, they hear some kind of voice in their head reading the text. If you’re writing, it’s fine to hear your favorite storyteller vocalizing what you write, but when you do this when reading, it’ll only slow you down. You should be able to read much faster than you listen
