How I Learned to Read A Book Faster

In order to be successful in life, love or business, we all need a mentor. Even the world's most intelligent man Albert Einstein had Max Talmey as his mentor. Steve Jobs mentored many of the big players in the modern tech world, such as Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. Steve Jobs was also mentored by Bill Cambell, who also mentored many other Silicon Valley's top leaders. As you can almost every successful individual has ha a mentor who guided them through every thick and thin.

Well, they had good connections and it was easier for them to find the right mentor. How do I find one sitting here in the comfort of my home? That's exactly what I used to think before. I did a course called 67 Steps by Tai Lopez who opened a new door for me. Tai said you can surely find a mentor from any time or place of the world! It's not necessary that the mentor has to know you personally. Well, you can read his book.

"What! Books?" That's right! As long as you can read a book, you can make the author your very own mentor, a personal trainer for your mind. From the very moment, I've been reading books. But being a non-native English speaker, my problem with reading books was that it took an enormous amount of time from my life. Then I started looking for a way to read books faster. That's where the concept of speed reading comes! I've read a lot of articles on this and found a few things that could literally increase my speed of reading to 200%, if not 300% I'm going to mention the most important ones that I found. Before you even get started, count your current WPM (Words Per Minute) so that you can track your progress later on.

#1 USE A POINTER WHILE READING

This might sound funny to many of you. But this is very effective especially when it comes to keeping your focus on what you read. At elementary schools, our teachers taught us reading out loud while using our index fingers as a pointer/guide. As we grew up we stopped using pointers while reading. This very habit slows you down to some extent. Trust me on this one! When we read, our eyes constantly moves away from the letters. This movement is very timid and almost unnoticeable. But to readjust our vision, our brain takes a few milliseconds, which adds up to be a substantial amount of time. To avoid this, always use your index finger, or a pen as a pointer.

#2 STOP READING THEM OUT IN YOUR MIND

Most of us read out loud in our mind, especially when we try to read a book with extra attention. This sub-vocalizing in our brain slows us down to some extent, which can be avoided easily by not saying worlds in our head when we read. Try to practice without sub-vocalization. When you practice enough, you comprehend what you read even without saying it in your head.

#3 ADJUST SPEED BASED ON IMPORTANCE

This is a cool thing that I learned! Since childhood, we are accustomed to reading from the first word on the first page to the last word of the last page. Good authors know what to emphasise and put the most critical parts in bold text or with bullet points. I often read a not-so-important portion of a book at a much faster speed. Whenever I think there's something which needs my attention I read them at a slower speed which gives me much more time to process the information. It doesn't matter even if you read a portion of the book twice. But you need to read the unimportant portion at a fast pace.

#4 USE YOUR PERIPHERAL VISION AT YOUR ADVANTAGE

This is not always effective for me and I can't tell if it will work for you, either. But Phil Drolet taught a trick! He said that you need to start reading the third word from the left margin and end at the third word from the right margin. This way, your peripheral vision automatically read the first and the last two words without you spending time on them. Phil said, if you have to read ten words in a row, you can read six words and still completely understand what the author said.

#5 PRACTICE, PRACTICE & PRACTICE

I don't want to sound cliché to you, at all! But this is something you must do. Practice, practice and practice! Like every other skill out there, practising makes your speed reading abilities sharper. I'm a beginner just like you. So I keep practising every day. It doesn't have to be a paperback book, you can read articles, eBooks and almost anything you find resourceful!

How long did this short article take for you to finish reading it? The average human can read 200-250 words per minute. This article has 880 words and if you could read it by around 4:24 minute, you're just fine! After following the tips I found on different articles, if you practice reading for a week, I'm almost certain that your reading speed will double, if not triple (there can be exceptions, but keep practising and never stop reading.) Happy reading!