How you can double, triple, or even quadruple your reading speed!

Are you drowning in a sea of ​​unread papers? Are you frustrated because you can’t keep up with your reading assignments? You may have wondered if you should take a speed reading course. Or can you learn to improve your reading skills on your own?

The good news is that if you’re committed and really put in the work, you can develop your own speed reading program at home. You can greatly increase your reading speed without sacrificing comprehension.

How do you start to improve your reading speed? The first step is to determine what your current reading speed is.

Find some reading material to practice, such as a magazine article, or use a chapter from a book. Set a timer for a short period, like five or ten minutes. Start reading at your usual speed and see how far you can go in the allotted time. Don’t try to read faster or slower than normal; the object here is to find out what your usual reading speed is. When the time is up, mark the page so you know exactly how much you’ve read. You will have to count how many words you read in this time.

Now, using the same item, set the timer again, for the same number of minutes. Begin at the point in your article where you last left off. Don’t reread the exact same material you just finished.

This time, focus on reading much faster than the first time. Go as fast as you can while still catching every word and maintaining your understanding. Calculate your reading speed and compare it to your first effort. Did your score improve? Try again, striving to read even faster without sacrificing comprehension.

If your performance has picked up considerably, notice if you feel relaxed or tense. Are you telling yourself that reading fast is difficult? Many of the obstacles you face to go faster are mental, they are in your mind, and they can be changed.

Many people have developed bad reading habits that slow them down. See if you make any of the following mistakes.

When you read, do you read word for word? Or do you look over phrases and sentences? Trying to take in every word will slow you down and even interfere with your comprehension. Why? Because in the English language, the meaning of sentences is constructed from groups of words, the way sentences and clauses are put together. Dwelling on each word can prevent you from absorbing the meaning of the entire sentence.

In fact, you can better grasp the meaning of a sentence by using your eyes to scroll through the sentences and clauses, rather than slowing down to grasp each word separately.

A very common bad reading habit is called “sub-vocalizing.” You have probably noticed that many young children who are just learning to read pronounce syllables and words on their own. Many people continue to do it even as adults. The habit of subvocalizing is a drag on your potential reading speed because your brain can take in and process information much faster than you can subvocalize.

In fact, you can look at printed information and have it come directly into your mind without moving your lips or speaking the words in your head. If you’ve been saying the words in your head as you read, you won’t be reading at your optimal level. From now on, make a conscious effort to grasp the meaning of the printed page without hearing the words spoken in your mind.

Another bad habit that slows down your reading speed is going back and rereading a line or sentence every time you think you’ve missed a word. In many cases, rereading the line doesn’t really improve understanding. Simply kicking this negative habit could double your reading speed!

Consciously practice making the effort to keep reading, refusing to back down, until it becomes second nature to you.

Most people, when reading, will scan each line of print from left to right. When they reach the end of the line on the right, their eyes jump to the beginning of the next line on the left. This is not always necessary and will set you back. If you’re reading columns that aren’t very wide, you may not need to scroll through all the lines from left to right. Practice looking at the center of the lines and move your eyes down the printed column. See if you can still understand the meaning of the whole line in this way.

How can you tell if you still understand the material when you increase your reading speed? How do you know if you are missing something important? Reading an article faster is of little use if you don’t understand most of it or if you miss some vital points.

Every time you finish a speed reading exercise, ask yourself, “What was the article about? What were the main points? What were the supporting arguments presented?”

Write what you understand and can remember. Then go back and read the original more slowly and carefully. Compare it with what you have remembered. Were you correct in your understanding of what the article was about? Did you understand most of the main points? Did you miss something important?

Keep track of how your reading scores change over time. With practice, you should be able to greatly improve your reading speed while maintaining a good level of comprehension.

Retraining your eyes and brain may require a committed effort on your part, but the results will be worth it in terms of reading speed gained. Stay relaxed and confident while you practice.