We’re most likely to read something every day. Be it a blog post, news, book, or work files, reading faster and understanding it well can save a great deal of our time. Learning to read faster requires practice and patience. Here we bring handy tips on how to read faster.
Stop subvocalizing
The first and foremost suggestion to speed up your reading is to stop subvocalizing. Many readers talk to themselves imagining they are speaking the words. It’s good for beginners and for those who have reading comprehension difficulties.
Tips to minimize subvocalizing-
- Chew gums so that your throat muscles are occupied elsewhere.
- Read with a finger on your mouth.
Read more about overcoming reading comprehension difficulties.
Learn to skim
If you want to understand a topic thoroughly, then skimming isn’t recommended. But, while reading newspapers or the topics you’re already aware of you can glide through the content.
Set up the right environment
Most important, while practicing reading speed, don’t let the environment distract you. Set your reading goals and read in a peaceful, silent environment with full concentration. Take frequent breaks to give a rest to your eyes and brain.
Set up a faster pace
You’ll need to push yourself for faster reading. Increase your reading pace every day. If you don’t understand a paragraph, backtrack and read again. But remember, it is the little extra effort that will help you read faster in the long run.
Controlling motor movement
Many people also believe reading faster includes controlling the fine motor movement. In other words, you can read faster if-
- Reducing the time you’re fixed on any one line
- Minimizing regression
- Practicing increased horizontal peripheral vision.
If you want to try this technique of controlling motor movement to read faster, here’s an interesting article on speed reading.
Folks, reading faster does not mean compromising the understandings. The thing is, you can understand better with fast reading rather than slowing down and wandering in random thoughts.
It is always a good idea to keep a track of books/pages you read especially when you’re trying to read faster. One simple method is to maintain a tabular list of date and number of pages read in an hour.