A thread on how and why you should learn to speed read ๐
๐ฒ Reading is like riding a bike - sometimes you want to enjoy the journey. Other times you just want to get to your destination as quickly as possible. Reading is the same: if the book is good I'll read it slowly and take notes. Otherwise I'll just blitz through it.
๐ Treat book like blog posts - I'm not a big fan of treating books like hallowed objects. If you get like 20% through a book and it's not capturing your attention, it's okay to abandon it.
๐ Reading faster helps to discover gems - if someone recommends a book to me it will take a few hours at most to read. Therefore I discover so many great books as I'll buy (and read) pretty much anything. Speed reading is a really useful skill to have for when you need it.
๐ง Reduce subvocalisation - subvocalisation is basically when we read in our heads. Some say subvocalisation isn't legit, but for me I know I read faster when I reduce the voice in my head when I read. It can be difficult to begin with, but with practice it becomes second nature.
๐ Read the middle - I picked up this tip from @tferriss in The 4-Hour Workweek. The idea is that when we read our eyes move across each line, which is a slow way to read. Tip: you can read quicker by keeping your eye movement more central and reading with your peripheral vision.
๐ Use your pointer - our eyes don't move smoothly across the page when we read, but if they're tracking something (like our finger) they'll move more smoothly. This, in theory, improves reading speed. Although it works best when you're not reading on a screen.
๐ฎ Gamify the experience - normally when I'm reading a good book I'll take my time. But if I get to a point where I'm losing interest in a book or something, I turn it into a game: "how quickly can I read this book while still understanding the gist of it?"
โ๏ธ Write a summary - I've started doing this with all the books I'm reading. And the easiest way to take notes on books is to use @NotionHQ. If I'm feeling particularly keen I will write a summary of the book on my website aliabdaal.com/book-notes/
๐ฌ If you're looking to read faster or need some more convincing it's a great idea, I made a video on this topic that is well worth a watch ๐
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