Speedreading anyone?

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

I'ce decided there just aren't enough hours in the day and am curious about speed reading.

Anyone investigated it? Judging by the fattness of cert books I think it might be a good skill to aquire. Does anyone know more about it? - Can you actually retain the information effectively? Any good resources?

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

I tend to read faster than most people but in order to study, speed, comprehension, and retention all have to be combined. I can read a novel very quickly but if I want to learn and remember information, I have to slow down and go over the material...sometimes several times. Makes for slow going but that's how I learn.

 

I've often thought the same thing, I've read hundreds of IT books but really the good ones are not too thick and require concentration and comprehension.

The large certification books can probably be speed read to an extent as many seem fairly poorly produced with waffle and pictures.

My advice is buy smaller books with good write ups !

Reading is also never a substitution for doing, "I read, I know, I do, i understand.". So your reading speed is probably less important than you think

 

Here is how I do it.

Pass 1.
Flick through the book like you would in a shop or library paying attention to headings, subheadings, pictures, diagrams and the index. This gives me a feel of how it is laid out and about the subject.

Pass 2.
Scan through the chapter like before only look at the text too, as if you’re scanning for a word or specific information, again this does not take long at all, you’re still browsing at this point. After this put the book down and think about what you have seen so far, remember the pictures and any detail you can, try to make some notes or a sketch spend maybe 5 mins doing this then take a short break.

Pass 3.
Read the chapter fast using a pencil or my finger as a guide, sweeping along the line with my eyes following, about 1-2 seconds per line. Do not focus on words like ‘and, it, the, or, they, etc’ because they mean nothing, your brain already remembers these and does not need to concentrate on them.
After the 3rd pass take a breather then makes notes or a sketch to revise from, ask yourself questions and see how much of the information you have taken in, this is usually enough for me.
Difficult material.

For difficult material that is not sinking in I try a couple of things. First I will read it aloud, like I am reading it to someone else, if that does not work, I read it to myself again in my head only as if I am someone else reading to me, this enables me to ask questions on the subject and use the book to answer myself. Sounds odd but it seems the information is taken in only I cannot access it unless I try different methods.

Reading and learning is different for different people so none of this may work for you but I hope it helps someone.

Also for revision I imagine myself teaching someone else about the subject, try to make it exciting and be enthusiastic, it seems to make it more memorable.

good luck