As a student, you might not love the idea of reading pages and pages of notes in a textbook, but it’s something you just need to do.
It’s a shame there isn’t a way to absorb the important information without reading every single word, right? Like, how last century is that?
In fact, there is. Let’s take a quick look at speed reading.
What is Speed Reading and How Do I Do It?
Even if you don’t know what speed reading is, you’ve probably done it a few times before. Speed reading is exactly what the name implies: you’re taking in a lot of information in a small amount of time.
There are many different ways to speed read. Some will work for you, and others won’t.
We’re going to chat about two of these, and you can do a little (speed) reading on your own if you need to.
The first method is the pointer method. Put simply, you drag your finger or a pen along your screen or textbook under the line of text that you’re currently reading. This method helps you to easily skim over the text without losing your place whilst still reading at a faster pace.
The second method is the scanning method. You drag your eyes down the body of text – usually down the middle – and pick up any keywords, numbers or dates. Whilst this method is quicker, beginners will have issues gathering all the important information in the text.
Why Should You Speed Read?
Apart from saving you a lot of time, there are a lot of benefits to speed reading. Some methods of speed reading improve your peripheral vision. You end up training your brain to take in information faster and remember it for longer.
Have you ever been reading for a while, got to the end of the page and realised you forgot to pay attention?
When you speed read, your brain is so focused on getting all the information in a short period of time that you don’t have time to get bored or distracted. Okay, so it may not be the best idea for all your reading assignments, especially those that are heavy on the detail…and maths. But to quickly absorb peripheral info or get a sense of what you’re learning, this is an excellent plan.
Speed reading doesn’t just help you read faster, it helps you study faster. Whilst it may take some time to perfect, speed reading will help change your life when it comes to studying. So choose a method that works best for you, and let’s get speed reading.