How to Retain What You Read While Speed Reading
Speed Reading is Bullsh*t — four Tips To Read More & Retain More than
Groundwork: A few months ago, I embarked on a self-learning MBA journey. Since then I've read over l books, averaging at around 2.5 books a calendar week. Several people have asked me if I had to master "speed reading" to do this. The answer is — NO.
Speed reading is a sham — another class of a "Become rich quick" scheme. In this example, you're being sold "Get knowledge-rich quick".
Anyway, earlier I commencement e-bashing a certain someone with a "lamborghini & knaaawledge" in his garage — allow me to get to the meat of this post.
A Letter From A Reader
I received an electronic mail from one of the SkipMBA readers inquiring on how he could read faster and retain more than. For the sake of anonymity, I'm going to refer to him equally "CJ" in this postal service.
CJ seems to be struggling with keeping up with the SkipMBA Reading List and believes that if he increases his reading speed, he'll exist able to pause through this bulwark.
Here's the letter from CJ:
Hey Shawn,
Thank y'all for the breakup. That was an informative read.
I notice that at the end of each of your emails, yous recommend further readings based on the books y'all have read. I also come across that yous have a reading list on the SkipMBA website. These are a lot of books to go on upward with.
Exercise y'all accept tips and tricks to improve reading speed & retention? I want to pause out of this loop and I feel like increasing my speed might be the key.
Best,
CJ
A Deeper Upshot…
I've been in CJ's shoes — I've felt his frustration. Around 5 or 6 months agone, I committed to reading at least one book a week no matter what. It definitely felt similar I had fleck of more than than I could chew. It was ho-hum & frustrating. And I virtually quit. Today, however, I am sitting at an average of approx. two books a calendar week. It feels proficient — simply there was a learning bend along the mode.
I read an boilerplate of 2 books a week
Many have emailed me and asked about how they could do the same. Just more oftentimes than not the question is "How do I read faster then I can read more".
They believe, much similar CJ does, that reading faster will solve their problems. I , yet, don't think it volition.
Reading faster is not the solution
There'due south a deeper effect that many people need to solve first. And in this post (and this YouTube video) I will give you guys iv tips on how to get to where you need to be.
Tip #one : Stop Caring Virtually Your Reading Speed!
Reading is a skill — and skills take time. When y'all're merely starting, you desire to focus on building a habit. If you set unrealistic goals, you lot're going to crash & burn and so feel shitty about yourself. So focus on building the habit outset. Tell yourself yous're going to read for one hour a solar day no affair what.
Don't set a number of pages y'all desire to read, just ready the time you want to spend on reading. Don't tell yourself "I'm going to read 100 pages today". Instead, tell yourself "I will sit down with a volume for 1 60 minutes today". Crusade, honestly, that's the initial struggle most people face — spending the fourth dimension on reading!
Once you build some momentum, you will notice yourself get faster. More than on why that happens in Tip #3.
Tip #two : Reduce The Barrier To Entry
As man beings, nosotros have mastered the art of procrastination. We will come up up with reason after reason to avoid doing something. To combat this, we need to eliminate resistance. One manner to exercise this is to brand "starting" the activity easier. Like I mentioned before — the struggle nigh of u.s.a. have is to just kickoff.
A technique that works very well for me is to keep a spare kindle in my bathroom . This mode, I get at least 5–10 minutes of reading every morning. (Don't take your telephone into the bath with you if you want this to work)
Another trick is to go on the book you want to read on the couch — opened to the current folio you are on. Keep your Goggle box controller away from the couch. I've as well gone equally far as to keep my book next to my milk in the refrigerator!
Tip #3 : End Giving A Rats Ass About Retention
I probably take the worse memory/retention in this entire community. And I don't let it phase me at all. Mind, if you're trying to memorize the entire volume, you're non going to get anywhere.
I have the worst memory in the unabridged SkipMBA community
While some people take speed-reading to an extreme, there are others who Endeavour to take retentiveness to an extreme. And unless you take an eidetic retention — you're non gonna get anywhere.
When you read for noesis acquisition — you practice so to form mental models in your mind.
A mental model is essentially someone's world view of a sure concept works — then when you lot read, you lot either develop understanding for a new concept or you lot correct your understanding on an old concept.
As yous become through more books, you volition discover that authors are often very redundant. In fact, several books will have the same overlapping information. Authors from the same category will ofttimes reference or quote each other.
All this redundancy will drill the data into your caput and automatically solve your retention issues. So simply focus on getting through more than books — and never stop.
Tip #4 : Claiming Yourself — The Ability Of Regression
This is one of the main reasons I recommend disregarding speed when you merely commencement off. In fact you should probably never prioritize speed .
Your priorities should e'er be cognition acquisition and to learn something specific. You can prioritize speed after those conditions are met.
Priority should be to learn — not speed!
One of the reasons some people read faster than others is because they have a firmer grip on the concepts, sentence structure and vocabulary of the book. They don't take to stop, and read sentences over and over again — something called regression.
Regression is of import. Y'all need to read over new concepts over and over again to crystallize your mental models. In one case you attain a firmer grasp on a concept, you'll find yourself breezing through the paragraph when it'south referenced in another book.
Final Thoughts
As you lot may take noticed, these tips build on each other. If you lot use these tips in conjunction, you will find yourself reading faster & retaining more without actively trying to do so.
It's circular — each tip is a catalyst for the other.
Reducing the bulwark volition ensure you read more oft. Not caring about your reading speed will ensure you lot don't disappoint yourself past setting unrealistic goals. This will ensure you build a habit of reading without quitting.
Finally, regression coupled with the redundancy in books will ensure you retain more data and build mental models.
If you liked this post, delight ❤ and follow! As well, bank check out the DIY-MBA Reading List
Most the Author : Shawn Dexter is an Entrepreneur, Product Manager, and erstwhile Software Developer. Later completing his MSc in Reckoner Science and accumulating years of piece of work experience, Shawn was set up to pursue his MBA in a top business schoolhouse. But subsequently extensive inquiry Shawn decided to self-written report an MBA. You can join Shawn on his journey to a self-directed MBA at http://SkipMBA.com
Source: https://medium.com/@dexter.shawn/speed-reading-is-bullsh-t-4-tips-to-read-more-retain-more-f3ff3d8236cb
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