Did you know our minds can process 400 words a minute? Despite our ability to digest large volumes of information in a short amount of time we inhibit ourselves by stressing to retain and memorize each word, which is stored in short-term memory and forgotten, instead of focusing on the overall message.
In 10 days to read faster, we are told the most important skill any of us are ever taught is the ability to read, yet we stop learning reading techniques at too young of an age to really perfect the skill, and it ends up serving more as a stress factor than an ability to enhance our lives.
Maybe that’s why according to PEW Research, over a quarter of Americans say they haven’t read a book in the past year. That’s kinda sad, and I’m not just saying that as an author.
Studies have found that people who read novels develop a larger capacity for empathy than those who don’t. That’s obviously not to say people who don’t read cannot feel empathetic, but the correlation still exists.
One of the main reasons people read slowly is that they try to read every word. Their eyes will stop up to 8 times reading a single sentence, hindering their momentum and creating stress, because not only are they trudging along the page, they aren’t retaining any information.
Another problem individuals face is they will mouth the words while reading, slowing their mind down to follow the speed of their lips, which as mentioned above is much slower than our maximum ability to delivering and retain information.
10 Days to Faster Reading offers brief exercises, they may seem strenuous at first but will ultimately help you read faster and retain more (which is the ultimate goal). These exercises are teaching yourself to literally read between the lines; that way your peripherals will pick up on the text of the following sentence before you even get to it, thus it will already enter your mind before you move your attention to it.
Focusing on keywords in the sentence and allowing your mind to fill in the rest by context. Our mind is actually very good at this. Though it may feel uncomfortable at first, if you focus on the keywords you will be able to recite the entire sentence word for word (or just about).
Finally, do not look back. Re-reading not only halts any momentum you’ve built, but it will also create a subconscious stress to memorize the words, which will actually make retaining the information more difficult.
The main key to reading faster seems to be just trusting your mind.
Personally, I’m excited to keep practicing this skill and after just a single day I’m already noticing a difference.
No need to even buy the book, just remember that reading is like any other skill; practice makes perfect and the more you practice the exercises above the stronger reader you will become.
R.K. Gold 