I read a lot of books and my friends often wonder how I’m able to do it. First of all, it’s important to acknowledge that I haven’t always been a reader. When I began graduate studies at seminary, I was shocked how much I was assigned to read. Learning to process more pages in less time was, very simply, a learned survival skill. Non-negotiable. Along the way, I have picked up some strategies that help me be a continuously high-volume reader. Here are some of the most effective ones.
Read what you want.
If you pick up a book and it doesn’t grab you by the end of the first chapter, put it down and find another one. (You can give it two chapters if you want to be gracious.) Do not feel morally obligated to marry the book just because you took it out on a date! Also, remember that books tend to find us when we need them. If the book doesn’t speak to you now, it may do so later. Put it on the shelf and you will likely come back around to it. More than once I have picked up an abandoned book to find that it was exactly what I needed at the moment, whereas it was completely uninteresting before. (Students do not have the liberty of being this choosy; you simply have to read what you’ve been assigned. However, you can choose which ones to read first and which to leave for later.)
Read faster.
This one is huge and, honestly, deserves a post unto itself. I used to be an incredibly slow reader. I struggled to finish a book. When I first enrolled in graduate school, I was required to take a workshop on how to read. This is when I was introduced to the concept of speed reading. I balked at the idea at first; it felt like cheating! However, I realized I had some reading habits that were slowing me WAY down. These are the strategies that helped me break my slow reading habits.
First, prepare for fast reading. This is kind of like a runner studying the course map before the race. Read the title and subtitle, back cover material, and table of contents. Once you have an idea of what the book is about and how it is arranged, you can move at a quicker pace.
Second, stop reading every word aloud in your head. This habit slowed me down more than anything else. When I was challenged to break it, I found that my brain could process words on a page much faster than my internal voice could speak them “aloud”.
Third, begin reading clause-for-clause (or even line-for-line) instead of word-for-word. When you turn your internal narrator off, you find that you can use your sense of sight to read (as opposed to your sense of mental hearing) and almost inhale words! At first I was concerned that I might miss a word by reading this way and, somehow, miss important info. It was true — I would miss a word here or there. However, I found that I comprehended more than enough information to justify reading this way.
Fourth, trace the sentences with a pen or highlighter as you read. I use a highlighter (with the cap on) and follow along under the sentence. You will find that this will help keep your eyes focused, improve your tracking, and stay aware of your reading speed. (If you are a runner or swimmer who uses a breathing pattern to keep tempo, you can relate.)
This approach to reading faster is not skimming and it’s not what some people mean when they refer to speed reading. I have heard folks say that reading the first and last line in a paragraph (or even on a page!) can be considered “reading.” I don’t do that. I read the whole book, I just read it quickly.
Read differently.
Not every book requires the same reading approach. I power through some books and saunter through others. Books that can typically be read very quickly include the following categories: fiction (especially from modern authors), personal growth, leadership, self-help, and non-academic books written for the general audience. Books that typically require a slower reading speed include: classic literature, ancient works (basically anything written before the Enlightenment), academic books, etc. A friend of mine once said, “Give the book the attention it deserves.” You can watch a Marvel movie while scrolling Facebook and not miss much. However, you stop and gaze at a Monet painting. Decide which one the book is and read it appropriately.
Read the right thing at the right time.
When I’m not drowning in a sea of assigned reading, I choose to read non-fiction in the morning and fiction in the evening. My mind is refreshed and ready to focus in the morning, so I choose to do the reading that requires attention during that time. In the evening, my mind wants to relax and be entertained, so I reserve my fiction reading for the end of the day.
Read instead.
Be honest with yourself about your use of time. It’s been said that there is no such thing as time management because we all have the same 24 hours in a day. In reality, we struggle with priority management. Is reading a priority? You can choose to scroll social media or watch a movie or browse the internet. Read instead.
Read habitually.
When we make something a habit, life doesn’t feel right without it. Work to make reading a habit to such a degree that you feel “off” if you’re not reading. For several years I taught guitar professionally and I would advise students to schedule their practice time just before or after another established habit. Perhaps you can tag reading onto something in your morning or evening routine; your efforts to make reading a habit can be assisted by the habits that already exist in your life. I read early in the morning before the family wakes up and after dinner when everyone has retired to his/her own bedroom. (This also keeps reading from taking away from family time unnecessarily.) My wife and I read in the bed just before we go to sleep.
Humanity’s best thoughts and brightest ideas throughout our existence are available to us in the form of books. The popular media formats of today (movies, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc) pale in comparison to the riches contained in the written word. Read more books and read better books. You can do it and your brain will thank you.
Do you have reading strategies that help you? Share them in the comments!
