Olivia
Picture this. You’re nine years old, and there’s a stack of Harry Potter books on your nightstand. You’ve already finished reading the first four books in only two days, and you’re nearly done with the fifth one. Your friends envy how fast you’re reading, and you can’t wait to get started on another series.
Now, in 2021, you’re stuck at home as a result of the pandemic, and you can’t seem to finish more than a few pages at a time, let alone a whole book.
If you’re struggling to find ways to become a faster reader, keep reading!
In this article, we’re sharing our top five tips to become a faster reader.
Set realistic goals for yourself when reading.
This might sound like a bland and basic piece of advice, but it’s incredibly helpful. Think about it. If you find yourself reading at a speed that’s slower than you’d like, telling yourself that you’re going to read 250 pages a day is unrealistic, and it might put you off reading even more. Instead, start by reading 5-10 pages a day, or choose a number that works for you and stick to it.
After a while, increase that number and continue sticking to it.
Read different kinds of material.
When we think of reading, our minds tend to jump to reading books only. Instead of limiting yourself to only reading books, try reading the newspaper or articles online. This way, you’re reading smaller chunks of text, but you’re still reading nevertheless.
To challenge yourself, try reading three short stories in one go from an online magazine that you enjoy, or read a long-form piece of journalism.
We’ve found that reading the same kinds of material repeatedly demotivates a person from reading faster or reading at all.
Read much MORE.
Again, another piece of advice that sounds like something you might have heard when you were in primary school from an overbearing teacher, but fortunately, it’s advice that works.
Remember the adage ‘practice makes perfect? That’s where this piece of advice comes in handy. The more you read, the more you’re unconsciously practicing, and the faster you’re reading.
Just like writing, reading is a skill that takes time to develop, especially if it’s a hobby that you’re not drawn to in your life. If you’re in graduate school and you’re studying all the time, reading is a well-developed skill that you should already possess, especially if you are reading all the time.
Read as often as you can, even if it’s smaller pieces of text.
Eliminate distractions when you set out to read something.
Now that you’ve decided you want to read faster, a good piece of advice to keep in mind is that you must try and get rid of as many distractions as possible.
Put your phone on silent mode, ask your family or friends not to disturb you, and try to sit in the quietest place you can find. Carve some time out for yourself in a calm place, and get to reading. It doesn’t matter if you do this for only 20 minutes a day. Just make you that you set some time aside during the day that’s dedicated to reading.
By carving out time to read and focusing only on the text in front of you, you’ll find that you’re not spending too much time getting distracted by the things that surround you. Eventually, you will start to read faster!
Begin reading a text with an intention.
When you approach a text, make sure you know what you want to get out of it before you start reading. For instance, if you’re reading a 30 page paper for a college assignment, you’re obviously not reading for fun. Make sure that you read intending to gain instead of knowledge and information from that paper instead of reading it without any goal in mind.
Approaching a text with a clear understanding of what you want to gain from reading it will help you read more efficiently, and eventually, you’ll start reading a lot more faster.
Conclusion
For some people, reading is an enjoyable hobby that they can’t do without. These people go through books quickly, while many other people find it hard to get through a single page of text without feeling overwhelmed!
In this article, we covered five different ways that’ll help you become a better and faster reader!
