Speed Reading Closure
TL;DR
- Speed Reading is more about seeing words rather than reading them.
- sub-vocalization is important: albeit only for certain pivoting textual structures.
- creating sub-conscious visual cues is more rewarding.
- It is okay to not understand a passage completely in the first pass.
- Eliminating regressions(back and forth between the reading head and un-understood text) is a major key to speed up.
- All text is not meant to be read similarly.
- Expect the Imposter Syndrome to kick-in soon when you begin
drilling.
- Expect to get over it soon when you begin blazing past fairly complex texts.
- A pacer is very important for drilling but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t wish to use one.
Really not that long though, I keep it concise.
For around 3 months, I had been acquiring the skill to speed
read. Began circa mid April 2021 and ceased deliberate practice in the
first week of June.
I was interested in testing this out because I like to
read. That wasn’t the case always but I’ve grown to prefer textual
over visual media for some time now. The fact that I would be able to
boost the efficacy of my academic reads as well would just be one of the
perks.
I followed the book “Breakthrough Rapid Reading” by Peter Kump:
a 6 week long assortment of tips, drilling progressions and
basic tactics regarding the skill of speed-reading.
Comprehensive logs of the same can be found here
This post serves as a checkpoint-log for the efforts
invested and formulating them so as to allow future learners to
have a better perspective regarding the same.
Thoughts about the book
- works.
- gotta drill though.
You can visit the logs for a more book-oriented overview of my experience.
The only complaint I have with the book is that it over-hypes the
usage of a pacer. Given the environment we live in today, that might
not always be possible : e-readers and laptops aren’t really built to
endure that kind of repetitive abuse and you’d also look foolish(one
shouldn’t care about that though).
This is why I picked up the book twice, the first time around I didn’t
have access to hard-copies and the author insisted upon practicing
with them which, to be fair to the author, is a valid ask as a pacer
definitely helps eliminate regressions: I’m not sure if I’d progress as
much as I have, without a pacer. Doesn’t matter if you use it
later on or not, do rely on it while drilling.
Other than being a little out of date for the modern-day academic, the
book delivers upon what it promises to.
In the wild
I read a lot of non-fiction : almost only non-fiction : biographies,
historical accounts, articles, research, productivity blogs and so on
…
I’m doing just fine without a pacer and reaping the benefits of the investment. A major observable improvement is that one is much more conducive to focus while reading as it becomes a very active process and you flow ,rather than plow when you drill, through it.
Reading is definitely more fun.
Conclusion
Speed Reading is a learnable skill.
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