Speed Reading Logs
Stream for speed reading stats ( speed, comments on comprehension and qualitative updates )
INIT : Sat Apr 10 10:16:32 IST 2021 (PINNED)
- initialized speed reading logs
- following “Breakthrough Rapid Reading” by Peter Kump
- practicing daily from 18:00 to 18:45, logging the details from 18:45 onwards
- evaluation metrics :
- WPM : words per min
- RI : Retention index (fraction of major ideas retained - subjective)
- REVISED TO AN INDICATOR VARIABLE DUE TO EXTENT OF AMBIGUITY
- from 7th of MAY 2021
- REFILED as : RECALL ATTEMPT INDICATOR - indicates whether that run was recall oriented - *‘ed flags indicated a more reliable test : recall being the prime intention
Closure
- efforts fizzled out during the 6th week of training
- I speed read the last week of the book
- not the glorious end the book deserves but respectful enough that I stuck with it for 85% along the way
- this thread’s been hanging unattended for a while now
- deserves a closure for all the religiously invested effort
- not a waste, worth it.
- final review posted here
Progress
Date | WPM (representative HM) | (RI) –> RAI |
---|---|---|
Wed Jun 2 09:49:40 IST 2021 | 1848.00 | 1 |
Mon May 31 13:50:02 IST 2021 | 3633.20 | 0 |
Tue May 18 19:34:00 IST 2021 | 2145.00 | 1 |
Tue May 18 16:12:41 IST 2021 | 1628.00 | 1* |
Mon May 17 17:00:53 IST 2021 | 2178.00 | 1 |
Sun May 16 20:11:07 IST 2021 | 2437.00 | 1 |
Fri May 7 20:43:21 IST 2021 | 1367.00 | 1 |
Tue May 4 22:36:22 IST 2021 | 1412.00 | (–) –> 0 |
Fri Apr 30 19:44:20 IST 2021 | 1612.00 | (–) –> 0 |
Wed Apr 28 21:07:03 IST 2021 | 1372.00 | (0.60) –> 1 |
Tue Apr 27 20:17:54 IST 2021 | 1958.00 | (–) –> 0 |
Fri Apr 23 20:07:29 IST 2021 | 1210.00 | (–) –> 0 |
Tue Apr 20 19:17:45 IST 2021 | 1240.00 | (0.72) –> 1 |
Sun Apr 18 19:32:42 IST 2021 | 995.00 | (0.66) –> 1 |
Thu Apr 15 20:00:19 IST 2021 | 1311.00 | (–) –> 0 |
Wed Apr 14 18:47:11 IST 2021 | 827.00 | (–) –> 0 |
Tue Apr 13 18:49:38 IST 2021 | 689.58 | (–) –> 0 |
Mon Apr 12 18:31:30 IST 2021 | 366.00 | (0.50) –> 1* |
Practice Logs
Wed Jun 2 09:49:40 IST 2021
- speeding up recall oriented hand-movements (personal goal)
- underlining : 1648.4 -> 1848.0 wpm across the session
- on new material : with the intention of recall (did not actually recall)
- The author stated the importance of recall; says:
- speed reading + recall > reading for all that time
- Personal updates :
- focusing when reading is extremely easy
- longest reading session of 3 hours a week ago on moderately complex material(non-fiction)
- Even for absolutely complex material (philosophy, academic reads
(machine learning), manuals)
- albeit lower speeds, effortless focus and quickly get what I want according to the preset purpose, rather than drifting off tangents
- Major Update :
- overcome the imposter syndrome associated with speed reading:
- “Are you really reading?”
- “Do you even remember that 27th word on the 7th paragraph
of the 3rd chapter of that edition of that particular
book?”
- Bootstrapping knowledge and meaningfully reiterating is much more fun rather than bull-dozing head first from start to finish.
- Reading is a much more active activity pursuit than before
- overcome the imposter syndrome associated with speed reading:
- Speed is not the only thing that this book helps with.
Mon May 31 13:50:02 IST 2021
- returning to the drills after an unwanted break again
- on towards the week 5 drills
- have been practicing with comprehension with my usual readings during the break
- One paragraph structuring drill (hierarchize from the third sentence) lasting for 15 mins
- one hand-movement practicing drills for 20 mins:
- underlining, dusting, slashing, criss-cross
- purpose : visual reading : final clocked rate : 3633.2 wpm with cumulative recall over all these hand movements
- Cause of high speeds : visual reading on known material
Tue May 18 19:35:26 IST 2021
- second practice session the day (20 mins) : Latin has been put on hold until I’m done with this book
- Author now talks about matching different types of reading to different purposes (note that these definitions are opionated as confessed by the author):
- linear reading : difficult material
- skimming : get the gist and cache a mental index of the text : focus on the provided structure to the text (headings et cetera)
- only to quickly retrieve addresses later on once the purpose is clarified
- scanning : close to visual reading : already have a purpose : hunt for something
- visual reading : words are pictures : read in circles or in reverse or as if it’s mandarin(top-down)
- when you know a lot about what you are reading (fairly common) and just want to fill in gaps of knowledge with new details
- or : bootstrapping knowledge (quicker and more granulated skimming (skimming on steroids gone rogue))
- I’ve begun dreaming about parentheses
Tue May 18 16:15:35 IST 2021
- The mid book test today : a highly recall oriented speed reading session : this is the true growth compared to my initial baseline recorded on 12th Apr.
- The test was about reading as much as you can for 3 mins and then spending another 6 mins for jotting down the prominences of what you could recollect.
- satisfied with the performance : 18 pages in 3 mins @ 1628 wpm with a good amount of recall
- Also started with the week 4 drills and content
- Author slowly brings in the idea of reading with high recall in complicated and abstract texts : think philosophy.
- says rates won’t be as high as the superficial stuff but would grow proportionately along with the ceiling : have been experiencing that in my daily reads.
- Also introduces the notion of visual reading while anticipating what is to come next : analogy of a musician (reads notes before playing them)
- Involves looking out for certain pivotal phrases/words that indicate the nature of the following prose.
- finished off with a tagging drill where one has to categorize the third sentence in a hierarchical mannner compared to the first and second sentence of the paragraph
- randomly picked paragraphs and goes on for 6 mins
- was the first time : could do only 14 today : comparitively more involved than the other drills
Mon May 17 17:01:18 IST 2021
- End of week 3 drills, and halfway through the course
- one recall oriented normal reading session (10 pages in 1.5 mins) clocking in @ 2147 wpm
- new paragraphing movement introduced to encourage visual cues instead of relying on sub-vocalization
- along with circling, this aids the brain adapt to consume a group of words as a picture rather than a sequence.
- is effective and after the initial drill : employing this in regular reads was second nature …
- Tomorrow : the mid-book test
Sun May 16 20:11:58 IST 2021
- Took a break from the book for a while
- was practicing with my daily reading quota itself: the drills have been transferring pretty smoothly
- as of right now I’m reading a lot of manuals, papers, and a biography : practical speed has definitely improved
- Today, the author hinted at practicing for speed with comprehension with some children’s books.
- For me, that boils down to some new-age self-help claiming a quick fix for possibly philosophical issues
- am surprised : didn’t expect the practical reading off-time to show up as results in the drills
- One recall-oriented drill clocked in @ 2437 wpm
- pretty satisfied with today’s recall as well
- Noticing progress; getting back on track and finishing this off
Fri May 7 20:47:31 IST 2021
- gotta pickup the habit before I lose it again (this is my second attempt with the book)
- one recall oriented drill clocked in @ 1367 wpm
- might double down on the sessions to get this over with quickly : 30 min sessions - twice a day
Fri Apr 30 19:45:12 IST 2021
- an assortment of mechanical tips were introduced today
- dusting movement introduced
- how to relax a (paperback) book : useful
- how to turn a page
- done with set of drills for week 2, progressing to week 3
- took me 18 days : fair enough
- 1 practice session@1612 wpm sans RI
- need to keep on pushing through
- does get boring at times
Wed Apr 28 21:08:03 IST 2021
- Amping up the difficulty of the practice material
- picked up some abbreviation heavy management textbooks from my Dad’s old MBA stack
- 1 final speed drill@1372wpm and RI (0.60)
- RI is not a very good metric
- rely on subjective analysis
- Did scan the upcoming chapters of the book and they seem practical
- this is not a magic trick
- some disciplined practice is what it takes : that is good.
Tue Apr 27 20:18:19 IST 2021
- setting up the meta-base for future comprehension drills
- one representative run @1958 wpm without RI
- one para-hunting session @ 22 paras
- speed drills getting a little more enjoyable
- fairly strong habit by now but still need to choose to get drilling
- need to learn how to daemonize these skills without much lack of awareness
Mon Apr 26 21:01:37 IST 2021
- comprehension drills: using recall
- no speed runs
- new recall strategy being employed : referred as “The Magic Line” by the author
- new para-hunting drills employed : figure out the gist of as many randomly selected paragraphs in 5 mins
- introducing new log in Progress : 15 today
Fri Apr 23 20:08:04 IST 2021
- practiced maintaining high speed on new material and in a normal reading environment
Tue Apr 20 19:18:01 IST 2021
- Comprehension on a steady rise
- current evaluation is very lenient but somewhat uniform
- how does one fixate on a particular level of astuteness consistently?
- 1 drilling session resulting in 1 min read @ 1240wpm and one discourse about having a purpose when reading
- the more clearly defined the purpose, the better
- key is to match the correct technique with the material depending on the purpose
Sun Apr 18 19:33:08 IST 2021
- Comprehension drills incorporated today:
- involves varying speed corresponding to the structure of the text
- mostly shifting modes of confirmation of knowns and scanning new information
- more fun than the usual speed drilling :
- enhances reading as a non-linear process and is easier to focus through out
- compared to a consistent effort of maintaining speed and inferring things at the same time
- enhances reading as a non-linear process and is easier to focus through out
- Retention index incorporated back and things are getting exciting
- as expected, the speed dropped but the improvement is going to be cyclic and decoupled so that’s all well
Thu Apr 15 20:00:42 IST 2021
- drilling time : learning to move fast : RI is out of the picture right now
- lot of drills and one representative run of 1 min @ 1311 wpm
- seems odd and feel like a cheat but the author reinstates that drilling should be specific to either speed or comprehension
- also trying to minimize sub-vocalization and instead start seeing words : building an instantaneous context about a prominent word/phrase in the locality
Wed Apr 14 18:47:41 IST 2021
- focusing on eliminating regressions and getting used to the right hand as a pacer
- still not focusing on retention index yet: that has of course taken a temporary hit
- but the key is to drill these two aspects orthogonally
- also tried reducing the number of saccades by trying to increase the number of words left out in the beginning and the end of the line
- this is particularly difficult : have a habit of reading all words
- occasionally, slips do occur and reinforcing form from the next line is what it’ll take to forge the new habit
- larger drill session today : four three minute untested runs on the same material to encourage carelessness and practice speed
- final tested run on new material for three minutes @ 827 wpm, RI not applicable
Tue Apr 13 18:50:03 IST 2021
- no comprehension evals today : hence RI wasn’t Applicable
- two runs: 707 and 673 wpm
- using harmonic mean as representative wpm : 689.58
- these are rates and arithmetic mean is not appropriate
- will similarly be using geometric mean for retention index in the future
- as it’s a ratio
- using right hand index finger as pacer
- helps eliminate regressions
- author encourages to do this everywhere while picking up the skill
- seems inconvenient given the book is old
- not focusing on retention index today
Mon Apr 12 18:29:03 IST 2021
- gauging baseline, no specific techniques employed
- Baseline Eval:
- WPM : 366 wpm
- RI : 0.5
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