Speed Reading

If you read my post "Does Read Speeding Work," you've already seen that the key to stop subvocalizing is to not give yourself the time to. How do you do that? Simple: read faster! Let's say that the fastest you can talk in your head is 300-350 words per minute. You should have a tough time subvocalizing at 500wpm if you can't speak that fast. Let me equate this process to making you comfortable with driving at 120mph by starting you off at 300mph. Learning to take in 500 words per minute or faster will have a learning curve, but here's how it's done.

Take a book that you have available, and turn it upside down. Yes, upside down! Open it up to the beginning (well, the end) and set it flat on a table. Put your hand gently on the place where you would start reading (the words are, of course, upside down). Using your hand as a guide, move it across the lines of the page at a rapid rate, following the tips of your fingers as it goes. Do this for several minutes, and don't worry if your fingers don't glide across EVERY single line. The goal here is to let your eyes move across the page, picking up each word/line/paragraph. Try for speed and consistency. It should be fairly easy since we won't get caught up in the story line of an upside down book!

After doing this exercise, turn the book right side up. Try and read the book at a rate that seems natural to you. You will probably find that you're trying to read faster than you can subvocalize. This process can get frustrating, because you've conditioned yourself to always want to subvocalize when reading. All I can say is "keep at it," because it will work for you. As you begin picking up on words, phrases, and sentences, you should try the exercise again. Turn your book upside down and have at it.

You may notice that you're starting to read more than one word at once, and possibly more than one line at once. If so, good job! You're on the right track. I encourage you to look into speed reading courses and find one that is a good fit for you so that you can continue your growth in this area. This skill has saved me quite a bit of time, and kept me on top of the game in several ways.

Every young entrepreneur knows that in the information age, there is simply too much material that needs read, and not enough time to do it in. That's why I learned how to speed read. Most people that I've talked to about speed reading are under the impression that speed reading is the same as scanning. Even Woody Allen said:

"I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It involves Russia. "

For those that think speed reading jumbles things up and makes ledgible text look like the title of this article (did you notice the Spoonerism?), you should try this exercise:

1. Grab a couple index cards.
2. Have a friend write a few simple questions (that you'll know the answers to), one on each card.
3. Have him flash the question in front of you for half a second, and then take the card away.
4. See if you can answer the question.

Chances are, you can! This simple exercise is truly the foundation of the speed reading that I have learned. It removes the one crutch keeping you from reading at outstanding rates: Subvocalization. Since you were able to see the question, read it without subvocalizing, and then answer it, you have proven to yourself that you don't lose comprehension speed reading!

Just that exercise answers the question "Does speed reading really work?" It does! It is also valid for higher rates of reading, and more difficult subjects than fun trivia. I've used it to pass history exams with only 15 minutes of study (right before the exam, actually). Sadly, stopping the subvocalization process is a little more difficult than just doing this exercise. With enough dedication, however, you can make significant progress in a short amount of time. Here shortly, I'll be posting an article about how to stop subvocalizing. Check back, and put it to the test to see how long it takes you to get through your Inc. Magazine this month! 

If you're like most people (the odds are in my favor in guessing that), you realize that there's too much stuff to do, and not enough time to do it in. This is especially true of young entrepreneurs because you're being pulled in every direction all the time. It's suprising how much time is wasted each day because people don't realize that there are faster ways to do common (and necessary) tasks to increase the time you have to accomplish your goals. Here are three things that I've made a conscious effort to improve that resulted in more usable hours during the day:

• Becoming an Early Riser

  I was curious about how those early morning folks did it, so I Googled it and found a great article on the subject. It took a little practice automating my awakening (so that I couldn't talk myself out of it), but the results were excellent. I sleep between 5 and 8 hours, averaging 6.5 each day. Assuming that most young entrepreneurs feel sleep deprived at 8 hours, let's say I'm gaining 1.5 hours a day simply by being an early riser! That's a gain of almost 3.5 times the normal work-month in my year!

• Learning to Read Effectively

  "Does it really work," you might ask. Yes! My freshman year of college, I found a little flyer on my desk as I walked into class. On it, it promised that I could read up to 3 times faster by taking this course. I thought about the benefits and decided to attend the 1 hour "seminar" advertised on the flyer. The presenter explained that she could teach me how to read much faster, and study more efficiently, by attending her course. She then showed proof that it worked by running me through a few exercises. Just in that hour, my reading bumped up by 100 words per minute. After taking the course (at a minimal cost compared to its savings), I was at around 1000 words per minute with no loss in comprehension. Don't let any non-speed readers tell you that it doesn't work if they haven't tried it! I know I have saved several hours a year using this skill, and I've been able to obtain more information than I could have beforehand.

• Getting Things Done

  Since I never really cared to be the most organized person in the world, there were a lot of things I was supposed to do that slipped through the cracks when they shouldn't have. Mostly, homework. I finally got tired of it and wanted to figure out a way to keep on top of all of the things that I had to do. I'd read about Getting Things Done in a few different places, and thought I'd give it a shot. I bought the audiobook from iTunes, and listened while I was out and about. Unlike many systems that only work when you do everything to the letter, Getting Things Done gives you several productivity enhancing ideas. In my opinion, the two most helpful are defining a next action, and reminding yourself of pending actions. If you are even the least bit unorganized, consider buying the book, or renting it from your local library. You'll stop wasting your time recovering from dropped balls, unnecessary planing, and trying to remember what's on your plate.

There are a few more things that I do to find more time, and between them all, I feel like I am much more productive than I could have ever been otherwise. I will write more about each of the three ideas above in the future.