If you’ve been focused on improving your speed reading skills, you’ve probably interpreted the title of this post to mean that we’re about to give you some tips on how to read twice as fast as you already to. While reading faster is a good goal, it’s not the topic of today’s post. Instead, we’re going to talk about things that you can do to save time by eliminating material that you don’t actually need to read. After all, if you cut your to-be-read pile in half, you’re getting through the pile twice as fast, so that’s double your reading speed even if your actual words-per-minute rate hasn’t changed at all. Here’s how:
Start each week by sorting through your material. This means skimming through documents, magazines, and e-mails to identify what’s essential and what’s not. If you’re on a group e-mail list that fills your inbox with things “you might want to read” but that you know aren’t directly applicable to your job, move them into a separate file folder. They’ll be there if you need them, but not taking the time you need now to deal with more relevant information.
Cut down bulky trade journals and reports by cutting out the articles you need. If you’re looking at a long airline flight and need to occupy several otherwise unproductive hours, then feel free to read each magazine cover to cover. But if you’re looking at a stack of magazines that’s three feet high on the corner of your desk, you’ll save time by skimming the table of contents, locating the articles you need, and tearing those pages out of the magazine. If you can’t tear out the pages, then use sticky notes to mark the articles so that you can go directly to them later.
Lower your stress level by taking notes on what you read. You might think that this is actually adding time to the reading project, and it will take some time at first to get used to the process. However, if you call up a searchable text document and get into the habit of typing in your notes on the reading material as you go, you’ll find that you’ve got a customized database that has the essential information you need later – without the stress of having to wonder where you left that scrap of paper you jotted down notes on, or whether you accurately remember what you read.
Remember that reading is adding to your professional skill set. You might feel uncomfortable sitting at your desk “just reading” but you’re not “just” doing anything – you’re focusing on gaining the information you need to do your job. Feel confident in the process, and that will help you relax and smooth out your reading speed, allowing you to concentrate on quickly processing the text in front of you.
