At work, the “paperless office” doesn’t seem to have made any difference in the amount of paper documents created and circulated. It seems we have nearly the same amount of material to read in a physical form as ever, and in addition, there are e-mails and forwarded articles and all of the other things that appear in our online mailboxes every day. Since it’s hard to know what any of these things are about without at least skimming through them, in order to separate the documents and e-mails that are important from those that aren’t, you need to be able to read them quickly and with comprehension, without getting slowed down by every word.

It’s not just in the business world that people seem to be inundated with information they need to read. If you’re at school, you may be overwhelmed at the amount of reading assignments in your classes. Schools from primary through the university level are being held to higher testing standards, and some teachers are feeling the pressure to push students to achieve specific goals using markers that are easy to track, such as the amount of material covered in class or the number of reference books used.

Whether your goal is a diploma or a promotion, learning to read quickly will help you achieve it. It’s simple: if you read more quickly, it simply takes you less time to go through the materials. If you’re a student, you’ll be able to focus your time spent studying, leaving you more time for writing the essays and papers you need to turn in (or catching up on your sleep!). Anyone in an office job who feels like their work follows them home will also benefit from increased reading skills. When you’re able to get through all of your correspondence and research at work, you won’t have to take it with you to work on in the evening. You’ll enjoy being able to put the last of the day’s reports in the “out box” on your desk (or in the “completed” folder in your computer files) and go home with energy to spare.