Quick Reading Hack When Time is Short
One of my favorite bloggers, Bert Webb has introduced his quick and dirty way on getting through his piles of reading. He uses the 80/20 rules and apply this rule to his method of quick reading. First he identifies the 20% of the words that contains 80% of the content. Then he comes up with a plan of 10 sections on the books. Here are five sections which are the most important in my opinion:
1. Read the title of the material.
2. Read the introduction.
3. Read the Table of Contents.
4. Flip through the material, scanning the chapter titles and sub-headings. Note the words that stand out as bold, different colors, underlined, or italicized.
5. Look at the illustrations and captions. Look at the charts and diagrams. Read the pull-quotes and sidebars.
A Quick and Dirty Reading Strategy When Time is Short – [Open Loops]
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Comments
Jaco says on November 12th, 2005 at 2:23 am
read the start and ending of paragraphs to at least know what it is about.
Kuz says on November 12th, 2005 at 2:36 am
Then he comes up with a plan of 10 sections on the books. Here are five sections which are the most important in my opinion:
So this post is actually a “Quick Reading Hack When Time is Too Short to Read Quick Reading Hacks”?
James Hamilton says on November 12th, 2005 at 9:50 am
That sounds spookily similar to the approach outlined in Tony Buzan’s “Use Your Head”. Given how well that works, I’d say kudos to Bert if he’s worked it out on his own or adapted it to his own needs.
Owen says on November 12th, 2005 at 11:12 am
I wish we knew what was regarded as quick and slow here. Most people who haven’t worked at it read at between 200 and 300 words per minute. With training that can go to over 1000 words per minute at times. That actually means reading everything – NOT skipping sections etc. Instead you learn to very reading speed on the fly by learning how to focus on what is important. Sounds weird, but it works. I was already a pretty fast reader but my high school in England offered a speed reading course and it taught you how to do things like pick out key words and phrases on the fly even in material you aren’t familiar with. We were tested on reading speed and comprehension before the course and after and not only did speed imnprove for everyone by at least 15% (some well over 100%) but comprehension improved as well.
I have found this to be one of the single most useful skills I was ever taught and it has been a boon to me in every phase of my life.
I’d say Rick Ostrov’s book is more along the lines of what I was taught – it is a skill that anyone can learn but that you DO have to practice and work at until it becomes your normal way of reading.
Chi Shu Lan Chang says on April 28th, 2006 at 5:50 am
I dont no any tips but al of you are not good tips and I tried it.
Chi Shu Lan Chang says on April 29th, 2006 at 5:13 am
Fook yu crazie peple i no yur mama liks 2 beng me yeserde!yu peple r sofa king tardid