If you’re determined to become a faster reader, nothing will stop you. But in your quest to master the techniques of successful speed reading, you will no doubt, hit some potholes along the way. The trick is to know how to handle these problem areas that could easily flatten your tires and cause you to detour or revert back to your old ways.
Here are 3 obstacles you will likely encounter as you attempt to increase your reading speed:
1. Distractions. Staying focused is a huge problem – not just for reading, but for doing practically any meaningful task these days. But focusing on what needs to be done is absolutely crucial to attaining any kind of meaningful result with speed reading.
Before beginning any speed reading exercise, it’s important to clear your mind of the usual barrage of thoughts and concerns nesting there. The closer you get to 100% focus – the better. What is your purpose in reading faster? Have a compelling reason why you’re doing it and stay on track and on purpose.
It helps to work in short spurts. Give it your all and zero in on your reading tasks for just 15 – 20 minutes at a time. That’s all it takes, but do this every day. Then get on with those other pressing issues.
2. Unknown Words. Vocabulary that challenges you can stop you cold. If it’s only the odd word, that’s one thing. But if there are several words in each paragraph that trigger a “huh?” reaction, you’re in for a rough ride. If it’s difficult to read slowly, it won’t get any better with speed reading.
But most of the time, vocabulary challenges are limited to a token word here and there. When it’s a case of not understanding a word, simply make it off in pencil and continue on your speed reading journey. In most cases, the meaning becomes apparent when you grasp the context of the whole paragraph. If it’s still a little fuzzy, don’t worry about it. You’ve marked it and can look it up later.
3. Difficult Reading Material. Not everything you read will be easy to consume quickly. You may find yourself immersed in technical writing or other material that is challenging to you. Best thing to do here is to read the material several times to get it in detail.
At first glance, that might seem counter-productive. After all, you want t read faster and how can you accomplish this by “reading” the same content more than once?
The answer is to employ speed reading tools like skimming, scanning, and previewing. The secret is to expose your eyes and mind to the material multiple times, but to do so in rapid fashion. You decide what requires additional attention and you decide on the reading speed for any segment. Choose appropriately.
Want to learn successful speed reading techniques today? You absolutely can! All it takes are a few basic techniques and you can easily double or triple your reading rate. Anyone can do this — what about YOU? Visit my site now for more FREE TIPS, techniques, tactics and helpful resources: http://www.speedreadtips.com.
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