This ONE technique helps me read hundreds of pages a day
Updated: Feb 20, 2022
Learn how I went from barely managing 10 pages a day to now nearing or even surpassing 10 times that number
Image: S O C I A L . C U T | Unsplash
I’ve been a slow reader all my life.
It would take me weeks, if not months, to finish a 300-page book.
The only way I thought that could help me read more was a deadline.
Like the one imposed by libraries.
But I soon discovered a technique that now helps me read dozens of pages in one go.
And I’m not just talking about books.
I’m also referring to articles, blog posts, newsletters—everything!
And I actually have a better understanding of what I read.
Here’s what this technique is.
Imagine you’re watching a movie in a cinema hall, with no incentive to rewind.
That’s exactly what you need to do while reading—no rewinding.
In reading parlance, here’s what it’s called.
Do not reread what you’ve read.
Yes, that’s right.
It’s human nature to go back and forth on the sentences we’ve read.
It’s as if we think that doing this will make us remember what we read.
That we’ll understand the sentence better if we keep revisiting it.
That we’ll forget the sentence we’ve read if we don’t linger over it again and again.
But here’s the kicker: You’re going to forget what you read anyway.
The best way to remember what you read is to finish reading the entire article or book in one go and then reread it in another go.
It’s okay if you forget what you read or are unable to understand it.
Keep ploughing on and do not look back!
If you want, after reading every paragraph, summarise it in your head, and then, once you’re done with all paragraphs, summarise the entire chapter or article.
You’ll automatically glean and pick up the details and subtexts in your subsequent reads.
If you have no time for subsequent reads, then just be content with gleaning the summary of the text and paragraphs in your first read. That’s all your mind can help you with at the moment.
It’s all subconscious—summary and gist in the first round, details and subtexts in the subsequent.
Keep practising. The more you read, the better you get. It’s like a muscle that gets stronger with regular, consistent exercise.
For your next book, may I recommend my own if you haven’t read it yet? Buy/download, read, and review PiKu & ViRu here; it’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited! Try my reading technique for this one and see how it goes. I’d love to hear all about it from you!