How to READ Faster and RETAIN More 🧠📚

The Power of Reading

In this section, Jim Kwik talks about the importance of reading and how it can give you an advantage in life. He also discusses the challenge of reading slowly and not being able to comprehend what you read.

The Challenge of Reading Slowly

• If a book has been sitting on your shelf for too long, it becomes "shelf help" instead of self-help.

• People have different chronotypes that affect their reading speed and comprehension.

• Reading speed is limited by speaking speed if you have to say all the words inside your mind while reading.

The Advantage of Reading

• Reading one book per week can give you a huge advantage over someone who only reads two books per year.

• Leaders are readers, and reading can help you gain knowledge quickly.

• The average person reads only a few books per year, while CEOs read four or five books per month.

Steps to Read More Effectively

Keep an Active Book List

• Keep track of books that interest you in an active book list.

Test Your Reading Speed

• Time yourself reading for 60 seconds and count the number of lines you read. This gives you your lines-per-minute (LPM).

• To convert LPM to words-per-minute (WPM), multiply LPM by 10 (assuming 10 words per line).

Improve Your Comprehension

• Use techniques such as skimming, scanning, and note-taking to improve comprehension.

• Practice focusing on what's important while reading.

Make Time for Reading

• Set aside time each day for reading.

• Use dead time (e.g. waiting in line) to read.

Read with Purpose

• Have a clear purpose for reading each book.

• Take notes and apply what you learn.

Surround Yourself with Books

• Create an environment that encourages reading.

• Keep books in places where you spend a lot of time.

Join a Book Club

• Joining a book club can help keep you accountable and motivated to read.

• Discussing books with others can also help improve comprehension.

How to Read Faster and Finish a Book in a Week

In this section, the speaker provides tips on how to read faster and finish a book in a week.

Tips for Reading Faster

• Schedule your reading time and treat it as important.

• Stretch yourself by reading faster than you normally do.

• Listen to music, preferably classical or Baroque, to help drown out your internal voice.

• Use pattern interrupts such as humming, chewing gum, or counting numbers to distract yourself from subvocalization.

Subvocalization

• Subvocalization is the habit of saying words inside your mind while reading.

• It limits your reading speed to your talking speed instead of your thinking speed.

• To reduce subvocalization, stretch yourself by reading faster than usual, listen to music that agrees with you, and use pattern interrupts like humming or counting numbers.

Quick Reading Course

In this section, Jim Kwik introduces his quick reading course and explains how it can transform one's life. He also talks about the problem of having too much to read but too little time.

The Quick Reading Course

• The quick reading course is designed to help people transform their lives in just 15 minutes a day for 21 days.

• People often have too much to read but too little time, which is why the quick reading course was created.

• Reading fatigue is a real thing that people experience when they want to read and get information in their head. Taking breaks is important to avoid eye strain.

• Eye strain caused by fixations where people stop at every single word takes more time and energy, causing fatigue.

Ways to Increase Mental Acuity, Energy, and Focus

In this section, Dr. Michael Bruce discusses ways to increase mental acuity, energy, and focus while combating fatigue.

Understanding Chronotypes

• Different chronotypes have different alertness times. Between 1 pm and 3 pm in the afternoon is generally not a good time for most people because there's a small core body temperature drop that releases melatonin in our brains.

• Knowing your chronotype can help you figure out exactly when your perfect time to read is.

Combating Fatigue

• Eye fatigue caused by fixations where people are stopping at every single word takes more time and energy. When people read faster, they actually have better comprehension because they have better focus.

• People think that if they read faster, their comprehension will go down. However, students in over 180 countries have shown that when people read faster, they actually have better comprehension because they have better focus.

• When it comes to focus, reading faster is similar to driving a car at breakneck speeds. You're more focused and less likely to be distracted by other things.

Boosting Your Reading Comprehension

In this section, Jim Kwik shares three techniques to boost your reading comprehension. He emphasizes the importance of not just reading something but also retaining and understanding it.

The Three R's

• The first R is to read. You can only understand something if you actually read it.

• The second R is to relate. Read something and then talk about what you're reading to somebody else. This trains yourself to learn what it really means to understand something.

• The third R is writing. Take notes while reading, information processed through your eyes into your brain can be put out there by either verbalizing or writing it down.

Techniques for Boosting Reading Comprehension

• Avoid subvocalization, that inner voice you hear inside your head while you read because if you have to say all the words to yourself, you can only read as fast as you could speak.

• Relate and talk about what you read with someone else so that the information becomes personalized and organized in your mind.

• Write notes while reading because information processed through your eyes into your brain can be put out there by either verbalizing or writing it down.

Personal Experience

• Jim Kwik shares his personal experience of having a brain injury at the age of five which led him to have learning difficulties and challenges such as bad focus and difficulty understanding what teachers were saying.

• He emphasizes how relating and talking about what he was reading helped him understand things better, which eventually led him on a path towards becoming a memory trainer.

Traditional Speed Reading vs Reading Comprehension

• Traditional speed reading has long been associated with skimming words, skipping words, and getting the gist of what you read. However, it doesn't make sense to have speed if you don't understand what you're reading.

• Jim Kwik emphasizes that there are two parts to reading: reading speed and reading comprehension.

Organizing Information in a Quick Reading Program

In this section, the speaker discusses how to organize information in a quick reading program using a grid system.

Using a Grid System

• To organize information in a quick reading program, use a grid system.

• Break a piece of paper into four parts and ask specific questions.

• The left side is for capturing information about what you're reading, such as who the characters are and what's going on with the plot.

• The right side is for creating notes about what you wonder will happen next and how it relates to what you've already understood.