Gotta stay productive. In my opinion, productivity is an essential part of every freelancer’s toolkit.
I’m kind of a productivity junkie. Over the years, I’ve read all kinds of books on the subject, adopted and discarded all kinds of “systems”, and run the gambit of productivity tools from BlackBerries to iPhones to pushpins on a cork board.
I also like to follow blogs dedicated to the subject (My favourite: http://www.jasonwomackblog.com/)
And after experimenting with many different ways to be more productive, I’m finally happy – actually thrilled – with the system I use today. Along the way, however, I kept encountering “speed reading” as a must learn skill for anyone who wants to be uber-productive…
Before I go any further I must disclose that I have myself experimented with speed reading on a few occasions. (But it was when I was younger, and I only indulged at parties where lots of other people were doing it.)
What kind of feeling did it leave me with? Well, to paraphrase a famous politician, “I did try it… but I did not like it.”
Am I missing something?
I’ve never been impressed by the idea that I could consume 100 books in a year. Why in heaven’s name would I want to do that? Why would anyone? When I read a book for business or self development purposes, the whole point, in my opinion, is to be able to understand and apply what I am reading.
Take a book, any book, off my bookshelf and you’re likely to find the pages filled with my own handwritten notes, stars, check marks, boxes drawn around paragraphs, exclamation points, even sticky tabs. I often read with a notebook beside me, so I can make notes about the concepts presented, and how I can apply the techniques I discover.
And if I’m really diggin’ the material, I’ll pick up the audio version of the book too, so I can listen to the material in the car or on a run.
This kind of focused, intense study lets me really get into not a hundred but a handful of outstanding books each year. By applying some of the teachings I’ve discovered in the pages of great books, I’ve made tremendous improvements in my life and in my freelance business.
Is it time consuming to take such a deep dive approach with the books I’ve chosen to read? I’m not going to lie to you… of course it is. My belief, based on my experience, is that speeding up the intake of new material ultimately lessons understanding and retention.
But am I wrong?
What about you? Does the idea of speed reading appeal to you? Why or Why not?
And if you ARE a speed reader… please enlighten me. Is it really a productivity skill that we freelancers should invest in and practice? Can one speed read AND fully absorb and understand the content of the material?
~
Pete Savage is co-founder of The Wealthy Freelancer. He’ll be presenting at this year’s Copywriting Summit … at an easy-to-follow pace so you can understand and apply what he’ll be teaching. 
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
I was born (or so it seems) with the natural ability to read fast. I’ve averaged over 300 books a year (I remember that because that’s when I started winning school reading challenges) since I was in grade 2.
Is it an advantage? Sure, I can keep up with new books and scour websites and read ebooks faster than anyone I know
And yes! I retain the information and take notes and apply what I learn. Okay, maybe not the stuff in the fluff books. I read 70% fluff and 30% learning materials in my spare time. Mostly because I do need to reset my brain away from business.
That said, if I didn’t have the ability, I wouldn’t seek it out as a skill.
I have never tried speed reading so I can’t comment from experience, but I can say that it has never appealed to me. I feel like I read as quickly as I can, and even then I sometimes have to re-read sentences or paragraphs to make sure I fully understand the content. I guess the only time I would see it as useful is to scan material that you may or may not yet be committed to – as a way to determine whether you should invest the time in it. Seems like a lot of work to develop that skill just for that purpose though!
Boing! Boing! and Lifehacker did articles on the way that I speed read. You can read the articles here:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/10/how-to-speed-read.html
http://lifehacker.com/5334199/repeat-a+e+i+o+u-to-read-faster
I hope you find the information helpful, in your productivity journey.
I read very fast naturally – although Patrysha has me beat – and have to force myself to slow down when I want to do in-depth thinking about a book. If it’s a really good book (yes, even business/productivity books) I usually get caught up in it and go fast and then have to read it again to be able to do so slowly.
It can be productive to read fast when
- you already know a lot of the material and are looking for the tidbits that matter or the flavor of the author’s point of view.
- you are reading multiple sources on the same topic to get a broad view and figure out where you most need to focus
- you need to be able to recognize what other people are talking about and draw parallels to what you do but not necessarily apply the material yourself
I agree that effective application is unlikely to come from speed reading, but absorbed info has its uses also.
Patrysha – I wish I had that natural talent for speed reading! Interesting that you wouldn’t seek it out as a skill.
Beth – that’s a great list of scenarios where speed reading would be useful. And it looks like you too have to slow down to absorb the content properly. So maybe there is a limit to the speed with which we can process new information?
Ethan – I’m with you… seems like a lot of work if speed reading is not a skill that comes naturally.
Kris… thanks for the video posts. About how long does it take for someone to go from Day 1 on your “AEIOU” technique to the state of total comprehension of what they’re reading? Also — is this accelerated technique something you have developed and tested or is it based on other teachings?
I think my hesitancy to take up speed reading is that I really, thoroughly ENJOY what I read. And I have the luxury of choosing pretty much everything I read. If I were back in school, or forced to read a lot of material about a subject that didn’t interest me highly, I think I’d be more interested in developing this skill.
What is the market for speed reading I wonder?? Is it a need or a want? My guess? The market is declining, because of newer ways of communicating in short bites… tweets, texts, tags, etc. Just a guess…
Speed reading doesn’t work for me. I’m so focused on trying to read quickly that I don’t actually take in any of what I’m reading. I find it kills my productivity rather than enhances it.
What I love most about reading is taking the time to pore over the words, appreciate certain turns of phrase, and pay attention to the style of writing as well as what is being said. Speed reading gets you the hard facts, and I can’t help but feel that speed readers miss so much of what the text has to offer…
How long does it take for someone to go from Day 1 on your “AEIOU” technique to the state of total comprehension of what they’re reading?
- That’s really difficult to say, because every one learns differently. Because the technique emphasizes the visual part of our memory, I’ve seen people who are “visual learners” pick up the technique faster and increase comprehension faster. More than anything it’s a matter of getting used to the feeling of integrating subvocalized reading (or comprehension through audition) with non-vocalizaed reading aka “Speed reading”.
Is this accelerated technique something you have developed and tested or is it based on other teachings?
- The saying of the vowels is mine, but the technique of giving your vocal cords something to do while running your eyes over text in order to increase reading speed and comprehension, dates back to a study I found in 1900 by WB Secor called: Visual Reading: A Study in Mental Imagery for The American Journal of Psychology.
To comment on the hesitancy to take up speed reading:
Speed reading is a different type of “reading” all together. It should be viewed as another way for a person to take in information, rather than a replacement of your current reading technique.
Just like watching a band perform a song, or listening to the song, or actually playing the song on an instrument, each process provides the learner with unique information. “Speed reading” is another way for a person to experience text.
Hi Pete:
I have been teaching speed reading for over 20 years and authored several books on the topic, most recently The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading. I hear your thoughts about speed reading and would like to add my take. Basically I believe that everyone has a built in mental stick-shift that has five gears: gear one and two are slower while gears three through five are the faster ones.
Most people are STUCK in first or second gear because they were never taught HOW to get into the faster gears. Once they learn about the options for HOW to go faster, then it IS their choice as to what speed they decide to go. Reading everything fast isn’t the goal. Instead, it is really nice to have that flexibility.
I hope this makes sense.
I am a speed reader. At first I was hesitant but then I got curious after seeing a guy “devour” a book right in front of me at lunch. I found that it’s a skill that you apply when you need or want to. You don’t have to speed read everything. I don’t speed read everything and it comes in handy when there’s something that is not too important but something I should “read” like mail or short articles. It just makes the process faster and more productive. If I feel I really need to absorb the material, I’ll read it again at a slower pace. But, if it’s not that important I just saved myself some time, got some ideas and can move onto more important reading. Speed reading to me is a tool that allows me to get through more information than I could have before. When I think of speed reading I think: I’m reading for ideas not words.
Personally I think freelancers would benefit because they are self employed and need to make big decisions and to make good decisions you need the right information but you can’t use what you don’t know. Speed reading helps you find more and better information.
Personally I think freelancers would benefit because they are readers and if they could read more about a topic in less time, why not.
Whatever works for the person is what they should use. Personally, I’ve tried to “speed read” and it’s more for scanning and getting a better understand of the general idea. If I really want to know what I am readng about, I need to concentrate.
“What is the market for speed reading I wonder?? Is it a need or a want?”
Pete,
Thanks for the prompt! Just yesterday, I was working with a mentee and the question came up, “What is the best way to do project planning?”
We talked about different “project planning” programs/systems/protocols. Now, I’ll make the “leap” to speed-reading.
I asked him, “Why would you want to learn about different project planning methods?”
Over another half hour or so, we came up with a short list of reasons. At the top: Some projects need more or less planning, I want to know which is which.
So, some books I can “read” by only reviewing chapter 2 (most business books). Some books, I can “read” by only reading the bold print throughout the entire book. Some books, I can “skim” paragraphs of narrative before slowing down at the next scene.
And, some books, I need to read each word, one at a time.
I love your question, about the “market” for speed reading. It’s a good one, it gets me thinking. I am reflecting on the VPs I worked with last month who have 7,000/12,000 emails in their inbox (no joke!). Now, IF they read a bit faster, would they get through a few of those newsletters faster? Hmmm…A point to ponder!
I’m also a natural speed reader. I do retain and thoroughly enjoy what I read whether it’s just a fun book or learning material. In my down-time, I read a John Grisham novel in a few hours. I’ve also read every copywriting and marketing book I own several times over, taking notes and highlighting.
But I do agree with Patrysha – if I wasn’t already able to do it, I wouldn’t really bother learning it.
Wow! Lots of natural speed readers out there! Thanks everyone for these comments and ideas. I do like what a lot of people have pointed out… it’s a nice skill to have, to be able to pick and choose when it’s used. I still don’t think speed reading will make it on to my personal list of priorities in terms of things I want to learn, at least in the near future, but I now have a much clearer understanding of the benefits. Hopefully other readers who are interested in developing this skill found some useful options to explore from the comments above.
And the broader topic of productivity is something that is a cause of much frustration for freelancers and self-employed / work at home professionals. But something many of us share is that “hallelujah!” feeling when you get a system in place that sticks. Check out the ‘Time Management’ section of this blog for more on productivity: http://thewealthyfreelancer.com/category/time-management/ We’ll continue to discuss productivity on this blog – HUGELY important for us freelancers.
Pete,
Enjoy your posts. Two comments: I have taken a speed reading course and am a big reader (80-100 books and tapes a year) It helped me sort through information quicker, so I take my time when I read for pleasure and blast through the tedious stuff. You are right, retention suffers. Many times that’s not a big issue. One other thing. Check your glossary on your fourth to last paragraph.
Gary
Great Post!! This subject has been a long term fascination of mine.
What I have discovered is that, natural speed aside, it is all contextual. The question that drives your reading speed should always be, what do I want out of this book?
The skill you want from working thru a Math book requires a vastly different speed and approach than the pleasure of blasting thru an exciting novel. Or maybe its a novel to savor, then you slow down, maybe even reading a bit here and there aloud to savor the “taste” of the words.
Or maybe you have a lit test in 45 minutes and you need main characters names, relationships and the basic plot. You speed scan for those things…(ok ok ok… I know you can get good summaries online lol… its just an example).
As for writing all over books while reading… good for you!! I am not sure that I have ever met anyone else with that habit, but sometimes I just have to talk back to the author…lol
thanks for the Article!!
Wayne – good to meet a fellow book scribbler… for me, it’s to the point where I hesitate to pick up a non-fiction book unless I have my pen with me, and preferably my notebook too!
I know I’ll pay for this… I cringe that one day I’ll find my observant 3-year-old dragging a purple Crayola marker throughout the pages of my precious copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes…
LOL… for me the danger is a good public library. Given the economy and my decision to start working online and, not in brick and mortar, I find myself getting more books from the library.
I had to buy them a new copy of Godin’s book The Dip a while back…lol… my pen got to it, page after anotated page of my own brilliant comments, sigh and that silly librarian politely returned the book to me and asked that I buy them a new one…
People who can devour a business book in 1 hour are like those who have an extremely low golf handicap. I will think of 47 reasons why I’m not impressed with that kind of performance.
But secretly, I really am. In fact, I’m jealous!!
If I could speed read (and I really want to learn this skill), I would make it a point to figure out the right mix for me. I, too, am a serious scribbler. But I would strive to find a way to still highlight and scribble on the margins. Maybe on the second read.
The reason I want to learn this skill is simple: Every year, I have about 30 – 50 non-fiction books I want to read…but enough time for only 12 – 20.
Wayne – HA! I must admit I once did exactly the same thing. The object of my desire way Bob Bly’s Six Figure Consultant. I’m looking at it on my bookshelf now… yellow post it notes bursting out from every eight and ninth page… but I was too sheepish to return it… instead I paid for a replacement.
Hmmmmm Ed. You’ve got my wheels turning here. If YOU have a list of 30-50 books and I have a list of about the same… odds are there are lots of overlapping titles. What if we split them up, and delivered to each other a key summary of the books? In FACT… why not expand it out… a Wealthy Freelancer reading circle of sorts, perhaps, for others to join in. Would this work?
Great idea. The summaries would be well done and informative. Then we monetize them with a little Amazon click thru, and split the commission between those of us doing the summaries/reviews. (lol…as you can tell I am in)
I am reading the Knack by Norm Brodsky of Inc. at the moment. Just finished Transcend by Kurzweil.
I’ve gone through a couple of speed reading courses, mostly paid for by my previous employers. I’ve never really stuck with any one method.
You have to admit, the ability to read fast is a big advantage, especially in this information age. But I do agree with you that comprehension tends to suffer. I know it’s true for me.
That said, there are basic reading strategies that will allow us to skim through any material, get the main points, and make the decision to read leisurely or move on to the next piece of content.
I am like Ed in this respect. I make up a bunch of reasons why speed reading isn’t good to do and then secretly wish I could do it. I am a slow but thorough reader. Like Pete I spend a lot of time taking notes, highlighting, and really trying to read deep and apply what I learn. Some part of me believes that would not be possible if you speed read everything.
However the thought of pulling in the knowledge of 50-100 books per year is very enticing, but does it work that way in practice is the question? Do people that read that quickly apply everything they learn? I am not sure, but if they do then I am really jealous
I am a speed reader and I teach it to others too. The first thing I will say is that you don not have to read all the texts very fast. You can dig in into some material. Actually, the fact that you are selective on your reading material and read books, which are worth reading is much better than reading hundreds of average. Still, I would say that there is much use of speed reading. In many cases we have to read not so high quality texts, such as news, blog posts, company reports etc. and there the speed reading really works and saves lots of time.
Question for the speed readers and those of you who teach speed reading… many of you say that a benefit to speed reading is that you can quickly “scan” material. But… I think I already know how to scan.
So… is there a difference between scanning something (which I think lots of people can do already) and “speed reading” it? Or does speed reading allow you to scan something even faster?
Thanks for the thoughtful and kind comments everyone…
I occasionally WISH I could speed read. I am a slow, methodical reader. And when I go through a book, I do much of what you described, Pete. I feel that because I read the way I do, I get a lot out of each book. However, I’m a relative newbie to freelance writing, and there is so MUCH I need to learn, or read. Even though I like the way I read, I feel like I’d be further along in my career if I were able to read faster. I guess my ideal situation would be to have been born with Patrysha’s gift. But I won’t dwell on that. I’ll just appreciate the gifts I have and work with what I’ve got!
In case of scanning you are not reading all the words from the texts, scanning is selective reading. In case of speed reading you are normally reading all the words from the text although you can speed read texts only partially. Still, speed reading includes methods have to read fast with out skipping some parts of the text.
It’s not so much that I was born with it, just that I learned it somehow as I was learning to read. I certainly don’t understand the mechanics of it or how it is that I read fast. Learning to read precedes most of my early memories, I can’t remember not knowing how.
And it is really just fast reading because I don’t read as fast as they describe in the long sales letters or on infomercials for speed-reading courses. A book in an hour? Not unless it’s one of those book of the month romances. Most books take me at least two or three hours.
Unlike those who have been taught, I am not conscious of switching speeds or choosing speeds as a I read, though I know it takes longer to get through some pieces of writing than others.
I think it is primarily genetic because I remember my Grandfather reading a book a night and my eldest son reads like me, but my other two don’t.
People have always insisted that the speed affects comprehension and there is no way that someone can read that fast and retain information. I don’t know if my parents had to put up with it, but I’ve heard that so often from teachers throughout my son’s school experience. They tested him at the end of grade 5 (though I don’t know how or how accurate the tests they used were) and found that his reading comprehension was that of an average 24 year old. He was 10.
What I have always wished for is the ability to write as fast as I read. That would truly be a useful skill
Anyone know of any good speed reading programs?
Speed Reader X
AceReader
Hello,
very interesting post indeed. I think pretty much about the subject was said in the above posts. One aspect though I would like to call the attention for: that speed reading is not the same as speed reading. It depends on the definition. Some specialists call “speed reading” the ability to read really fast, abnormally fast. Other specialists use the term to refer to what I call “normal reading”. Indeed, studies show that more than 80% of literate persons have some bad habits when reading, like reading a sentence twice or thrice, in some cases whole paragraphs. This has to do with concentration, among other things. Learning to “speedread” would mean, in these frequent cases, eliminating such bad habits, so that the reading really flows. And reading faster, or making efforts to read faster, is one of the strategies to improve concentration and minimize back and forth reading. It is like driving a car: if you speed up from 20 mph to 60 mph, you are then forced to concentrate more on the road, on your movements. Or like riding a bike: if you ride too slow, the bike starts to swing and you spend too much energy trying to keep the balance. Anyone can try this when reading, just make an effort to read faster. You are not going to be able to read 10 times faster, but maybe twice as fast, or even 3 times faster. If this is the speed reading we are talking about, then, yes, I like it, I practice it, everybody should
I was – still am – like you… but I photocopy a pBook or print out an eBook and then, sit with my favourite Mont Blanc pen, the Meisterstuck 149 and a three highlighters – red, green, yellow… and go about ‘dissecting’ the book:)
But I discovered Paul R Scheele’s PhotoReading home study course recently and it’s changed my opinion because it’s NOT speed reading. Now, I photoread a book before I read it the ‘proper’ way and guess what? There’s really more between the lines!
Are you familiar with Dr. Danielle S. McNamara’s research on Photoreading?
In her 2000 study, she found that:
“The extremely rapid reading rates claimed by PhotoReaders were not observed; indeed, the reading rates were generally comparable to those for normal reading. Moreover, the PhotoReading expert generally showed an increase in reading time when using the PhotoReading technique in comparison to when using normal reading strategies to process text. This increase in reading time when PhotoReading was accompanied by a decrease in text comprehension.”
Here is a link to the research done on Photoreading:
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20000011599_2000009345.pdf