I thoroughly enjoy reading and soaking up loads of new information, but I often times find I have WAY too much to read and not enough time to do it. So do I just not read some books? Which ones? Do I invest in a large library of audio-books and live my life with an MP3 player permanently grafted to my ear?
Nah…
How to Excel Using Speed Reading-Caught my Eye:
I’m still pretty green at it, but I have picked up a few tactics, and neat little tricks, that have helped me read quite a bit faster – sometimes even doubling my normal speed… roughly 500 words per minute (WPM). I still have a lot of work to do, and I plan to kick up my practice time to several instances per week. Hoping for the best!
Take a look at the following questions, answer them ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and see if this type of course or learning would benefit you:
Questions from the class handout by Semenick and Associates, Inc. (http://www.semenickandassociates.com/)
- Is a significant amount of what you read daily technical or study related?
- Do you have trouble staying up with the reading you need to do for your job?
- Do you find it difficult to remember what you’ve just read?
- Do you need to stay current with new developments in your work, career, etc.?
- Do you have to do extra reading outside your regular work hours to catch up?
- Do you sometimes feel stressed by all of the technical reading that you need to do?
- I am currently, or soon will be, taking University-level coursework?
- I anticipate changing jobs; requiring new technical or procedural knowledge.
- Are you preparing to take a standardized certification exam in a technical field?
- Do you often reread a passage because you didn’t understand it the first time?
- Do you have difficulty shifting knowledge from short term to long term memory?
- Are you willing to invest time in practice to double your technical reading speed?
- Do your eyes feel strained after 15-30 minutes of technical reading?
- Do you often fall asleep while reading?
- Have you ever wondered how some people can read “volumes” of materials compared to what you read?
If you answered ‘yes’ to six or more of these questions, then a Technical Speed Reading class would probably benefit you.
Pick up a book (maybe even a speed reading book!), take a class, and start knocking those books out!