How To Read Books Fast Without Speed-Reading (Which Sucks Anyway)

 

Being able to read books fast is undoubtedly a fantastic skill and a very tempting one.

Can you feel the thrill of endless possibilities? If you just knew how to do it, you could read, like, ten books per week!

No wonder speed reading is a huge business. There are probably thousands of books written on the subject. And 99% percent are crap – promises-flavored crap.

Sure, everyone would like to be the guy who picks up a thick book, thumbs it through in two minutes to say, “Do they have to dumb down everything these days?”.

Can you become such a person? Definitely no. Can you become a person who reads very fast? Yes. However, if you are looking for a quick and easy solution, you will get severely disappointed.

Let’s start with some basic facts to help you read books fast without speed-reading.

 

Want to Read Books Fast? Forget About Speed Reading

 

Read Books Quickly Without Speed-Reading

 

I know that some might take this statement very personally or even be offended. 

“How dare you smear the good name of the speed-reading community?!” However, it has to be said as it frustrates me endlessly.

Almost anywhere I go, I encounter opinions that it is entirely possible. From Tony Buzan’s classic to Tim Ferris’ article, everyone claims that reading with a speed of 1000 words/min is entirely achievable.

Some even go a step further. Comments under any article on speed-reading usually spiral into some bizarre contest.

“800 wpm (words per minute)? That’s laughable, man. Try getting to 2000 wpm, like me, to see what REAL speed reading is!”

Sounds great, right? It doesn’t work. 

Before we get to the specific methods, I think you should know a thing or two about my reading background.

 

MY EXPERIENCE WITH SPEED-READING

I started my speed reading journey about 12 years ago. I have always been a great believer in the capabilities of a human mind. No wonder, I quickly got sucked into the speed-reading world.

Initially, I thought that I was a speedy reader. It quickly turned out that my typical reading speed of >300 wpm was pitiful.

Wouldn’t you feel that way?

You start reading about people who underwent a special kind of speed-reading training. About some super-geniuses, or so I thought, who can read with 3000 wpm or even 8000 wpm?

I felt inadequate.

I started reading every speed reading book I could ferret out. There were good books, and there were terrible books. Ok, mostly they were awful.

Some titles sound as if a shitfaced magician concocted them. Here are some of them. But just a word of warning. Don’t buy them. They are crap. Get yourself drunk instead. Or buy your horse a three-piece suit, It will be a better use of your money

 

  • A Course in Light Speed Reading A Return to Natural Intuitive Reading
  • The Alpha-Netics Rapid Reading Program
  • The PhotoReading Whole Mind System

 

Did I get better? Yep. At least in some way.

 

Trying to Read Books Fast – My First Results

After a couple of weeks of training, I could read with a speed of 1000 words per minute. Then I pushed myself even more, and I got to 1400 wpm. 

There was just one problem I couldn’t spot back then. The speed was there, but I understood almost nothing.

I guess Woody Allen summarized it quite brilliantly when he said, ” I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.”

It was a very disappointing experience. I needed some time to digest the burden of this conclusion. When I did, it became clear that:

 

1) Nothing worth reading can/should be read fast.

 

and

 

2) You can read books fast, but you can’t understand and analyze information quickly.

 

That’s why, as far as I am concerned, anyone who is selling “photographic reading courses” should be pilloried while a fat dude named Stanley sticks a tongue in his ear (so-called “seashell”).

Ok, we got this covered. Let’s move on to the things which can help you read faster.

 

How To Read Books Fast – Strategies

 

  1. Know Thy Goal
  2. Separate Learning from Reading
  3. Learn What You Read
  4. Skim
  5. Learn Core Vocabulary
  6. Build Core Knowledge
  7. Read a Lot
  8. Use the Knowledge You Learn

 

1) Know Thy Goal

 

Read Books Fast Without Speed-Reading

 

    Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed,
    and some few to be chewed and digested. –

FRANCIS BACON (1561–1626)

 

When in doubt, trust in Bacon. He was definitely onto something.

The very first thing you should do before you open a book, and a waft of the paper hits your nostrils, is to decide why you want to read it.

It doesn’t sound sexy. I know. You are a bad boy, and you’d rather slap that book open right away. However, you need to restrain yourself as it is a crucial step.

You might not feel it, but your decision, subconscious or not, will weigh heavily on what your mind concentrates on. And on what you extract from the text.

You usually read for

  • knowledge
  • inspiration
  • relax

 

Try to choose one of the said purposes. 

Of course, sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint the exact purpose of reading. Nevertheless, you always do your best to determine it as precisely as you only can

 

2) Separate Learning from Reading

You are ambitious – that’s great. It’s even admirable. And very likely, it is an invisible burden that hovers over your head and stops you from reading faster.
Why?
Let me guess. Are you trying to read and analyze information at the same time? You see something thought-provoking, adjust your monocle and say, “Oh my, utterly marvelous. Let’s ponder over it for a while.”
Do you?
Then if your goal is to read books fast, you are setting yourself up for failure. There is one crucial lesson here you need to understand.

 

Reading is not learning. Learning is not reading.*

*it’s a good tattoo idea if you ever need one

 

Your brain is not a computer. It can’t switch effectively between two different activities. Do it for a short period, and you will burn through all the glucose stashed in your brain.

Result? Headaches, the feeling of general fatigue, malaise, and so on. After a while, your brain becomes impervious to new information. This method of reading is not very sustainable.

Mind you that I am not saying that you can’t read and learn at the same time. I am just stating a simple fact that it is not a very effective method of reading.

 

Read Books Fast Without Speed-Reading

 

How to Separate Learning from Reading

To be honest, I have struggled with this problem for quite some time until the two beautiful words dawned on me.

*whispers sensually”

 

Batch working.

 

I am sure you are familiar with the term but just to be sure, let’s explain it:

 

Batch working is a process of grouping items because they are similar, or because we plan to do something similar to them.

 

For instance, it wouldn’t make much sense to make a massive omelet without preparing products beforehand. Can you imagine how ineffective it would be?!

“I need twenty eggs to make this omelet.”

*takes two and cracks them open into a bowl*

“I need two more.”

*opens a fridge and takes another two*

Doesn’t it sound frustrating?

That is why you should always try to group similar tasks. It is the method which, I am pretty sure, saved my sanity.

 

1) First mark/highlight

Whenever you stumble across something that is

  • interesting
  • thought-provoking
  • vague
  • incomprehensible
  • you don’t agree with

mark/highlight it in some way.

Jot it down on a margin or copy it into some file. Don’t try to dismantle any of the concepts you have read about. The time for that will come.

Done? Good. Keep on reading. Have you marked another fragment? Good. Keep on reading.

 

2) Learn/analyze

After reading a certain number of pages, set aside some time for a more detailed analysis.
Go crazy, analyze the heck out of everything.

Refute, digest, criticize to your heart’s content.

Learning is demanding enough on its own. Don’t mix it additionally with reading.

 

3) Learn What You Read

 

Learn what you read

 

This one comes from a very frustrating experience.

About two years ago, I was binge reading about 3-4 books per week. Of course, being a sensible learner, I took notes and scribbled my remarks about everything, even mildly interesting.

In quite a short period, I amassed notes from over 40 books. The bad luck had it that I hit a rough patch and didn’t have so much time anymore. After everything settled, I came back to reading. I didn’t do anything with the notes, mind you. They just sat soused in my notebook.

Fast forward year and a half, I was reading some interesting excerpts from a book on cognitive neuroscience. My eyes lay on a particular sentence, which solved one of the biggest obstacles I had at the time concerning my memory experiments.

I was freaking ecstatic! The worst part?

A couple of months ago, I finally strapped myself to a chair and started going through the notes mentioned above. A couple of minutes into the reading, I saw it. There it was, guffawing blatantly at my helplessness — the same damn fact.

The miracle solution was there all along. I didn’t learn it. In the process, I wasted myriads of hours on useless experimenting.

Lesson learned:

 

Before you move to the next book, learn what you have read before.

 

Almost Every Book Is a Treasure Trove of Knowledge

It makes perfect sense, even more so if you want to specialize in some area. Your average author spends hundreds of hours researching his book or summarizing his knowledge.

Without notes, you will spend dozens of hours reading it and end up with almost no knowledge. You will remember just a couple of main things. Nothing more. And it would be a damn shame.

Thanks to this strategy, your ever-growing knowledge will help you go quickly through most of the books.

How quickly?

It’s not unusual for me to read a 400-page book in less than two days. There is not enough new information for me to absorb. Sometimes you have to do the hard things first, so it gets easier.

Read more: How to Master Many Fields of Knowledge – Your Action Plan and Recommended Strategies.

 

4) Skim

 

Skim While Reading

 

You don’t have to read everything.

 

You can skim through some paragraphs or descriptions. Nobody will judge you.

 

I am yet to hear, “John is such a filthy, primitive animal, I have heard he skips paragraphs. He sickens me!”

What is important for an author might be meaningless to you. Take this article as an example. I thought it was essential to include my personal experiences. But maybe you don’t care. That’s ok, skim through such passages until you catch a glimpse of something more interesting.

 

5) Learn Core Vocabulary

A specific lingo permeates every industry and area of specialization. Love it or hate it; it’s still something you must learn.

My main area of specialization is learning/memory and everything in-between, like productivity.

Not knowing what the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, or the Premack’s principle is, would have the paralyzing influence on my reading ability. It would be equivalent to kneecapping myself and expecting to run.

 

If you care about being good in the area of your choice, always try to master every word you encounter.

 

6) Build Core Knowledge

 

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you. – MORTIMER J. ADLER

 

I can safely assume that whatever you read, you read because you want to learn more. Or you want to master a given field of knowledge. In any case, you should know that initially, your pace of reading will always be slow. But that’s good.

 

Slow is new fast. This deceptive sluggishness is the speed of light in disguise.

 

Look at this excerpt.

 

In an imagery study by Okado and Stark (2003), increased PFC activity for false memories was localized to the right anterior cingulate gyrus. Given the role of the anterior cingulate in response competition and conflict (Kerns et al., 2004), the authors concluded that this reflects the increased effort involved in incorrectly endorsing an imagined item as “seen.” ERP studies also support the conclusion that frontal regions may distinguish between true and false memories, and be engaged in greater monitoring and evaluation associated with false retrieval (Curran et al., 2001; Fabiani, Stadler, and Wessels, 2000; Goldmann et al., 2003; Nessler, Mecklinger, and Penney, 2001; Wiese and Daum, 2006).

 

It is a typical excerpt from a book on neuroscience. If you have no scientific foundation, it can be hard for you to read even a couple of pages from such a book. Let alone an entire book.
It is precisely where building core vocabulary and knowledge comes together.

 

It’s one thing to get familiar with the nomenclature. But do you really understand how these terms interrelate?

 

Do you understand, at least superficially, what is their function? If not, you have to analyze it. Only then can you move on. It’s not fast. It takes time. But there is not even one discipline in this world where you can skip basics.

Read more: The Magnet Theory – Why Deep Understanding and Problem-Solving Starts with Memorization.

 

7) Read a Lot

 

Read Books Fast Without Speed-Reading

 

The more you read, the more efficient the reader you become. The reader who knows the ins and outs of different styles of writing. The one who knows when to skim and when to read deep into a text.

 

These benefits alone explain well why you should try to read as much as possible. But there is one more reason.

 

The spiral theory of knowledge.

 

The Spiral Theory of Knowledge

The spiral theory of knowledge describes a fascinating phenomenon.

First, when you encounter a particular idea, you might not notice or comprehend it. Not fully anyway. Then you move on to something else. You learn other subjects, read other books. Then, after some time, you reencounter the same idea, and only then can you get your Eureka moment.

“How could I not understand it before?! That was so easy. The answer was there all along!”

And that’s a great question. How come you didn’t understand this concept before? Your knowledge was to blame. At the time, it was patchy and full of gaps. You were not ready to comprehend the full scope of the idea then.

The potential answer to whatever questions that might be bugging you, consciously or subconsciously, lies in yet another book.

Yes, there is a door behind the door. But you will never know if it has the answer written on it until you open it.

 

8) Use the Knowledge You Learn

Many people love to brag about the number of books they read every month. They are like beautiful shiny badges. The phenomenon is so well-known that Issac Watts wrote about it in his book “The Improvement Of The Mind” in 1821!

 

Such persons are under a great temptation to practice these two follies. (1.) To heap up a great number of books at a greater expense than most of them can bear, and to furnish their libraries infinitely better than their understanding. And (2.) when they have gotten such rich treasures of knowledge upon their shelves, they imagine themselves men of learning, and take a pride in talking of the names of famous authors, and the subjects of which they treat, without any real improvement of their own minds in true science or wisdom. At best their learning reaches no further than the indexes and table of contents, while they know not how to judge or reason concerning the matters contained in those authors. And indeed how many volumes of learning soever a man possesses, he is still deplorably poor in his understanding, till he has made those several parts of learning his own property by reading and reasoning, by judging for himself, and remembering what he has read.

 

Don’t be one of those people.

 

Try to find even the slightest use, if it is only possible, for whatever that is you’re reading. Impress someone or help a friend with some problems. Find a better job. Anything will do.

 

Just don’t let it go to waste as I did for such a long time.

Years ago, I used to learn every single fact about almost anything. And I am sad to inform you that it was mostly wasted effort. I don’t remember almost anything I learned.

Why would I?

My brain didn’t find this knowledge useful, nor did I find it helpful – and so it had to go.

 

How To Read Books Fast – Summary

 

We are wired to follow the path of the least resistance. No wonder. We are drawn to, seemingly, easy solutions such as speed-reading.

But you already know the truth, don’t you? There are no easy fixes. There are no easy solutions. And yet it is still possible to read fast. Even very fast. But first, you have to put effort into building a foundation.

The very same effort which will make your newly acquired skill taste so sweet. Enjoy it.

 

Work Hard and Smart – Recover from Fluffoholism and Make Your Time Count

 Never enough time. There is never enough time to get in shape or learn a language. Or even when there is time, you don't seem to make much of the progress.

It doesn't seem normal.

And it isn't. There is a good chance you have contracted something I call "fluffoholism". It's a terrible ailment.

Fluffoholics are individuals who are very busy doing silly and insignificant activities. As a result, they either feel inadequate for not making progress or make some progress but can't find time for anything else in their lives.

Of course, the truth is that we are all fluffoholics to some degree. The person who would concentrate only on relevant tasks would seem like an absolute genius to us mere mortals.

Let's get it over with. My name is Bartosz, and I'm a recovering fluffoholic. This is what I have learned.


Work Hard and Smart - 3 Categories Of Activities

 

I like to categorize activities in the following way:


1. Low-intensity activities


It is a counterpart of lying in a cozy bed under a wool blanket with a mug of hot chocolate while your spouse scratches your head.

These are the tasks we tend to do the most. The "feel good" activities — the fluff which masks the real work. Usually, they have very little to do with making any progress.

Many industries prosper around these activities. It's the apparent honey pot for the naive and lazy.

  • "Learn how to pick up a girl without washing yourself"
  • "Learn in your sleep"
  • "Lose weight by eating Tacos and marshmallows".

Duolingo - the Lazy Way to Learn Languages

In the world of language learning, it's Duolingo. I get a lot of messages like this: "I have been using Duolingo for x months, and I completed all the levels, but when I talk to native speakers, they don't seem to understand me. Oh, also, when I read, I don't understand most of the things."

Go figure.

Sure, it's motivating. And it's a pleasant past-time to have. But it isn't nearly as effective as a lot of other activities. Like speaking, for instance. Other, almost evergreen and legendary language learning methods which allow an individual to achieve fluency include:

  • "Learning by listening"
  • "Learning by playing computer games"
  • "Learning by watching TV"

How to tell if I am doing low-intensity activities?

Typically, you can do them for hours without any particular signs of fatigue. That's all you need to know. If you feel like "that was fun," it's not the real work. It also means that you spend 5-10 x more time than people who do activities from the third category and get comparable results.


2. Moderate-intensity activities


It is a counterpart of getting out of bed and sitting down at the desk.

These activities require some energy from you, but they are not that tiring. It's running 5 km when you already know that you can run ten if you want to. You still need to put your shoes on. You still need to go out and sweat. But in the end, the overall progress is not so significant.

In the world of language learning, it's a B2 level. You can talk and express yourself relatively fluently.

You can read most of the articles you want. So you do. And you note down some words. But not too many because you're already quite good.

 

 


How to tell if I am doing moderate-intensity activities?

Usually, you feel that you have to push yourself a bit to start. But once you do, it's not that bad. Signs of fatigue tend to appear after 1-2 hours.


3. High-Intensity Activities (i.e., the Real Work.)

 

Work Hard And Smart

 

It is a counterpart of being mauled by a bear and teabagged by the seven muses at the same time. 

It's when you'd rather have a colonoscopy instead of carrying on with what you're doing right now. The absolute opposite of "if it's not broken, don't fix it" approach. It's the "there is always something broken, and I'll find it" philosophy. It feels terrible. But it delivers incredible results.


How to tell if I am doing high-intensity activities? 

After you finish learning, you're sobbing softly and want somebody to hug you. And you feel damn proud. I like to think that it is our small Everest which we should climb daily.


It's difficult to work hard and smart


I know that I should write every day to publish articles regularly. But I fail. Because they are never good enough, they are never inspiring enough.

I have read somewhere that the average time for writing an article is about 5 hours. It depresses me. It makes me feel like a failure. And I know I should come up with ideas daily. About three years ago, I read on the blog of James Altucher about the concept of becoming the idea machine.

The concept is simple - if you try to come up with ten ideas per day, in 6 months, your life should change significantly. Three years down the road, I'm still struggling to come up with ten ideas once every 3-4 days.

It's disheartening, and it makes me feel like crap. But now and then, I manage to come up with great ideas. And my face lightens up when I send them to others. And I'm pretty sure their faces light up as well as these ideas change their lives. And that's what it's all about.

Remember - If you do not push, you are not practicing.


High-intensity Activities In Language Learning

 

One of the notoriously difficult activities in language learning is speaking.

  • On an A1-A2 level, stringing more than a few words feels like a crucifixion.
  • On a B1-B2 level, the challenge is to learn enough words (while improving your grammar) to be able to express yourself quite fluently.
  • On a C1-C2 level, the challenge is to continually substitute the words you already know with dozens of other synonyms. It's where you have to start saying "atrocity" instead of "that ugly thing," or "marvelous" instead of "great." (see The Word Substitution Technique)

It's damn easy to play with Duolingo or Memrise for 1 hour. It's much harder to open your mouth and start saying something.

Read more: Why Speaking Can Be A Bad Language Learning Strategy

Exemplary Results of Regular Conversation with Yourself


I like to highlight my students as an example. If they want to learn with me, they have to accept one condition - they have to bet with me. Each day, from Monday to Friday, I have to get a 10-minute recording of them talking to themselves.

It's only 10 minutes. And yet, after three weeks, their level changes drastically. It's almost unbelievable. The side effect is that they probably hate me, but, oh well - it works!

Not accidentally, talking to myself is how I learned Swedish to B2 level to get the job in less than four months without talking to anyone in this language.

 


How to Fix Your Learning Plan to Work Hard and Smart

 

It's a deceptively simple recipe. But it's hard to implement.

 


1. Define High-Intensity Activities in Your Domain


You can do it on your own or ask someone much better than you in a given domain. But the truth is that very often you already know what the problem is and what you should be doing.

 

It's a task which you are always postponing. It's a task which you can't do for more than a few minutes without having to distract yourself with a mobile phone or other distractors.


2. Start Doing Them at the Cost of Other (i.e., Low- and Medium-Intensity) Activities


Start small. You don't have to do it for more than 20 minutes daily. Break this time into smaller chunks if you have to. With time, as you toughen up, the overall time spent on practice should be extended.


Remember - High-Intensity Activities Change with Time

You have to be aware that high-intensity activities change with time. They morph into medium- or low-intensity activities. What once was a nightmare can become a breeze with enough time. You should keep it in mind and adjust your learning strategies as you progress.


How to Work Hard and Smart - Summary

 

Being able to work hard and smart is not about perfectionism or turning into a workaholic. It's about using whatever time you have to in the most efficient way. The critical step is identifying high-intensity activities in your target domain and executing them daily with relentless consistency.

It won't be pleasant, but the results will speak for themselves. After all, if you decide to spend time to do something, make it count. 

An added benefit is that once you learn how to work hard and smart, this skill that will benefit you all your life.


Done reading? Time to learn!

 

Reading articles online is a great way to expand your knowledge. However, the sad thing is that after barely 1 day, we tend to forget most of the things we have read

I am on the mission to change it. I have created over 18 flashcards that you can download to truly learn information from this article. It’s enough to download ANKI, and you’re good to go. This way, you will be able to speed up your learning in a more impactful way.