02- An Experiment and Introducing Drills

By now you have more clarity about speed reading then when you had started. We have covered bad habits of reading, myths, misconceptions etc. on reading and speed reading. I have also shared many tips on improving your reading speed immediately and also the concept of pacer. You have also seen speed reading demonstration.

In this lesson, I am introducing new concept: - Drills.

I have covered in previous lesson while reading only comprehension is important and nothing else. This sentence applies to reading.

From now you are going to train your eyes and mind to see faster and more content.

How do you push your speed limit up to the higher Speed and keep it there?

The first answer to this question is that you should read and read and read and read more.

While you are reading, apply the techniques I've been describing in this course.

The second answer to this question is that “practice drills mentioned in this lesson” as much as you can. There is no over doing it.

The drill I am sharing in this lesson may seem strange at first. But believe me, the more you do it, the faster and more efficiently you'll find you can go through printed materials.

There are also some drills that you can do to increase your reading speed. I am sharing the drill, which proved to be most effective below.

While doing drills, speed is important and not comprehension. Remember that you are only training your eyes now. Don’t expect any results; just do the drills as mentioned. 

In this drills, we consciously read at a speed more than our present reading speed. Your eyes have never felt the feeling of reading at double your present speed or triple your reading speed. In these drills we will make your eyes experience the feeling of reading at 2x and 3 x speed. 

Once your eyes and mind has this experience it will want to read at its maximum potential. This is the purpose of the drills and this lesson.

Here is the drill:

Normal - Double - Triple Drill

The purpose of this exercise is mainly to increase your speed, rather than your comprehension.

Using this technique, you’ll learn,

1. What it feels like to move at significantly faster reading rates.
2. You get a sense of the eye and hand motions necessary to enable you to read quickly.

Once you've developed these skills and become familiar with the process of faster movement, you can expect higher comprehension levels to follow.

Process:

Select a book to practice this drill. Keep a timer next to you.

First minute

Using the underlining hand motion, read for one minute and place light mark at the spot where you stop reading.

Count the number of words you've read in this minute.  It will tell you what your approximate reading speed is at the moment.

 Second minute

Using the underlining motion once more, start reading 2 times faster. Don’t worry about comprehension. You are focusing only on speed at the moment.

 Third minute

Using the underlining motion once more, start reading 3 times faster. Again, don’t worry about comprehension. You are focusing only on speed at the moment.

 Fourth minute

Using the underlining motion once more, start reading at your normal reading speed.  In the fourth minute, you are focusing only on comprehension and not on speed.

This completes one cycle. It will take 16 minutes to complete 4 cycles, 32 minutes to complete 8 cycles and 64 minutes to 16 cycles.

 Do this drill daily. I recommend you to do this drill at least 30 minutes daily and 60 minutes is preferred. You can’t overdo this drill.

Action step:

1. Set a timer for 32 minutes and do the drill mentioned in this lesson.
2. Share your new reading speed at the end of 32 minutes.

~Srinivas Reddy