How to Read 24 to 36 books a year.

In the previous Newsletter, I pushed my limits and posted a very long descriptive article about productivity. I got a bit of criticism, but it was important for me to add every bit of information that is useful for you.

I have researched and found that the sweet spot for readers to read an article is 1000 words to 1500 words. From now onward, I will keep the article short and simple to absorb. If an article is big then I will post it in parts.

So let’s jump into today’s topic, How to read faster.

Stop the inner monologue

“Inner monologue is a voice inside your head. It occurs due to certain brain mechanisms that make you hear yourself talk without actually speaking. This little voice in your head is a common occurrence, but not everyone experiences it.”

This is a bit hard to explain because some people experience it consciously and some experience it subconsciously.

I have observed that when a voice comes from my throat is faster, and when it comes from my head it is slower.

So observe yourself while reading, and if you observe any signs of monologue then avoid it at all cost.

Use a pointer while reading

Your eyes are attracted towards motion. When you are reading without a pointer, your eyes tend to wander around the page, which can slow you down.

Using a pointer helps to keep your eyes on the track, which allows you to read more quickly.

If you're on a computer then use the arrow on the monitor as your pointer.

Schedule Reading Time

Reading is a hard skill. As you master any skill with practice and consistency, the same way you have to treat reading.

Practising reading will gradually increase your reading speed. The more you read, the more you become efficient at this skill.

You are not bound to just read books, You can read newspapers, articles, journals, etc.

Read more than one book at a time.

People get confused when they hear the idea of reading multiple books at the same time. If you are someone who is completely focused on one topic, then reading one at a time with complete focus and energy will help you a lot.

But if you are on a journey to self-improve and you or a writer like me who wants to absorb a lot of knowledge, then this strategy works like magic

Reading multiple books at the same time can boost your creativity as you will get perspective of different things at the same time and it will fulfil your pleasure for reading.

Stop reading things which you don’t like.

Most of us have taught in our schools to complete the whole book. Many people still carry this mindset.

Don’t do this. When you feel bored, pick a new book and start reading it. People just stop reading new books because they haven’t completed their previous books.

Don’t force yourself to read things you don’t have an interest in. Already we are in an era where the attention span and focus of the average person is very small. And you are adding an extra difficulty by reading things you don’t like.

Skip as much as you can.

A book is just a very long article filled with a lot of content just to increase the number of pages. So scan a few pages and see the content, if the content is repeating or does not sound too appealing then skip it.

Don’t blindly Skip.

When you get the main idea behind the book, Stop, move to the next book and repeat this cycle, Because learning and understanding the main idea behind a book is our main goal.

Conclusion

With these steps, if you can read 2 to 3 books per month then in a year you will be able to read 24 to 36 a year.

Actionable Steps you can take

• Schedule a reading time.

• Start reading multiple books at the same time

• Scan the content before reading it.

• Skip it, if it’s repeated, not interesting and not appealing.

• Don’t read things you don’t like.

One more advice I can give you is to make a reading journal, where you will track your reading progress, your reading speed, how many books you read, what are the next books in the queue, etc.