Although I’ve been getting through a healthy amount of books since I started this blog in 2015—averaging around 28 books per year—this year I’ve had the thirst to read even more books. Reading speed has always been one of my pitfalls; but thankfully, I believe I’ve finally found the reading hack that will allow me to read faster.
Being a slow reader, who stops to process things often, this is a problem I’ve wanted to rectify for a long time. Many times I’ve watched BookTubers with envy, as they show the dozens of books they were able to read in just a month.
Like you (the person reading this), I kept Googling to find methods that would help me read faster. But it wasn’t until I was directed to a YouTube video on Reddit that I found the answer.
In the above video, is a segment from the World’s Fastest Reader, Howard Berg. I’ve embedded the video so that it will start at the correct time. Basically, Howard Berg shares one of his most basic pieces of advice to read faster.
Here it is, the super secret hack on how to read faster…
For this tip, an important tool is required…Wait, don’t click away yet. This is a tool that everyone already has in their possession. In fact, this is a tool you were born with.
All you need to do, is take your index finger and run it across each sentence at a speed that your mind is able to follow. Yes, that’s it. It sounds incredibly basic, and you may worry about how silly you’ll look doing it; but believe me, this simple hack worked wonders for me.
What happens when you read with your finger, is that your mind is no longer able to pronounce the words in your head while you read. Pronouncing words in your head is the biggest culprit of slow reading, and it’s been a bad habit of mine for as long as I’ve been reading. I haven’t been able to shake that habit until I tried this reading hack.
Following your finger, forces your mind to instead experience the words. The book will play out like a movie in your head, instead of your mind trying to process the book word for word.
Prior to trying this hack, it had taken me over a week to get 25% through 1984 by George Orwell. But after trying this hack, I was able to read 25% of the same book in just a day.
If you combine this hack, with at least 30-45 minutes of reading a day, then you’re already raising your amount of books read per-year significantly. So if you’re struggling with slow reading, give this a try and see how it helps you.
Of course, you don’t have to be too hard on yourself either. If you’re really enjoying a book and wish to take your time with it, then do so. This is a tool you can use as and when you feel the need.
Feel free to share your results below in the comment section.
