11 Benefits of Speed Reading (Explained for Beginners)
Speed reading has several benefits, including better focus, higher levels of self-confidence, improved memory, and more. It allows professionals to stay knowledgeable in their various competitive fields and still have plenty of time to spare.
Higher speed and better comprehension are not the only benefits of speed reading. It also offers side benefits that make you stand out at work and improve your life. Speed reading is an important skill for achieving productivity. It allows you to learn new skills faster and puts you ahead as you’ll be able to take on more responsibilities.
In this post, we’ll discuss speed reading and its benefits.
Read on to discover what makes it a must-have skill.
What is speed reading?
Speed reading is recognizing and absorbing text rapidly without losing comprehension. It can double how fast you absorb information from text. It involves skills such as scanning, skimming, and more.
Reading faster is important, but it is not the sole purpose of speed reading. When done correctly, speed reading allows you to get through information in less time without compromising comprehension. You’ll become a more efficient reader, navigating through plenty of text and understanding it in the shortest possible time.
Speed reading has many benefits. By getting through information rapidly, you’ll be more effective in processing data and retaining details. Speed reading is the way to go if you’re looking to find certain information within a short period.
It is a handy skill for skimming large amounts of text and involves techniques like moving your eyes in a zigzag pattern, guiding your eyes with your finger or a pointer, or using a pacer. With practice, these skills will help you read faster and still understand the text.
Why is speed reading important?
Speed reading is important because it saves you time, thus improving your time management skills. Other reasons include benefits for the brain like improved memory and logic. By reading fast, your brain will get used to processing information rapidly.
Let’s take a closer look at why speed reading is important.
1. Higher levels of self-confidence
There’s a confidence boost that comes with being able to speed read. You’ll take pride in knowing that any aspect of life in which you have an interest is learnable, and you can do it within a short period.
More and more doors will begin to open for you thanks to your ability to learn fast, and you’ll start to get more options in life. Books help shift your awareness and make us see more depth in your lives. With this newfound depth comes a boost in self-confidence.
2. Improved Memory
You’re training your brain to perform at a higher level by practicing speed reading. Like a muscle, the brain grows and gets stronger with more training. This means better memory performance.
When you teach your brain to absorb information rapidly, it improves other parts of the brain too. Your memory will become better. Training your brain to read faster makes for more efficiency in processing information and associating them with other information in your brain.
When you practice speed reading, you develop logical thinking, and your brain becomes faster at processing and remembering information.
3. Better Focus
Some people have a significantly higher reading speed than others, and there are two main reasons for this gap. It’s either due to an ineffective reading style or a lack of focus.
The average reading speed is about 200 wpm (words per minute). But some people can read at the rate of 300 wpm. If you use proper reading techniques, the culprit for not being able to speed read is a lack of focus.
When you don’t focus on what you’re reading, your mind will go astray and be full of other thoughts. Speed reading is an excellent way to stay focused.
4. Improved logic
Physical exercise is good for the body, while mental exercise is also good for the brain. Reading is a form of mental exercise for your brain. Training your brain to read faster makes it more efficient at analyzing information and discovering how they relate to previously stored information.
The faster you are at reading, the quicker this process occurs. You’ll begin to notice improvements with logic as you continuously respond fast to what you before would spend longer time processing.
5. You save time
Speed reading allows you to learn new things as fast as possible. It is a great way to save time for other important tasks. You may also have a short period to read and prepare for a task such as an online training course, test preparation, a new job, etc.
Speed reading allows you to prepare quickly to meet your deadlines. You’ll read faster without compromising comprehension, capturing all the content you need to excel on your test, presentation, or job.
6. Emotional well-being
Reading can help with your emotional well-being because it is very relaxing. It rids your mind of unhealthy thoughts and worries that stress you out. Speed reading is even more effective at relieving stress because the faster you read, the more immersed you are in the material.
The process of focusing predominantly on the text you are reading is known as active meditation. It is a meditative state achieved by performing an activity. Active meditation helps you release tension and promote emotional well-being.
7. Develop leadership skills
Speed reading allows you to manage better the knowledge you acquire. You’ll learn new skills faster and enhance your professional efficiency. Your development will be faster than that of your colleagues as you’ll take less time reading and comprehending what takes longer for them to study and process.
Speed reading gives you an edge over others in terms of productivity. It will become easier to accumulate essential skills needed to take up more responsibilities. This way, you’ll be stepping ahead.
8. You learn to enjoy reading
When you can speed read, reading will become more enjoyable. The activity will still be challenging, but it will also be fun. This can only happen when you read a lot.
You will become more knowledgeable when you read a lot, and the people around you will notice you even more. When this happens, getting any position you apply for will become easier.
That’s why you should expose yourself to tons of books on various topics every day. Regular reading makes you aware of the phenomenal changes happening in your life. You’ll become better at many things, including expressing yourself.Â
9. Enhance problem-solving skills
Navigating life and the challenges you experience can be easier when you speed read. Speed reading makes your subconscious mind more equipped to solve problems. It will stand a greater chance of tackling your problems or challenges as it receives more information.
The subconscious processes information faster than the conscious. It is more profound and larger when compared to the conscious. While the conscious solves problems at about 100 to 150 miles an hour, the subconscious can cover around 100,000 miles simultaneously.
10. Improves time management
Time management is of paramount importance for those looking to boost their productivity. Speed reading makes you better at managing your time because spending less time reading means more time for other pressing tasks. Thus, you’ll become more efficient at work.
It would be best to time yourself while reading to determine your reading speed. Check how long it takes you to finish a page. Once you know your reading speed, you can then work on increasing it.
Start by reading an additional paragraph or page more than what you read before simultaneously. You may not get it the first time, but with more practice, you’ll eventually achieve the reading speed.
Keep in mind that the method requires time. So, don’t get discouraged if you don’t succeed during the initial days. If you put in the necessary work, you’ll learn to read faster and manage your time better.
11. Increases knowledge in many fields of interests
Speed reading helps you get through tons of text in a short period. It allows you to gain knowledge fast in any area of interest. The more you read on different topics across different fields, the more knowledgeable you’ll be in those fields.
There is a correlation between intelligence and reading speed. You can boost your intelligence by learning how to speed read. Besides gaining insight into different fields, speed reading improves your logic, memory, and problem-solving skills.
Conclusion
Speed reading is an important technique to use throughout your reading improvement journey. It makes for higher speed and better comprehension. You’ll spend less time reading, which means more time for other important tasks and thus more productivity.
The benefits of speed reading can not be overstated as it is good for your brain. Reading fast helps your brain focus better and improves your memory. You’ll also notice improvements with logic as you spend less time responding to what would typically take a longer time to process.
Are you looking to increase your reading speed? Iris Reading speed reading tool is an ideal solution. You can also learn from an expert by taking our speed reading foundation course.
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