Every book lover has this inherent wish to read more and more but this wish is undone by the chaos and distraction prevailing in the times that we live in. "More Time = More Reading" is the easiest solution but what to do when we feel hard pressed for "self-time"and can't find enough time to read.
We keep searching for that magical strategy/ strategies that could help us quench our thirst for reading more.
The motivation doesn't seem to be a problem as with great enthusiasm we enroll ourselves in various reading challenges. But soon we realize that motivation alone won't take us as far as achieving the unrealistic target that most of us set. This is when we start exploring strategies to help us keep pace with our reading target.
I have been through that phase where i struggled with my quest for reading better and more and tried many strategies, a few of which i will share in this post. For all the passionate readers (including myself), reading is an experience and the idea behind picking any strategy should be to ensure that the "experience" is not compromised upon. This post is not about speed reading techniques at all (though i tried many of them in my quest to read more) because if a passionate reader starts focusing on "quick reading" then the entire essence of reading is lost. The strategies mentioned below comes entirely from my own experiences at becoming a better reader - someone who could read more without losing the real essence of reading.
Few of the common sense/ smart techniques that can help any of us read more (these techniques have worked for me !) are as mentioned below:
- Be Selective - Each one of us is hard pressed for time and therefore it makes sense to be selective about what we pick up to read. First and foremost, let's identify what genre we enjoy reading the most. Once we have identified our favourite genre, then we must go through the preview/ review of books in that genre (based on popularity, recommendations, preferred sub-topic/ theme, favourite author, preferred style of writing) and then finally do the selection.
- Follow your Interest - While picking a book for reading, we must always follow our interest rather than the herd
- Multimodal Reading - Be open to reading books across different modes and formats. Even if we are a die hard paperback/ hardbound fan, we should get accustomed to reading on e-readers and other gadgets. Building this flexible habit will help us twofold
- even if we are not carrying the paper books, we can still utilise those tiny, little free time slots that we get during the day.
- we can never be without our preferred stockpile of books even during travel as e-readers (kindle, etc.) and gadgets (smartphone) can carry ample of books
- Cross-Reading - Parallel reading in terms of picking books from different genres will retain the motivation and excitement. This not only broadens our thinking but also brings more variety in our reading habits
- Read the Original - Never compromise on reading the original.An abridged version or a derived version may not do justice to the thoughts and ideas contained in the original edition.
- 3 by 5 Reading Rule - To learn about any subject, i follow the technique of identifying the 5 best books on that subject/ topic and then reading any 3 out of that. And i don't forget to read the earliest one on the subject.
- Chunking - The days when i was experimenting different techniques for improving my reading habits, i tried skimming and scanning but these did not achieve my goals of reading more and better. I discovered Chunking and that suited my objective. Chunking is all about reading a group of words (usually 3-5 words) rather than word by word.
- Make Reading a Habit - Building reading time in our routine will make us more disciplined and regular
Hope applying few or all of the above mentioned simple and common-sense tips help you read better and more.
N.B.: Reading is fun as along as it is immersive, so retain your passion for reading and not get lost in the quest for quantity instead of quality !
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