How to Read More Efficiently: Simple Strategies for Busy People
It’s mid-afternoon, your inbox is overflowing, and you have a stack of news articles you promised yourself you’d read, not to mention that latest book club pick that hasn’t even been opened. Sound familiar? If you’re constantly battling to keep up with your reading list, the good news is there are techniques to help you read more effectively—saving you time, reducing stress, and allowing you to actually enjoy your reading again.
Reading is something I spend hours on every day. Whether I am reading the news, emails or documents at work, articles for an assignment, or a book for enjoyment, learning to read more effectively has helped me to save a lot of time and absorb information faster. The three techniques below I have found to have the most impact on my ability to read more effectively.
Clarify the purpose
Before I start reading, I ask myself:
Why am I reading this?
What am I hoping to find?
What do I want to get out of it?
The purpose of reading could be to:
be updated and informed
gain an overview of something
locate specific information
understand difficult ideas
solve a problem
keep up with industry trends
relax and escape
be inspired
When it comes to routine tasks like emails or catching up on the news, this process becomes second nature. For more detailed reading such as for a work project, an academic assignment, or whether to read a particular book, thinking ahead always saves time later on. Reading with a purpose will determine what I read, how deeply I read, and the reading medium.
Be selective in what you read
Before diving in, I ask myself if this is really the best source for what I need, and I focus only on the most relevant parts. First I skim the document by looking for and reading executive summaries, contents pages, key findings, graphs, tables or bullet points that provide the gist of the content. A quick skim helps me pick up the main ideas and figure out if it’s worth reading more closely.
If I decide that a text needs to be read in more detail, I use strategies to read actively to retain key information and maintain focus. When I’m reading actively, I’ll highlight key points, ask myself how it’s useful, and jot down any action items or follow-up tasks — way more effective than just summarising what I read.
A note on digital reading. When reading on a computer or other digital devices, distractions can be endless. When actively reading a text in depth, I apply strategies to avoid distractions and improve comprehension by only having the text to read and a note taking program open. This means closing down or muting distracting apps such as email or chat, and closing tempting internet browser windows.
Choose the most effective medium
The reason I’m reading usually decides how I’ll ‘read’ - whether that’s a podcast, a physical book, or a digital document. If I am looking to be updated and informed, such as with the news, I use podcasts to get an overview of key news stories and issues and combine with other tasks such as commuting. For information-heavy reading, such as a productivity book, I prefer a physical book. It helps me with analysis and comprehension. For work related reading this is often digital, which is effective for highlighting and making notes directly into the text that can be skimmed and searched later on to retrieve the key information.
In summary
Mastering these techniques not only saves time but also helps you retain key information and reduces the overwhelm that often comes with daily reading tasks.