How do you READ more consciously and efficently?

[loveliketheflowers]

Maybe this is a strange question but here i go....there are so many,many different blogs and books to read about personal wellness and development. I feel like my mind doesn't know which direction to go. I'm reading a book right now called "Panic to Power" by Lucinda Bassett. Good book so far, but i'm having a little problem reading. Sometimes when I read my mind starts to wander mid sentence, without even realizing, and five minutes pass and I just realized what happened and i'm thinking about something not even related to the reading. This happens when I read other stuff too like blog posts or emails...OR I'm reading something and I start thinking about how I am reading, "should I read aloud" "should I read within my mind", am i doing this right?? weirdddd and annoying, i just wanna read the darn things like everyone else. How come other people can read books in two days, but it takes me a month to finally get through it. I'm still reading and haven't finished reading "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran, and I started that back in September! .... I picked up two more books today, "Power of Now" and "New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. I want to really jump into these and get this knowledge NOW, but I don't think my mind or my comprehensive mind is trying to work with me.

Any advice on how to read better, stay focused reading, and get the most out of what I am reading. I want to know everything so I can be better and better, but I don't think my mind is trying to keep up...

[Pegasus]

Originally Posted by RioroseIsAStar8507

Sometimes when I read my mind starts to wander mid sentence, without even realizing, and five minutes pass and I just realized what happened and i'm thinking about something not even related to the reading.

The same thing happens to me. Reading stimulates thought, which can be pretty random sometimes. You could try a different medium, such as podcasts or books on CD.

Any advice on how to read better, stay focused reading, and get the most out of what I am reading. I want to know everything so I can be better and better, but I don't think my mind is trying to keep up...

Environment can also play a role. Do you have a quiet place to read? If not, libraries are places full of like-minded people. Even the time of day when you read can make a difference. Experiment to find out what works best for you.

..

[Restrikted]

I find that I can only read in a certain environment. If it's completely silent, my mind starts to wander like yours, and if I hear people talking, I can't even start because all I'm thinking about is what that person is saying. The only time I can read is when there is music on with no singing, like classical, or in a place where there are a lot of people talking, but they drown each other out, like at my student union. I say just try different environments to read in, and see which is best.

I thought if I couldn't read when it was completely silent, I would never be able to read when there is noise, but it actually helps!

[Power]

To be more consciously and efficiently.... the term you need to be aware of is called "Active Reading".

Speed Reading teaches this concept of "Active Reading" because it helps you retain more information and your learning process is actually increased 3-5 folds than normal reading. I will Illustrate this concpet in a minute.

Now, don't confuse yourself that efficient reading is about finishing a book in 2 days and not remembering 50-75% of what's written in the book. In my opinion, it is a lot more better/efficient to recall 75% of the information even if you finished the book in 1 week. But dont worry,... I will explain to you how to recall 75% or more of its information in the shortest amount of time possible.

Normal reading is like driving a car. Can you recall what colour the car infront of you at the red lights? Clearly, you saw the car right infront of you becuase you had to step on the brakes.
How many white cars did you see on the road while driving?.... You are right! you don't know because your attention was not on how many white cars on the road while you were driving.

Normal reading is the same. You can't recall the information because your attention was not on the information, but rather, your attention was simply reading the words on the page. Hence, the term "Active reading" because you simply do not just read the words in a page.

First thing you must know and understand is that all books (apart from technical/manual books) whether how many pages it has, 50-75% of its content is fluff or useless words and information. In a paragraph or sentences, 50-75% of it are words: is, at, the, that,these, how, why, and, or, was, when, were,in, on, to, it, can, etc... So a 100 page will only have 25% useful information written on it. First, just keep this in mind.

Secondly, before you read a book you should have an objective on what you want to learn or your goal of learning in reading the book. Let me ilustrate how powerful this is; Imagine I hand you a book on Budgies. I want you to find out "what do budgies eat?". You got 2 options on how to go about this. You can either read the whole entire book or you simply go to the chapter on "budgies food". Clearly 1 objective, yet one will achieve their goal faster than the other, more consciously and more efficiently.

Active reading is about having a goal or objective before reading a book... what do you want to learn from the book? what are you expecting from the book?
Active reading is also questioning what you read... Is it true? are there any other supporting materials i've read in the past? Does it contradict what I know?

There are more ways on how to read more consciously and more effieciently (and that doesn't necessarily mean you read an entire book in an hour). Fundamentals of reading more consciously and efficiently are covered in most speed reading courses.

[Akashic_Librarian]

Photoreading. I Photoread and its been invaluable to me.

[Adrian]

I read in a quiet place or a coffeeshop; I mark up my book like crazy (underline, write notes, draw arrows, box things, etc.) and constantly take breaks to think about how I can apply what I'm reading to any other subject. It works fantastically well, and I retain a good 80% of what I read using this method.

[n_vizion]

After listening to the Power of Now, I started to develop control over my mind.
I started by first observing closely the random thoughts that would pop up. Then I eventually could control my thoughts, or lack thereof, whenever necessary. Eventually, I was able to be "in the moment" throughout most of the day. I went from barely being able to finish a book to reading a book in just a few days. The goal is to create control of the mind. But in order to do that you must take away its chaotic nature.

[simplystephen]

I guess I'll keep this simple - what is your reason for reading? What do you want to gain from it?

[loveliketheflowers]

wow, lots of great advice...

Originally Posted by n_vizion

After listening to the Power of Now, I started to develop control over my mind.
I started by first observing closely the random thoughts that would pop up. Then I eventually could control my thoughts, or lack thereof, whenever necessary. Eventually, I was able to be "in the moment" throughout most of the day. I went from barely being able to finish a book to reading a book in just a few days. The goal is to create control of the mind. But in order to do that you must take away its chaotic nature.

I read that part in the first chapter of "Power of Now". I tried to 'watch the thinker' but when I start to listen to my thoughts, i don't hear anything...but then my thoughts start running again and my mind wanders off of something i was thinking about, a person or a fantasy or a song. i can not get jordan sparks "tattoo" song out of my head! its annoying! how do you really listen to your thougthts consciously, mine seem to hide when i try to catch them....but i will take your adivce and make the goal of trying to take and create control of the mind. how do you take away the chaotic nature really?

Originally Posted by simplystephen

I guess I'll keep this simple - what is your reason for reading? What do you want to gain from it?

good question. i want to read for personal wellness, development, and knowledge. seeking a truth. i want to gain a truth that i know is already there waiting for me to get a hold of in those pages.

Originally Posted by Adrian

I read in a quiet place or a coffeeshop; I mark up my book like crazy (underline, write notes, draw arrows, box things, etc.) and constantly take breaks to think about how I can apply what I'm reading to any other subject. It works fantastically well, and I retain a good 80% of what I read using this method.

good good advice, i'm going to do that. write in the margins...my HS teacher told me to do that, but did i listen...nahh. maybe this time around i will stick to this, seems like a cool game plan. i hope i can comprehend more with this method..

Originally Posted by Power

To be more consciously and efficiently.... the term you need to be aware of is called "Active Reading".

Speed Reading teaches this concept of "Active Reading" because it helps you retain more information and your learning process is actually increased 3-5 folds than normal reading. I will Illustrate this concpet in a minute.

Now, don't confuse yourself that efficient reading is about finishing a book in 2 days and not remembering 50-75% of what's written in the book. In my opinion, it is a lot more better/efficient to recall 75% of the information even if you finished the book in 1 week. But dont worry,... I will explain to you how to recall 75% or more of its information in the shortest amount of time possible.

Normal reading is like driving a car. Can you recall what colour the car infront of you at the red lights? Clearly, you saw the car right infront of you becuase you had to step on the brakes.
How many white cars did you see on the road while driving?.... You are right! you don't know because your attention was not on how many white cars on the road while you were driving.

Normal reading is the same. You can't recall the information because your attention was not on the information, but rather, your attention was simply reading the words on the page. Hence, the term "Active reading" because you simply do not just read the words in a page.

First thing you must know and understand is that all books (apart from technical/manual books) whether how many pages it has, 50-75% of its content is fluff or useless words and information. In a paragraph or sentences, 50-75% of it are words: is, at, the, that,these, how, why, and, or, was, when, were,in, on, to, it, can, etc... So a 100 page will only have 25% useful information written on it. First, just keep this in mind.

Secondly, before you read a book you should have an objective on what you want to learn or your goal of learning in reading the book. Let me ilustrate how powerful this is; Imagine I hand you a book on Budgies. I want you to find out "what do budgies eat?". You got 2 options on how to go about this. You can either read the whole entire book or you simply go to the chapter on "budgies food". Clearly 1 objective, yet one will achieve their goal faster than the other, more consciously and more efficiently.

Active reading is about having a goal or objective before reading a book... what do you want to learn from the book? what are you expecting from the book?
Active reading is also questioning what you read... Is it true? are there any other supporting materials i've read in the past? Does it contradict what I know?

There are more ways on how to read more consciously and more effieciently (and that doesn't necessarily mean you read an entire book in an hour). Fundamentals of reading more consciously and efficiently are covered in most speed reading courses.

Active Reading...very good advice...thank you...


thank you, thank you. greatly appreciated. im going to get to my reading now. and i'm going to just read one book at a time and make an intention that i want to actively read and gain knowledge on how to control my mind and learn more about my Self.

[Aztec]

Originally Posted by RioroseIsAStar8507

Maybe this is a strange question but here i go......Sometimes when I read my mind starts to wander mid sentence, without even realizing, and five minutes pass and I just realized what happened and i'm thinking about something not even related to the reading.

How come other people can read books in two days, but it takes me a month to finally get through it. o

I have the same problem. I have tons of books on different subject; mostly on self-development. Actually, one of my New Year's resolution is to finish whatever book I started reading.

I have mentioned it to my doctor. After thorough assessment, his diagnosis was ADD.