Bad Habits That Get in the Way of Speed Reading

Do you have bad reading habits? You may not even realize that you do. When it comes to speed reading, however, there are certain reading styles that can slow down your speed and delay your brain from comprehending the materials. What are they? Take a look at some of these bad habits so that you can read faster and comprehend more.

* Reading word by word. There are people who want to catch hold of each and every word on the page. But not all words are meant to be read individually. Some of them are there just to dress up the language, add continuity to the sentences and keep the phrases and clauses together. It's better to scan your eyes across the page if you want to develop your speed reading skills instead of taking in each word and analyzing it.

* Re-reading lines. This is done by people who are worried that they might have missed a word and go back to re-read the sentence. Learn to develop confidence in your reading skills. Work at eliminating this bad habit by consciously stopping yourself from going back. Your speed reading will improve dramatically.

* Moving your eyes from left to right. This is quite typical among most readers. Even though it might make you believe that you are speed reading, you will notice your error after you have read several paragraphs. Allowing your eyeballs to move from left to right will slow down your speed. The most efficient way to maintain speed is to concentrate your eyes on the middle of the line and then shift downwards. This is especially useful when reading columns. You will be amazed at the speed with which you can read using this technique.

* Sub-vocalization. Perhaps you've noticed children say words out loud while they are learning to read. This is known as sub-vocalization. However, you need to lose this habit if you want to read faster. It hinders the ability of your brain to quickly grasp and process information that it is reading. Keep in mind that your brain can pick up words faster than your lips can read. Therefore, you need to allow your brain to do the work if you want to learn speed reading.

It might take some time to eliminate these bad habits, since they are so deeply ingrained in most people. And until now, you probably didn't even realize that they were bad habits. So make a conscious effort to not make any of the above mistakes. Eventually, speed reading will become your new habit.