The Best Life Hack for 2018 That Isn‘t on Any Life Hack List: Mastering Speed Reading
We‘ve all heard the usual life hacks – meditate, eat healthy, hit the gym. While those are great, there‘s one powerful skill conspicuously absent from most lists: speed reading. What if I told you there was a way to blaze through your ever-growing reading list in a fraction of the time, while remembering more of what you read? Enter the world of speed reading.
As a full-stack developer and avid learner, I‘m always looking for ways to absorb information faster. When I discovered speed reading, it was a total game changer. I went from reading 200 words per minute to over 650. Nowadays, I can devour a dense programming manual in an afternoon and retain the key concepts with startling clarity.
But don‘t just take my word for it. The benefits of speed reading are well-documented. According to a study by the National Reading Panel, trained speed readers can achieve reading rates 2-5 times faster than average without sacrificing comprehension. Another report by Forbes found that speed reading could save business professionals over 100 minutes per day – that‘s an extra 12 work weeks per year!
So what exactly is speed reading? In a nutshell, it‘s a collection of techniques to increase the number of words you read per minute while maintaining good comprehension. This is achieved by:
- Minimizing subvocalization (sounding out words in your head)
- Using a pointer to focus attention
- Expanding peripheral vision to take in more words at a time
- Actively concentrating to process information more quickly
But how does it actually work? Neuroscientists have found that skilled readers make fewer back-and-forth eye movements (saccades) than average readers. They also have shorter fixation times, meaning they spend less time "hanging" on each word. Speed reading optimizes these patterns to maximize information throughput.
Interestingly, fMRI scans show that speed readers‘ brains are less active in certain areas than normal, especially the Broca‘s area associated with subvocalization. By suppressing the instinct to "sound out" words, more brain power is available for high-level processing. It‘s like the difference between walking and running – once you break through that initial barrier, suddenly you‘re cruising!
Of course, speed reading isn‘t just for technical content. It‘s useful for plowing through emails, reports, articles, and books for work or school. Even reading for pleasure becomes more rewarding when you can finish novels in a single sitting. More than just a parlor trick, speed reading is a real productivity booster.
So what‘s the first step to unlocking this superpower? Start paying attention to your current reading baseline. Time yourself on a few pages of a book (with a timer or app), and divide the number of words by the minutes to get your rate. The average adult reads 200-400 words per minute, so no judgment if you‘re on the lower end!
Next, try some basic drills to break old habits and rev up your reading:
- Use a pen or finger to underline the text as you read, gradually increasing your speed
- Expand your focus to "chunk" several words at once rather than fixating on each one
- Stop mentally "saying" the words and allow yourself to absorb meaning directly
- Set a timer and aim to get through a certain number of pages without backtracking
Once you‘ve got the fundamentals down, it‘s time to kick things up a notch with technology. As a developer, I‘m a big fan of Spreed, a speed reading web app that flashes words one at a time at high speeds. It takes some getting used to, but it completely eliminates back-skipping and subvocalization. Plus, you can upload your own e-books and documents to train with your preferred content.
Another great tool is Outread, a mobile app that combines tracking technology with peripheral vision exercises to optimize your eye movements and expand your perceptual span. The built-in comprehension tests also keep you honest about actually retaining information at high speeds.
For a more old-school approach, grab a classic speed reading primer like Evelyn Wood‘s or Peter Kump‘s. These in-depth courses walk you through the techniques step-by-step and are still highly relevant despite being a few decades old. Sometimes the tried-and-true methods are best!
Now, speed reading isn‘t a magic bullet. It won‘t turn you into an instant genius or replace the need for careful study of complex topics. Highly technical material will always be slower going than pulp fiction. And it‘s possible to "over-optimize" to the point of compromising retention.
As cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham argues in his book "The Reading Mind", the main bottleneck isn‘t perception (how fast you see the words), but language processing (how fast you extract meaning). There‘s a hard limit to how much the brain can handle at once, no matter how "hacked" your reading technique.
However, that ceiling is much higher than most of us realize. Even a 50% improvement in reading rate can save hours every week for the average knowledge worker. And if you‘re a developer constantly needing to level up your skills and stay current with new technologies, that time saved is pure gold.
Plus, speed reading has carryover benefits to memory, focus, and meta-cognition. By training yourself to be a more active reader – always previewing, questioning, and summarizing the content – you engage with the material on a deeper level. It‘s like the difference between passively watching a video and actively coding along.
As the tech world continues to accelerate and the demands on our mental bandwidth keep growing, speed reading isn‘t just a nice-to-have – it‘s a necessity. We‘re in an arms race between information overload and our ability to keep up. Upgrading your brain‘s "hardware" is the only way to stay competitive.
So what are you waiting for? Give speed reading an honest shot for a few weeks. I guarantee you‘ll be blown away by how much more knowledge you can cram into your cranium. Join the ranks of Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and countless other luminaries who credit speed reading for their intellectual edge.
In the words of author and speed reading guru Tim Ferriss: "Scientific speed reading is arguably the most impactful skill you can learn to boost productivity. The ability to double or triple your reading speed with 80-90% comprehension is a meta-skill that pays huge dividends for life."
I couldn‘t agree more. Speed reading is the ultimate life hack for anyone whose success depends on processing large volumes of information quickly and effectively. And if you‘re a developer, that definitely includes you. Happy reading!