the contemporary shopping lifestyle

Many people believe that humans have a set-point for things like weight and happiness, meaning that no matter how hard one tries they always are pulled back to a pre-determined weight or happiness quotient. Those topics are for another post, but it got me to thinking: do people also have a set-point for how fast they can read and process information? Being able to consume more information in less time would be an advantage to just about anyone, regardless of age or profession.

I’m fairly certain that unlike weight or happiness, most people would agree that - with practice - everyone possesses the potential to read and comprehend faster than they do now. But how much work would it take, and how big could the gains be? No one wants to spend an hour a day so that the can read 8% faster…it’s just not a good use of your time.

But what if you could read remarkably faster (50%, 100%, 150%, maybe more) by spending less than a half hour one time? Such is the claim by renowned efficiency expert Tim Ferriss, who’s book The Four Hour Workweek was a #1 New York Times Bestseller. On his blog, he has done several interesting experiments like How to Learn any Language in 1 Hour, How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days…Without Doing Any Exercise, and (my personal favorite) The 21 Day No-Complaint Experiment. In the book - which is fantastic by the way - the following sidebar appears:

How to Read 200% Faster in 10 Minutes

There will be times when, it’s true, you will have to read. Here are four simple tips that will lessen the damage and increase your speed at least 200% in 10 minutes with no comprehension loss.

1. Two Minutes: Use a pen or finger to trace under each line as you read as fast as possible. Reading is a series of jumping snapshots (called saccades), and using a visual guide prevents regression.

2. Three Minutes: Begin each line focusing on the third word in from the first word, and end each line focusing on the third word in from the last word. This makes use of peripheral vision that is otherwise wasted on margins. For example, even when the highlighted words in the next line are your beginining and ending focal points, the entire sentence is ‘read’, just with less eye movement:

“Once upon a time, an information addict decided to detox.”

Move in from both sides further and further as it gets easier.

3. Two Minutes: Once comfortable indenting three or four words from both sides, attempt to take only two snapshots - also known as fixations - per line on the first and last indented words.

4. Three Minutes: Practice reading too fast for comprehension but with good technique (the above three techniques) for five pages prior to reading at a comfortable speed. This will heighten perception and reset your speed limit, much like how 50 mph normally feels fast but seems like slow motion if you drop from 70 mph on the freeway.

Sounds great, but does it really work? I decided to put myself to the test. I’ve always been told I’m a really fast reader (it’s not uncommon for me to finish a book in a night, and whenever I’m reading along silently with someone they always say ‘wow, how did you finish that so fast?’) so I was a bit skeptical that these exercises could improve something that I thought I was already very good at. I figured that subconsciously I had already mastered the techniques Tim was referring to. I was definitely wrong.

I decided to read for five minutes (control), perform the 10 minutes of exercises above, and then read again for five minutes (test) to see how much I improved. In choosing reading material, I decided to read (different) unread passages from a book I’m currently reading: Thanks: How the new science of gratitude can make you happier, a study by Dr. Robert Emmons on how routinely practicing gratitude exercises can increase almost everyone’s happiness level. I chose this book because it’s relatively easy reading (not a translation from a foreign language or a book written in 1920), but it requires quite a bit of focus and comprehension to follow along with (unlike most fiction, in which you can skip passages and not miss much/any of the story).

In both five-minute exercises I read fast, but I comprehended the passages equally. Before tallying up the results, I was certain that it did not work. The whole time I was reading during the second five minute time period I was saying to myself “what a waste of time, I’m reading at the exact same speed”. Here are the results:

• Control - the first five minutes: 1496 words, or 299.2 wpm (words-per-minute)
• Test - the second five minutes: 2574 words, or 514.8 wpm

The most intriguing part was that I didn’t even realize I was reading any faster, yet alone 72% faster! I’m now completely sold on this set of exercises, and it only took 20 minutes of my time! This was clearly a very unscientific experiment (sample size of one, no comprehension test, etc), so I encourage you to spend the same 20 minutes. Were you able to have similar results?