Unlearn Speed Reading- Here’s Why You Should Read Slowly
Today when everyone wants to read faster, let me tell you why you need to read slowly.
It’s not worth sacrificing comprehension for speed. You ultimately remember less and learn less. Instead, read at your own pace. Chew on the words before digesting them. Think. Process. Understand.
Read not for the sake of ticking things off a list or showing others. Read to learn new things. It’s okay if you only read a couple books a year. It’s not a race.
Reading makes you wise. It makes you feel things. But that can only happen when you understand what you are reading. When you practice what you’ve learned and incorporate it into your life.
Here’s why you should read slowly-
1. Think
Reading slowly or at your own pace gives you time to think about what you just read.
You can complete a book in a couple hours but if you didn’t learn anything from it, what was the point of reading it?
Give yourself time to think. Time to form your opinions.
For instance, you don’t have to agree with everything the author says. Whenever you’re reading something, think about why you’re agreeing or disagreeing with the author.
Do you believe something different? What is it?
Or what made you agree with the author?
Everyone is entitled to have their own opinions and beliefs.
By practicing this, you might realize you’ve been holding on to beliefs you don’t agree with anymore.
Or it gives you a chance to cement your beliefs further.
It’s a chance for you to be open-minded. To learn and unlearn.
And in the process, you grow.
You learn more about yourself.
The way you look at the world changes.
2. Reflect
When you read, you’ll often come across sentences that hit home.
What do you do then? Move on to the next sentence? Or sit with it for a bit?
Instead of burying what you’re thinking, think about what hit home. How it made you feel.
Even while reading fiction, allow yourself to feel the love, the joy, the togetherness, the achievement, the loss.
It’s how you’ll have not only read the book but lived it.
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” ~ George R.R. Martin.
I think even the man who reads just for the sake of it, lives one.
Self-help books are great for reflection. Sit with what resonates with you. Or go one step further and-
3. Write
I’ve been reading the book 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest for about a month.
If I wanted to, I could finish reading it in a few hours. But I choose not to. Why?
Because there are so many things in the book that I cannot simply read and get over with.
I need to chew on them, think, process, write, learn and unlearn.
4. Imagine
Reading at your own pace allows your mind to visualize what you’re reading. It’s like a movie playing in your head. Whenever you pick up the book, you un-pause the movie.
And what’s even more spectacular is that your mind created that movie simply based on the words you’re processing.
It’s not limited to fiction books. Even while reading non-fiction, there are images in your mind, scenes from your life or imaginary. And it’s only possible when you truly understand what you read.
I hope this encourages you to read a book slowly. 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest is a great start.
I’m looking for some new book recommendations. What’s your favorite book (any genre)? Let me know in the comments.
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Thank you for reading!
