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Leadership and speed reading

By Andre Ottlik Β· Β· 2 min read

Speedy Gonzales Information Input! πŸš€πŸ—žοΈπŸ“–

Who doesn't know it! You need to quickly get an overview of a certain topic πŸ“–or want to educate yourself professionally, but the day is already full enough, so when to soak up all the information overload? Then maybe you've considered teaching yourself speed reading. But that would mean learning something for the sake of learning something.

Could be worth it, though! Here's why:

Speed reading isn't just about reading faster, it's also about being able to process what you've read faster and keep it in your head. Win-win! Because the good news is that speed reading can train your brain like a muscle: You learn to perform better in general, internalize information faster, and remember it more efficiently. This not only helps you, but also your team. Because if you understand things faster, you can pass them on faster, get to the point faster, and save yourself and your team a lot of time. We like!

But how do you get started? Quite simple actually, you just need to get rid of three habits #badhabbits last week ;)

πŸ‘‰ The vocalization, that's silently speaking along while reading

πŸ‘‰ The fixation, the words you read one at a time

Regression, your eyes don't read linearly, but jump in all directions again and again.

You can do it with these tips:

  1. don't speak along

The reading voice in our head is the biggest enemy for reading fast. Try not to speak along, for example, by holding your breath while reading an important passage.

  1. do not fixate on single words

Normally we read like this: word - for - word....To read quickly, you need to read sentences in groups of words. Complete groups of words - you will grasp much faster.

  1. use reading aids

Your eyes do not follow the lines linearly, but jump up, down, left or right. Did you know that 20% of the time spent reading is spent trying to find the next line? But there's a very simple trick! Take a pen and run it along the lines you are reading. That way, you won't be able to slip in the line anymore.

  1. don't look back

You know how it is: You are reading a book and don't understand a passage right away, so you jump back to the passage and read it again.

Not with speed reading - you just keep reading, because you're sure to find the thread again at a later point. Just imagine that rewinding is not possible, just like in

in life ;)

  1. courage to fill in the gaps!

Not every word in the book is relevant. So have courage to take a gap, have a close look at the table of contents and then decide which aspects and chapters are relevant for you and which are not.

Be patient!

  1. do not get distracted

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