One of the things that you have to do at university is read. A lot. Probably you take a look at your reading list which you are given and your heart sinks. How will you ever read everything that you are meant to read? Well, the first things to understand that you don’t have to read everything on your reading list! You need to pick and choose the best from the list. But the other thing to do is to read efficiently and that means quickly. Many people read slowly in the belief that they will understand more that way. However, research shows that reading faster doesn’t interfere with comprehension – in fact it may even increase it. In order to speed up your reading you need to know that fast readers read in blocks, like this:
your eyes see this block then they jump to this block and then this block and you understand the whole block together
If you can read quickly in blocks your reading speed can increase a lot. If you want, use a pen to jump across the page as you read, and move the pen quickly to make sure you read at a good speed. Like other habits, it will get easier with time.
Here’s what Tony Buzan has to say about reading quickly: