Books That Changed My Life

I am passionate about helping you achieve thriving health and energy and becoming mind and financially independent. You might ask how I nourish my brain to come up with the ideas that gets me where I want to be in life – and I would say that it is not a secret – I simply love to read books. I read books about health, how to build wealth, and how to have awesome relationships. Now that I have this personal blog, it is time for me to share with you some of the most inspiring and impressive books that I have read and that you can benefit from, as well as several that my self-made friends recommend.

Continue reading “Books That Changed My Life”

How to Improve Your Memory: Transfer Information from Short to Long Term Memory

How to Improve Your Long Term MemoryOur memory has been subject of investigation since ancient Greek times. Indeed, the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, tried to comprehend it in his treatise entitled ‘On the Soul’. Aristotle believed we are all born without knowledge, and that what we become is an accumulation of our experiences. We now know that our early memories are actually ‘colored’ by our later experiences, and that as we change in life, so our memories are changed with us.

The Past Does Not Equal the Future

In his Continue reading “How to Improve Your Memory: Transfer Information from Short to Long Term Memory”

How To Improve Your Memory: What To Eat For A Better Memory, Concentration and Sex

Improve Your Memory Through FoodYes, you can speedread and mindmap every subject you are reading/learning, but if you don’t have the energy to start, then it’s going to be a long and heavy road. When I was still at Uni, I was totally amazed by how much food I could eat. And most of it was things that nowadays I’d call non-live-food. You know the stuff I mean right? The cheap and convenient foods that give you that instant sugar rush. Things like chocolate bars and fizzy sodas. You can study pretty effectively for the next hour or so on those, and then you start to feel pretty tired again. Actually, you start to feel even more tired than you were before.

“But why is this?” Continue reading “How To Improve Your Memory: What To Eat For A Better Memory, Concentration and Sex”

How To Improve Your Memory: 7 Tips to Become a Great Mind Mapper

We, as human beings, have been making notes for a very long time. And this unnatural way of thinking has buried itself  so deep into our brain, that now we have to force ourselves to unlearn. In other words, you will be inclined to make sentences and long lists in your Mind Map. Bear this in mind, but also persevere. Apply the rules of Mind Mapping until you master them, and you’ll experience a new and enriched way of natural thinking. To help you do this, I have written down some practical advice and guidance. Follow the tips below and you will soon become a master mind mapper.

How to Improve Your Memory With a Mindmap

Tip 1. Be Flexible On Your First Mind Map

Start by making Continue reading “How To Improve Your Memory: 7 Tips to Become a Great Mind Mapper”

How to Improve Your Memory: What Are the Fundamentals of Mindmapping

Principles That Will Improve Your MemoryIn my previous post, How to transfer information from short to long term memory, I mentioned that memory has been subject of investigation since ancient Greek times (at least). Greek (and Roman) philosophers, for example, practiced different techniques in order to remember much more than the average human being. In Latin this practice was called Ars Memoriae (art of memory), and it was often performed together with other intellectual activities, such as logic and rhetoric. Ars Memoriae is a set of principles and techniques that are used to arrange memories, enhance remembrance, and stimulate ingenuity. It is also referred to as mnemotechniques.

Mnemotechniques

Tony Buzan defines a mnemotechnic as a method in which different concepts are related through various aids which stimulate your memory. These mnemonic aids, which will help us remember certain information, can be mechanisms such as schemes, images, or words. You’ve actually used such things to remember information already, and you probably did so, among other times, when you were at school. For example, the sentence ‘Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally’, as used in mathematics to help us remember Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction.

The Basis of Mnemonics

In another post, Why use different parts of your brain, I explain that multiple areas of your brain are involved in the storing of a ‘memory track’. Therefore, it’s of great importance to use as many memory systems or areas of our brain as you can when memorizing information. Indeed, it’s essential to combine the abilities of the two halves of your brain; the left that is specialized in logic, lists, numbers and words, and right that is specialized in imagination, color, dimension, and rhyme. The ancient Greeks, through their practice of Ars Memoriae, already knew that our brain stores things by connecting information. And it is this fact, along with the conditions mentioned above, that has lead us to two fundamental memory principles:
1. Imagination
2. Association

The following might sound a bit cliché, but it is definitely true; An image says more than a thousand words. We simply remember images, especially colored, extravagant images, much easier than plain text written in black and white. And the results of association, as taken from the third and fifth condition (which I mentioned in the post How to transfer information from short to long term memory) clearly show that: If you associate something you want to remember with something known or to an experience of your senses, then this image will stick in your mind.

Tip: How to Stimulate Your Memory by Using Imagination, Association, or Both? Tony Buzan differentiates ten sub principles of mnemonics which are used in combination with association, imagination, or both. My tip is to use these sub-principles in everything you study. If you do, it will not only be much easier to remember, but also a lot more fun to learn.

10 Principles that Stimulate Imagination and Association:

  1. Color. Colors stimulate your brain. It’s pleasurable for us to look at colored images, they bring memories to life, and lively memories are easier to store than dull ones.
  2. Exaggeration. Memories that are exaggerated are given extra life. Just think bigger, louder, higher, smaller, or crazier than reality and that ridiculous image will stick with you. For example, it’s hard to forget characters from a Roald Dahl book. Think of the Oompa Loompas in Charlie and the chocolate factory.
  3. Rhythm, Movement, and Dimension. Buzan believes that movement makes your facts more striking. He also believes it helps your brain to connect the information to a story. Once again, information stored in this way is much easier to remember.
  4. Senses. The perfume of a random passer by can trigger all sorts of alarm bells. Maybe your brain thinks it belongs to an old flame; someone you still secretly love. You see, as everything you experience passes through your senses, they are a very strong stimulation to the mind. In this case, you should imagine or actually smell, hear, feel, or visualize what it is you want to remember.
  5. Order and Patterns. My mother always says “A tidy house is a tidy head”. It’s the same with your thoughts. When organized or placed in a sequence, it will be much easier to visualize where and how you’ve placed them. Buzan says this tidying of your thoughts is very effective when used with the other memory principles. Try to organize your thoughts by size, color, or year of their occurrence.
  6. Numbers. Buzan explains that numbers create order in our thoughts and strongly influence our memory. He thinks that the presence of numbers helps to make our memories more precise.
  7. Symbols. Symbols stand for much more than just the sign itself. They stand for a concept, a story, or a process. Personally, I have always used symbols in my notes or summaries, they save space on my page, and they enable me to remember better. This is because symbols connect a meaning to an image. For greater meaning, I also found it better to create the symbols myself, using my own imagination to do so. In fact, I actually think that symbols belong to the next group of principles, because they stimulate your imagination and your ability to associate.
  8. Positive Thoughts. Our mind automatically tries to block out our bad experiences. It’s a built in survival mechanism. Consequently, it’s easier to remember your positive thoughts.  So, to benefit from this, you should try to find a positive mood when you study and fill your world and your senses with happy thoughts.
  9. Humor. I also link this principle to positivity, since we feel good when we laugh. The way to use it to your advantage? Just seek out the fun, and the funny, and then remember it. Enrich your life and your memory all at once.
  10. Attraction. I think attraction is also about feeling good. We like to look at, smell, or touch something we are attracted to because the experience is pleasurable for us. Sometimes, for me, the image of a painting or a sculpture comes to mind. And when it does, I instantly feel how I felt when I was actually there, looking at it. This is why my last tip is to use your imagination and to make those boring old texts seem a lot more attractive. To do so, I want you to use all the other ingredients I’ve mentioned above. Go on, try it. You’ll capture those thoughts forever, and fall back in love with your work.

These principles can be considered as the main ingredients of your study sessions and your summaries. The best way to study, however, as well as how to remember things easier with mnemonics (and how to make a mind map) is discussed in the following posts of this series.

For Further Reading About How to Become a Great Mindmapper, I Recommend:

• [amazon_link id=”0563520337″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Brilliant Memory: Unlock the Power of Your Mind,[/amazon_link] by Tony Buzan
• [amazon_link id=”0452273226″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Mind Map Book[/amazon_link],  by Tony Buzan

How to Improve Your Memory: Why Use Different Parts of Your Brain

Improve Your Memory with Both HemispheresIn my previous post, ‘Why Train Your Brain‘, I explain how the memory track is formed. In this post, I will explain how memory tracks are stored in different parts of your brain, and that each has their own specialization.

The Two Hemispheres of Your Brain

Your brain consists of two main parts, which are also called hemispheres. The right part is commonly known as the emotional side, with the left part being the rational side. One of the reasons for this is that your right hemisphere has more connections with other parts of your brain, such as the limbic system. Your right hemisphere also specializes in spatial and visual memories. The left hemisphere, on the other hand, specializes in the storage of words and numbers. It focuses on details, tries to bring order to the received information, and is very good in analysis; whereas the right hemisphere tries to comprehend the complete picture.  Together they provide the perfect synthesis.

What are the Specializations of the Two Hemispheres?

Tony Buzan has given a very clear summary of the specializations in his Mind Map Book.  In the image below, I have applied a trick called mnemonics, which is a device to help you remember something easily. In this case a list of facts.

The Subdivision of the Two Hemispheres

Improve Your Memory by Understanding the Functions of the Two Hemispheres

Each of the hemispheres is divided into four lobes, and each of these has their own specialization. They are the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobe. Of these, the temporal lobe specializes in hearing and language. The occipital lobe controls your ability to see. The frontal lobe controls your muscles and your movement, but is also responsible for your motivation and the formation of your identity; which it does by giving meaning to your memories and actions. And the parietal lobe connects your senses, but is also the area that defines your orientation and let’s you know where you are in a certain space.

What Are Other Essential Parts of Your Brain?

As I mentioned above, the right part of your brain is better connected with the limbic system than the left part of your brain. It’s therefore considered your ‘emotional side’. But the limbic system consists of several essential brain parts:

  • The hippocampus; which is responsible for the transfer of information from your short term memory to your long term memory.
  • The amygdala; which is vital if we are to record the emotions that accompany certain experiences.
  • The hypothalamus; which directs the endocrine system (secretion of hormones) and the autonomous nerve system (regulation of unconscious functions such as the beating of your heart, breathing, and digestion).

HoHow to Improve Your Memory by Understanding the Parts of Your Brainw are the Two Hemispheres Connected?

The two hemispheres are connected by the corpus collosum, which enables them to communicate with each other. The corpus collosum is an elongated strip which mainly consists of axons. These axons come from neurons which are situated in other parts of the brain.

Did You Know?

That women have a larger corpus collosum than men. In other words, the strip has  more connections between the left and right side of the brain. This means the two sides are able to work better together, which explains why women are more intuitive than men. It’s why, for example, a woman can often sense the emotion behind what’s being said. Men, on the other hand, lack this ’emotional radar’.

The Different Parts of Your Brain Co-operate As One System

So to recap, your brain is made up of different parts and every part has a different specialization. Some parts are very good at storing forms, while others are very good at storing words. However, what you should also know, is that all parts of the brain work together, and that memory tracks are stored in multiple parts of the brain. You see, your memory works as a complete system and multiple parts of your brain are used in everything you do. Even the simplest activity. For example, when you ride your bicycle, you might see a junction ahead (visual/spatial memory), know instinctively to stop and give way to the right (complex conceptual memory), then hit the breaks to slow down in time (movement- sensory and spatial memory). And for more complex activities? Well, Einstein noted that using both hemispheres consistently helped him to unleash huge amounts of ‘brain energy’.

TIP: Involve Multiple Memory Systems When Storing Information

Since there are always multiple memory systems involved, even with the simplest activity, it is also easier to access (remember) a memory track when the happening or information is stored in multiple ways. So when trying to memorize certain information, you should involve as many parts of the brain as possible. This will make it a lot easier for you to store it. By stimulating different areas of your brain simultaneously you improve your ability to think, you will remember more, and you will be able to recall things much quicker. This fact forms the basis of mnemotechnics and mind mapping; which are explained in my following post. But for now it’s enough to know, that if you’re studying you should use both  hemispheres and associate the experiences of your senses with the material you’re reading. For example, when I have to remember boring facts, I will:

  1. Make them rhyme
  2. Fit them it into a song that I like.

Later, when I need to recall these facts, I simply start the tune in my head and the facts come to me naturally.

For Further Reading About How To Improve Your Memory By Using Both Hemispheres, I Recommend:

  • [amazon_link id=”0452266033″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Use Both Sides of Your Brain: New MindMap Techniques[/amazon_link], by Tony Buzan
  • [amazon_link id=”1406644269″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Memory Book[/amazon_link], by Tony Buzan

 

How to Improve Your Memory: Why Train Your Brain

Improve Your Memory by Training Your BrainOur brain has many different functions. Some of them we’re consciously aware of, like solving a difficult mathematical question, but most we are not aware of at all. This is a shame, as in the absence of such knowledge, we may not realize how amazing our brain really is.

Tony Buzan Discusses Five Brain Functions

  1. Reception; of external stimuli.
  2. Retention; of information through memory.
  3. The memory processes; encoding, storage, retrieval of information.
  4. Analysis; such as processing of information and recognition of patterns.
  5. Expression; such as thinking and conversation.
  6. Control; of all physical and mental functions.

How Does Our Brain Work…

This is nice to know, you might think, but how do these functions actually work? I thought the same. Specifically I wanted to know:

  1.  How external physical stimuli are translated into thoughts?
  2. How thoughts arise in our brains?
  3. How the thinking processes take place?

I wanted to know these things so I could stimulate and improve my cerebral functions. Functions such as remembering, analyzing, and sharing of information. But I also wanted to stimulate and  improve my creative thinking processes. The first step, therefore, was to understand the brain’s mechanisms. And the first step towards that, is knowing how it’s built up.

How is Our Brain built up?

Your brain and spine form your central nerve system. For the brain’s part, it’s estimated there are a trillion neurons (brain cells), with each neuron consisting of a body, called a soma, a core, called a nucleus, and a great many tentacles. One of these tentacles, the axon (from the Greek word axon which means axis), is long, while the others, the dendrites (from the Greek word dendron which means tree), are short. Dendrites are mostly used to receive information, while axons, generally, send information out. All of these tentacles have knotty ends, called synapses, and these are linked together by a synaptic cleft.

The Actual Processes in Our Brain

Neurons are information processors and messengers that can receive and send signals without any loss of strength. A signal, caused by a stimulus, can either originate at one of our senses (a physical phenomenon is turned in to a neural signal) or at the neurons in our brain (caused by a thought). Both types of signal are electrical and they’re passed on from neuron to neuron by the synapses (the knotty ends of the tentacles). When an electrical signal arrives at the synapse, a chemical substance is released into the synaptic cleft. This chemical substance, the neurotransmitter, subsequently generates a new electrical signal in the next synapse, and the message is passed on.

Did You Know?

The right part of your brain receives signals from your senses and controls the muscles in the left side of your body, and the left part of your brain receives signals from your senses and controls the muscles in the right side of your body. The nerves through which the biochemical-electrical signals are transported cross each other in the medulla oblongata, which is embedded deeply into the lower half of your brainstem.

What Is a Thought or Memory…

The conversion from a physical phenomenon into a sensation, a memory, or a biochemical-electromagnetic signal, is something that science has all mapped out. But the genesis of an actually thought from ‘nothing’ is something that modern science still struggles with. In the case of the former, the biochemical-electromagnetic signal forms a route (or memory track) when passed on from neuron to neuron (Tony Buzan calls this a mental map). But here’s the essential part: the biochemical-electromagnetic resistance along the memory track decreases every time a thought is passed on from neuron to neuron. Buzan even believes that when a thought is repeated, it is more likely to occur again. Let’s compare this phenomenon with the road of a race track. Every time a car goes over the track, the road is made smoother and wider. Therefore, it will be easier to go over it the next time, and the driver can go much faster as well. It’s the same with your thoughts or memories. Every time a thought is repeated, the memory track is made smoother and wider. Therefore, the resistance is lowered, and you can think faster.

Changes in Your Brain: Neuroplasticity

The physical changing of your brain with every emotion, thought, or action, is called neuroplasticity. It’s a phenomenon you can use to your advantage, since the only thing necessary for it is repeating what you want to learn or master. But it will take devotion, you’ll need to repeat it so often that it’s literally carved into your brain. In his book ‘The Winner’s Brain’, Jeffrey Brown discusses neuroplasticity and its links to successful people. He points to much research which proves our brain alters in accordance to our most frequent activities. Cab/taxi drivers, for example, have a strongly developed hippocampus, the part of our brain concerning spatial navigation and memory. This is because they drive around the city all day and have to know all the streets.

TIP: Train Your Brain to Become a Winner

So my first tip in this series on improving your memory and brain abilities is: The more you learn, the easier it gets to learn. Again, the only condition for success here is devotion. You must want to improve and you need to be interested in the subject or activity you want to master. But the thing is, you don’t even need to perform the actual action. This is because your brain can’t differentiate imagination from reality. Therefore, the renowned sports motivator, Tony Robbins, believes that if you visualize yourself carrying out a swing and you can see the golf ball going in the hole, you will actually be training yourself to play golf.

For Further Reading About Why And How to Train Your Brain, I Recommend:

  • [amazon_link id=”B003DYGOIW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Winner’s Brain[/amazon_link], by Jeffrey Brown
  • [amazon_link id=”0983263302″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Brain Rules[/amazon_link], by John Medina

How To Improve Your Memory: Introduction

improve your memory and partyBeing a student at the University of Amsterdam was definitely a challenge in many, many ways. Yes, the work was hard too, but it was the many other distractions, and especially the need we felt to crash every party, which really pushed me to my limits. Luckily, along with speed reading, I found another way to maximize my time. I call it speed learning.

What I discovered, is that a great memory is not just something you’re born with. Indeed, your memory, like any other skill, is something that can be developed. This is because your brain, the most magnificent and complex organ of all, has the ability for continual change, even after adulthood. Yes, it’s true you learn most as a child, but adults can continue to develop their brain as well. And we definitely should. It’s like a muscle, you see, and if you don’t use it, you lose it! Or at very least you waste its potential. The thing is, you can improve your memory and logical reasoning simply by understanding and then stimulating the mechanisms of your brain. In fact, even the ageing of your brain, something feared by many, is a process you can delay.

Change your Lifestyle to Remember Better

There are a few techniques that will improve your memory, but mastering one will not be enough. Moreover, to improve your memory it will also be necessary to change your way of life. Exercise, relaxation, and food are all essential for your brain to function.

Boost your Memory and Accomplish Any Goal

Your memory skills form the basis of your mental capacity. By improving your memory, it will be easier to overcome challenges and to accomplish any goal you set yourself. This series of posts, however, is not just about improving your memory, it’s also about improving the way your brain functions. Therefore, the following subjects will be discussed (for better understanding I advise you to read them in the given sequence):

 

12 Tips To Improve Your Reading Comprehension

Improve Your Reading ComprehensionAnother huge profit besides the 7 Benefits of speed reading is improving your comprehension and increasing your concentration. Allow me to explain you how:

How to Read a Book and Better Comprehend

There is a general procedure I go through to read, and comprehend a text very quickly. However, it may differ slightly from book to book, since my reading goal may also differ from book to book. For example, with an informational book I want to: 1) Get an overview of it’s most important aspects. 2) Gain insight into the essential details. 3) Understand it, value it, and evaluate it against the things which I already know. Moreover, I want to hold onto my new knowledge, and to be able to accurately translate it into my own words, and incorporate it into my conversations or writings. With a novel, on the other hand, I don’t want to get an overview, since I don’t want to know how it ends. I want to be surprised by the plot and I want to experience those surprises in the order the writer intended me to. Only in the end do I want to understand both the means and the overall message of the writer.

Procedure for an Informational Book

    1. Make a Mind Map of What you Already Know About the Subject. You create references in advance by making a Mind Map of the things you already know. As a consequence, it will be much easier to remember what you read, because you can more quickly create mnemonic versions of all the information. A mnemonic, by the way, is an information translation that aids your brain retention
    2. Read the Back and the Table of Contents. Read the back of the book, study the content, and try to make a second Mind Map concerning the coherence of the different chapters. But make this mind map in your head only. The main theme can often be derived from the main title or back cover, whereas the chapter titles will generally give clues to the sub-themes.
    3. Preview the Book using Titles of Chapters, Subtitles, and Images or Striking Words and Sentences. It is much easier to understand a text after you’ve previewed it. Tony Buzan defines previewing as: combining skimming with your knowledge of the paragraph structures of texts. By previewing, you make it easier for your brain to logically organize the information (to make an ‘internal mind map’) since you try to discover the main structure of the text. The main structure consists of the keywords and sentences that will give you the overall message of the writer. It’s like a super-concise summary. You’ll build on this key information when you (speed) read the text. But before you start speed reading, decide how much time you want to spend on each chapter. You should write this down on a Post It note which you can keep inside the front cover. Furthermore, if I haven’t read reviews on the book already, I read them now. In this way I can consider the views of others while at the same time forming my own views.
    4. Scanning and Skimming. Scanning is the search for specific information in a text, like a certain word, for example. You do it when you look for a name on a list, and you use your finger as a guide for your eyes. Skimming, on the other hand,  is a rapid search for the general meaning.
    5. Understanding of Text Structures. Information, if it’s well written, is logically organized in the text structure. So the main points should be signposted in the chapter titles and the next level information should be marked by sub-titles. After that, the first sentence of a paragraph should contain the essence of its message. The middle part of a paragraph should provide specific information and arguments that support the first sentence. And the final sentence of a paragraph should draw it all to a neat conclusion.There are three main types of paragraph:
      1. explanatory (contains the ideas of the writer)
      2. descriptive (extra …. which continues the ideas of the explanatory paragraph)
      3. linking (used to join the ideas expressed in the explanatory paragraphs)The first and the last type are most important for our purposes.
    6. Study the Content Again and Make the Second Mind Map on Paper with a Pencil. Write the main theme in the center, and use the first level branches for the sub-themes. Mostly these sub-theme branches will be made up of keywords you’ve taken from the titles of chapters. It may also be, that through the combination of review comments and your first skim of the book, you’ve already formed some ideas about the sub theme. If so, these can be noted at this stage too. Use them to populate the second level branches.
    7. Skim the Book Again. But this time with your focus on Titles of chapters, sub-titles, and first lines of paragraphs. I’ve found the first lines of paragraphs to be the most important at this stage.  They’re a simplified reflection of all that’s to be told. See point (5) for a further explanation.
    8. Complement Your Mind Map with the New Insights of the Second Skim.
    9. Now Speed Read the Book and Complete the Mind Map. While you’re reading you can underscore keywords, key sentences, and difficult words (for which you search for the meaning later). You can also write notes and any questions you may have in the blank space to the side of the text. Oh, and don’t be afraid to erase any keywords and/or branches that are no longer beneficial to you. It’s why you used a pencil, after all. TIP: Always be alert and critical while reading!
    10. Be Active. Passive reading is like passive learning. And passive learning is simply outdated. We all know that the performance of students in an active learning environment is much higher than that of students who simply listen to their teacher in silence. Ask questions and make critical remarks and your brain will become active. It will process the new information and link it to older, stored information. In short, active learning will give you access to the bigger picture. So make notes in your book and write down those questions. Like I said, always be alert and critical while reading. Your skills will improve through this alone.
    11. Have a Break…. After you’ve finished the book and you’re content with your mind map, take a small break from the text. Whilst you do so, think about what you’ve just read, embed that new information firmly within your brain, and make a neater version of your mind map. At this point you should supplement the mind map with comments or questions. If you value and evaluate the new information, it will be easier for you to store it in your long term memory. It’s the 4th and 5th step of reading as defined by Tony Buzan: extra-integration and storage.

Further Tips to Increase Your Comprehension

  • Expand Your Knowledge of Words. I think this tip is clear enough. You will lose out on so much if you don’t understand what you read. There is a saying: “People with a rich vocabulary, live a rich life”.  The more words you know, the more ways you have to express your feelings and to live and experience those feelings. It’s the same with the texts you read. You enrich your experience of a novel when you understand its every word. Only then can you read it as the writer intended.

TIP: Enrich your vocabulary every day. Take a piece of paper, or your laptop, or your phone, and write down any word you encountered, be it in the newspaper, a book, or a conversation, which you didn’t fully understand. Keep them all in a list format and go over the list regularly. With repetition you will add these words to your own vocabulary

Conceptual Difficulty

  • Do not read slower if the writing gets harder to understand. Instead, read the text in multiple ways (i.e. scan and skim a couple of times) to retrieve the main message and the essential information. Your level of comprehension will only decrease if you start to read slower. This is because you brain has to go through more steps to make sense of the syllables, than it does to make sense of the word groups. I explain this further in Speed Reading: the 7 big benefits. 

Tips to Increase Your Concentration While Reading

  • Underscore Difficult Words And come back to them. Don’t search for their meaning there and then, it will only disrupt your flow. It’s much better to underscore difficult words, continue your reading, and look them up once you’ve finished the chapter. Difficult words become clearer in context. So you’ll most likely find that you didn’t lose track the overall meaning. In fact, you’re probably only looking them up now to improve your vocabulary.
  • Take a Break Every 45 Minutes. The attention span of most humans is around 45 minutes. After 45 minutes you’ll notice it’s hard to focus. Re-gaining your focus by continually telling yourself to focus will cost you a lot of energy. It’s much better to take a break of around 10 minutes. Take a walk or do a breathing exercise. By doing so you will ‘activate’ your body once more and ensure your brain has enough oxygen.

Now you are ready for the next step…

Speed Reading Part VII: How to Practice Speed Reading?

THIS POST IS AN ITEM IN THE SERIES ON SPEED READING

  • Speed Reading Part I : The 7 big benefits
  • Speed Reading Part II : 5 Essential Tips For Preparation
  • Speed Reading Part III : Test Your Current Reading Speed
  • Speed Reading Part IV : Improve Old Reading Habits
  • Speed Reading Part V : Techniques To Increase Your Reading Speed
  • Speed Reading Part VII : How To Practice Speed Reading?

For Further Reading About How To Speed Up the Comprehension Process Of What You Read, I Recommend:

Speed Reading: Test Your Current Reading Speed

Test Your Current Reading Speed“In any learning or self-improvement situation, it is essential to find the true base from which you start. Only an accurate assessment of where you are positioned at present, whatever that position is, will form a solid foundation from which you can springboard to your ultimate goal.”  Tony Buzan

Speed reading isn’t just about reading faster, it’s also a way to improve your comprehension and your memory. These abilities can be measured using a reading test. It’s important to do these tests, not just to find your starting point, but also to measure your progress. In this post I mention a few different reading tests and I recommend you repeat them at regular intervals.

What are Average Reading Speeds?

Tony Buzan provides us with two different statistics for the average reading speed. First, he gives an indication of the performance levels of ‘poor’ to ‘best’ readers. Then he compares the reading speeds of people at different educational levels. In the last graph you can clearly see that people at a higher educational level read much faster. Tony believes this improvement in words per minute (wpm) cannot be attributed to the gain of extra knowledge, or to better reading skills, but is instead down to motivation. It’s the pressure of having to read a lot of books, in a short space of time. Short deadlines increase effectiveness. Once there are no more deadlines, after graduation, for example, adult reading returns to primary school levels.

Every time you do the reading tests, you should look at these graphs to measure your improvement. They can be used to check both your reading speed and your level of comprehension. Once you have your results, you’ll know what to focus on the next time you practice.

Performance level Speed (wpm) Comprehension (%)
Poor reader 10-100 30-50
Average reader 200-240 200-240
Functionally literate 400 400
Best reader of a 100 800-1000 800-1000
Best reader of a 1000 1000+ 1000+

Graph of Reading Speeds of Different Educational Levels

Speed Reading Test on Paper

What you need to make your own?

  • A simple novel.
  • A stopwatch or other form of timer.
  • A count of the average words per page.

To do this last part you should:

  1. Count the words of 10 lines, add them together, and divide that number by 10. – Now you have the average number of words per line.
  2. Count the number of lines on 5 separate pages, add them all together, and divide that number by 5. – Now you have the average number of lines per page.
  3. Multiply the two totals together and you have the average number of words per page. E.G. 110 (words) ÷ 10 (lines) = 11.1 (words per line), 150 (lines) ÷  5 (pages) =  30 (lines per page), 11.1 (words per line) x 30 (lines per page) = 333 words per page
  • Now read 10 complete pages and time yourself using the stopwatch.
  • You can now determine your reading speed in Words Per Minute (wpm). You do this by dividing the number of words read (wr) by the time (t) it took you to do so. For the logically minded, that’s: wpm = wr ÷ t 

 Speed Reading Tests on the Internet

  • Ace Reader. Ace Reader is an online speed reading test where you first choose your reading level; child, adult, or advanced. And where each level contains several short stories which are followed by some questions. This is a gauge of both your reading speed and your level of comprehension, and it’s recommended you take several tests to verify your results.
  • Reading Soft. Reading Soft is another online speed reading test. This is a lot less extensive than Ace Reader and the ‘design’ of the website is not very good at all. But it can give you a quick impression of both your reading speed and comprehension level. And it also provides the general characteristics of readers at certain levels; from poor right up to excellent.

Now you are ready for the next step…

FURTHER READS