For some, reading is just a hobby, and for some it’s essential. Whatever the purpose of reading is, everyone wants to be better at what they are doing. From novel to poetry, from Rabindranath Tagore to T.S. Elliot, we all have our reading memories. But if you want to be more than just a reader, then you have to be more effective and inclusive. Being an effective reader can ameliorate your reading skills and can make you more indulgent and intelligent while you’re reading. To sharpen your reading competency, here are the 5 tips presented in this article.
i) Read what you want to read or what you are interested in reading
- Reading something that you have no interest in doesn’t really give the finest results. Don’t read under peer pressure. Because it doesn’t encapsulate the essence of reading.
- When you start reading what you want to read, it generates a great level of interest in you. You will understand better and can appreciate every tiny detail that you are reading.
- Get to know what you are going to read and familiarize yourself with the topics or books that you want to read. By doing this, your mind gets more active and your reading time will be more productive.
ii) Make notes and highlight
- When you are reading a good novel or any educational text, highlight the important text or a line that caught your eye and made an impression. Do this with a yellow or neon highlighter. If you don’t want to do that, then you can always use a pencil to underline the sentence, or circle the words and write their meanings. These notes help you a great deal if you are preparing for any competitive exams.
- It’s always helpful to take notes so that you can refer to them whenever needed in the future. Always take notes of ooowhat you’re reading if it’s worth remembering. You can take physical notes or you can type them in your phone’s Notes App; Either way it enhances your reading ability. This exercise greatly increases your grasping power while reading.
iii) Set small goals and challenges
- If you want to have more effectiveness in your reading, then set small goals. Select a book or magazine you want to read and assign a number of pages you would like to read in a day or in an hour. By this way, you are challenging yourself to read more.
- You can also assign topics for each day or a week and complete those tasks perfectly. If you accomplish your target, treat yourself with any kind of tangible or intangible reward like a gift or hanging out with friends. By doing this, your self-confidence gets a boost and your reading prowess enhances day by day.
iv) Make a good plan and manage your time well
- Arrange a specific time for yourself when you want to read and decide how you want to read. Create an ambience, make your surroundings clean, and refresh your brain.
- Managing time while you are reading definitely affects how you read and comprehend. You may put a timer for 30 or 45 minutes on your mobile phone and keep your phone aside. Allow no distractions. By this, you can focus solely on reading. Once the time limit is completed, take a break for 30 minutes or so and then resume your reading with the timer.
- This technique will help you manage the pace and the amount of time you are putting into reading. Make sure you always have a good environment while you are reading. Avoid checking your phone or surfing internet mindlessly while reading.
v) Understand and contemplate
- When you’re reading a novel or when you are preparing for a competitive exam, you shouldn’t just read anything for the sake of reading. Look into the arrangement of the sentences, run your mind through the words and try to understand the context. Ask yourself: What is the author trying to say? How is author’s tone? What is his purpose of writing?
- Contemplate a difficult equation or a lengthy problem and appreciate the beauty of it. This makes you realize the efforts and thoughts that went into writing or creating such things. On experiencing a deep engagement with the text, you can upgrade your reading skills and apply this learning into your own life.
About the Author
Abhinav has finished his graduation in Civil Engineering only to realise that writing is also as analytical as Structural Analysis. From finding hidden references in movies to writing them in his stories, which may one day triumph as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, he is all about the culture of Pop Culture. He considers music as therapy and storytelling as catharsis. You can write to Abhinav at his email address: abhinavsriramoju@gmail.com
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