I am an avid reader of books. Between readings for work and leisure I often churn through 200-500 pages of text a day. The more I read, the more I want to read - it is part of a never-ending quest for knowledge. But no matter how much I read in any given day, the amount of material I want to read, and by extension learn, continues to grow at an almost exponential rate. Read one book, add another two to my Amazon wish list. Read one magazine, and two new editions come out. I could spend all my waking hours reading but as fun as that is, I would end up missing out on a lot of great experiences if I decided to devote my life to reading.
Enter the 15 minute reading experience. With this simple technique you can cut down your reading time while still ensuring that you absorb as much of the relevant information from a text as possible. We lead busy lives, and it is impossible to read everything that we want to read. But by using this method, you can find time in even the busiest of days to complete a book from cover to cover.
How Does It Work?
The name of the method highlights its simplicity. Select a book that you are interested in reading but have not had the time to yet and sit down with the aim of reading it in its entirety in 15 minutes. The aim is not to read every word in the book, but rather to take a more active approach to your reading and draw out the key concepts. As such, this method really only works well when reading non-fiction books. Novels are best left to be read at a leisurely pace as you allow yourself to be immersed in the world created by the author. Non-fiction books, on the other hand, are designed to be conduits of knowledge - and the extent of the knowledge that you extract from any given non-fiction book is completely up to you.
Now, 15 minutes is not a lot of time. In fact, it may take you two or three attempts before you have refined the technique to the point where you can comfortable read a book within the 15 minutes. The more you practice reading in such a condensed time period, the more efficient you become at it and, subsequently, the more information you will be able to take away from any given session. A successful 15 minute reading experience is one whereby you can quickly identify the key concepts that the author is presenting in the book, mentally highlight key passages of information, and identify 5-10 new pieces of information. Even when you read a book from cover to cover, within one week of completion you would likely have forgotten over 80% of the content. Unless you make detailed notes as you read, or have he ability to soak up information in your brain like a sponge does water, conventional reading is hardly an efficient use of your time.
Efficient Reading
Not only is this technique a great way of absorbing information much more efficiently, but you will also begin to read differently. Gone are the days of conventional reading when you read one word after another, one line after the next, from page to page and chapter to chapter. Instead, allow your eyes to scan over the page in a circular motion and let the text speak to you.
The human brain has an enormous capacity to absorb information at a much faster rate than we can mentally read yet we persist with the conventional method of reading one word at a time. As you scan the pages, rather than read the pages, your subconscious mind will quickly identify the key concepts and information that it finds most relevant and highlight that for you. In this way, your subconscious mind acts as a filter and highlights the key passages that you should read in their entirety. It will feel strange at first, but as you grow more comfortable with the technique, and accept that it is folly to attempt to memorize every single piece of information that you read, this technique will provide a more enjoyable reading experience. Guaranteed.
The Final Step: Creating A Summary
Reading, however, is not enough. After completing a book using this method, sit down and spend the next 5 minutes writing a brief summary (aim for approximately one page) of what you have just read, including the key concepts, noting the key phrases, and including the 5-10 pieces of new information that you have learnt. in the space of 20 minutes you have read and summarized a book and expanded your knowledge in the process.
