How to read efficiently

It is too common nowadays that many people become victim of boredom while reading anything, whether if it's a newspaper, a novel, a book or a magazine. Many people suffer the irritation that whenever they open the book, after reading a para or two, their hands immediately respond to the command of the mind to keep the book away. The thing they lack is the ‘efficiency in reading'.

When you start reading, the first and the foremost thing you need to do is to keep yourself calm. If you are running a glut of thoughts in your mind and trying to read, there is no way you can achieve focus in what you read. Be cool, be calm. You just need to take few deep breaths before you start reading.

If you are reading an article or a news, first, go through it quickly without pausing in between (this is also known as skimming) so that you can get a brief idea of what you are going to read.

While reading, you need not speak up the words loudly in your mind. This may make you focus more on the words rather than what the author is trying to say. Have a pencil or pen with you and just move the point of it on the lines you are reading. This will help you not to lose track.

If we talk about the learning write-ups, we need not mug up what is written in order to gain the knowledge. You have to know the meaning and have an idea of it. Suppose, if you read, "When piston in the cylinder gets displaced from top dead centre to bottom dead centre, it is known as stroke."  You need to visualize what you read in order to understand it. Here, if said in simple words, the piston moves from one end to another in the cylinder and that phenomenon is called a stroke.

Simple as that! For understanding purpose, keep it as simple as possible. Make use of the technical terms only while representing it to someone. I hope now you've got the point. For more effectiveness, you can write down the main points while reading or just highlight them.

For a better concentration, you can spray a perfume with pleasant fragrance in between the book 5-10 minutes before you start reading. This sounds quite unusual but it works. Sweet fragrance stimulates our mind. It can help us gain focus on our reading.

In spite of all these, if you still face problems while reading, I think you must search for a good psychiatrist in the yellow pages. Just kidding!
Go for the solutions for a better reading, continue for few days. You will surely experience a remarkable difference in your reading.