Basic Speed Reading Tips
by Get Smart on May.06, 2010, under Brain Power
Speed reading helps to feed our quest for knowledge at a faster pace.
Having a faster reading speed doesn’t only mean that you read the lines fast – it also indicates that you have understood a particular statement as quickly as you have read it, and through this, it would be much easier for you to do your tasks and responsibilities as you won’t have to spend as much time interpreting the instructions.
If you want to increase your reading speed and be more capable of gathering information faster and better, then here are some helpful speed reading tips you can do:
1. Read Just About Everything You See
Whether it is a table of ingredients found on a soda can or directions written on a billboard, make it a point to read. The words, lines and phrases are stored immediately on your head and become of good use once you encounter similar statements in other reading materials. Your brain will no longer spend much time interpreting information as it already has the previous lines stored in its archives.
2. Read in the Morning
While eating breakfast, make it a point to read. Most people who read newspapers and books in the morning have better memory throughout the day, and it becomes easier for them to process information particularly when given new reading materials.
3. Look for the Main Idea
Each paragraph in a given reading material has a main idea. To boost your reading performance, skim for the main ideas in every paragraph. You then need not read the whole chapter or essay since you have already understood its gist via the main points found in the paragraphs involved.
4. Avoid Highlighting Lines
Indeed highlighting certain thoughts or statements in a reading material can be of great help for those who are reviewing for exams, but you can actually avoid this effort by taking time to read the whole material. You don’t actually save time highlighting ideas as you will still spend almost as much time viewing the reference and reviewing it. Also, highlighting only encourages you to memorize the phrases regardless if you have understood it or not.
5. Ask Questions
In most reading text, you would find subheadings which focus on a particular subtopic. Use these subheadings by forming them into questions, then find the answers by means of reading the corresponding text. This way it would not be difficult for you to understand what you are reading, and even have fun learning more about the given topic.
6. Practice!
Of course, practice makes it perfect, and that includes increasing your reading speed. Read a lot of materials, ranging from books to newspapers and even graphic novels. Also, read in a quiet, comfortable place in which you can concentrate on your reading and not be distracted by other things. Best place for reading: the library.
7. Read with Sense
There are certain documents which have to be read with proper care and attention, and you will really have to spend time on them. These include medical records, legal documents and mathematical theorems, as the brain needs more time and space to interpret and understand what they mean. Be allowing yourself to read them more than once, you will be able to make sound decisions and avoid further mistakes due to carelessness. There are other types of reading materials that could be read faster, such as books, newspapers and short Internet articles.
Practice each of these seven speed reading tips each day and always when you’re reading and you will find that the speed with which you read will increase. Happy reading!
Ways to Improve Your Brainpower
by Get Smart on Apr.24, 2010, under Brain Power
In The Decline of Your Mental Powers we discussed some of the reasons for our brain’s decline and why we lose our brainpower. So what can we do to improve our brainpower?
Brainpower Courses
There are many books, lectures and products on the market designed to help you to improve your brainpower. Most of these lessons contain the same information and give specific exercises that you can do that will help you to have a much clearer focus and be able to think at your very best. These exercises do not typically take much time and if done regularly and properly, can assist in providing you with discipline and be very effective in improving your brainpower.
Omega-3 Fats in Your Diet
Add Omega-3 oils into your daily diet. You can do this by eating the proper fatty fish such as salmon as well as fish products that contain these oils, or by purchasing Omega-3 supplemental capsules.
Develop Your Concentration
It is important that you develop a higher ability of concentration. Many concentration and meditation techniques such as those taught as part of Yoga studies can help you to build up your ability to remain focused. One technique to develop concentration, and thus your brainpower, is to move only your eyes, keeping your head and body still, gazing from point to point. This should be done by moving your eyes once each second and scanning the entire range of your vision at all angles. Doing this exercise daily can help you to build your focus and increase your concentration over just a few weeks.
Positive Thoughts are Positive for Brainpower
Keeping positive thoughts can also help you to improve your brain function. Thinking positively gives you more access to the higher thinking abilities that are already inside you. When you think positive thoughts, you feel better and healthier. Spend some time each day asking yourself emotional-type questions such as what you are grateful for and name the people in your life who make you happy. Positive thoughts can go a long way towards giving you more confidence and producing a higher concentration level.
Develop Both Sides of Your Brain
Most people are right-handed and therefore primarily use the left side of their brain. In order to develop the neural pathways between the two sides of your brain, and therefore increasing your brainpower, you should engage in activities that utilize the other side of your brain as well.
An exercise that can help to broaden your brainpower is to move your mouse pad to the opposite side of your keyboard. If you are right-handed, then move your mouse pad to the left-hand side, and vice-versa. This forces you to use the hand that is not dominant and will stimulate the neural connections in your brain between the right and left hemispheres.
You should strive to perform as many activities as you can with your non-dominant hand. Try brushing your teeth with your right hand if you are left-handed. Studies have proven that those who are ambidextrous, or have the ability to use both hands equally, have ten percent more nerve fibers that join the left and right sides of the brain.
Games to Improve Your Brainpower
Playing computer games is also an excellent way to exercise and stimulate your brain. There are several games such as puzzles, brainteasers, crossword puzzles and strategy games that will stimulate your brain. Chess, checkers and – my favorite – bridge all help to engage strategic thinking and can ultimately improve your brainpower. You should strive to get yourself into a regular schedule of playing these brain-empowering games. Consider playing for fifteen minutes each morning before work to get your brain moving or take crossword puzzles to work with you for your coffee break.
All of these exercises should be practiced regularly. Be sure to set aside some time in your daily routine to do the practices that you feel most comfortable doing. Spending just a few minutes each day can increase your brainpower by ten percent or more within just a few weeks.
