Tag: Reading

  • READING SKILLS: READ EFFICIENTLY AND INTELLIGENTLY

    READING SKILLS: READ EFFICIENTLY AND INTELLIGENTLY

    Reading is very much necessary in life; also, we should know the correct strategies to read intelligently. By reading this blog you can improve your reading skills. Let’s Go. 

    WHAT’S IN IT

    The Essentials of the Skill of Reading

    Reading is always good for our minds. Reading is undoubtedly the most healthy practice and exercise for a practical reason. You might have heard about the quote:

    READERS ARE LEADERS

    This quote is very actual for reading, irrespective of the medium you opt for reading or how you’re following to read about any purposeful and meaningful things. It doesn’t matter which medium you’re taking: a blog, a book, a magazine, a newspaper, or any report, etc., but the intake of good content in any manner is always worth spending time.

    a man reading to improve reading skills

    Reading is a skill. It’s an art that can be learned. Many reading strategies can help you read efficiently and to read effectively while reading intelligently at the same time. Reading effectively means reading in a way that helps you understand and evaluate.

    These skills are essential for any humans irrespective of the age group they are into, and most importantly, Students, no matter what field they’re going into: ’ll be doing a lot of reading. The more effectively you read, the easier it’ll be, the less time it will take, and the more you’ll enjoy the experience.

    Common Reading Techniques

    Reading is a tool that opens the door to many ways and also for many career options. So reading efficiently and effectively is an art that should be learned. There are many reading strategies and techniques which are to be known to read efficiently by reading intelligently.

    • Below are some of the critical reading skills and techniques that are usually followed by people who found reading efficiently:
    • Engage in pre-reading strategies before starting to read.
    • Start by creating an optimal setting to read. A healthy environment is always a better choice to reduce the chances of distraction.
    • Always choose the best time, place, and conditions.
    • Research and investigate the content if you do not understand it completely.

    Ways and Techniques to be followed to become a Better Reader

    Reading Efficiently by Reading Intelligently is another art that requires some extra skill set and techniques to be followed. Let’s dive deep into the ways to be a better READER.

    1. Know What You Are Searching For:

    Before breaking into any book or an article, always take a few minutes to read Introduction or Preface and browse through the content section. That initial preview time will help you understand the author’s approach to the topic.

    Study all the titles, subtitles, pictures, charts, graphs, etc., to understand the clear vision and the framework of the ideas that will help you connect the details later. It’s like starting up an engine.

    2. Actively:

    Do not just passively slide your eyes over the content, but engage in the text actively and try to understand the actual scenario by finding answers to your questions. Be careful, so you do not end up skimming and missing other important information.

    3. What You Read:

    Analysis of the content which you’ve read so far just after you’re done reading is also essential to make the content digest properly. It will help you memorise and retain the content better.

    a man can visualize after analyzing what he is reading

    4. Key Concepts:

    Once you’re done understanding the textual content, and you’re ready to summarise it in your own words, now you have to record the content in some manner, be it making a color code, highlighting or marking the text, or by just simply taking notes. You can choose the method which works best for you but just needs to stick to the same. It’s essential to read and understand the text first, and then go back and make the notes or record. Never forget to review the content you recorded; a regular review period (usually once a week) is an incredibly effective strategy for retaining the information you consumed.

    5. Connections:

    Making Connection is something that is the core of effective reading strategies. At any odds, when the text doesn’t make sense, you can try and make meaningful connections to make sense of it.

    6. Visualize:

    This is the practice of Visualizing the information you are grabbing to understand better what you’re reading. It’s pretty effective to make visual representations of what you’re reading as it might look like picturing the content you read. It is pretty similar to creating an image of the process in your mind. This will ultimately help you remember not only what you read and understood, but also you can relate it as it is functioning.

    Do we get better at reading by reading more?

    The common question which could come up in your mind at this time is –

    “Do we get better at reading by reading more?”

    Absolutely yes, the more you read, the better you become at it as you will learn the patience to read. It has many other advantages and will help you improve your vocabs also at the same time; it will push your wisdom.

    read more to improve reading skills

    Some Reading Tactics to follow

    At this time, there are so many tools and tactics for being a better and effective reader and improving reading skills to read efficiently. There are specific points and things you need to be sure of before getting involved in reading anything via any medium, be it offline sources like books, magazines, etc. or an online medium like articles, blogs, e-books on your mobile device, Kindle device, etc.

    If I had to summarise the content, then specific basic reading strategies are to be taken care of while reading to read intelligently and smartly:

    1. Know What You’re Reading.
    2. Secondly, Analyze What You Read
    3. Increase Your Understanding
    4. Active Reading Is Must
    5. Maintain the specific environment around you
    6. Skimming & Scanning Should Be Avoided
    7. Recall & Review The Text You Read
    8. Make Connections & Visualize to memorise better

    Books that’ll help you improve your reading skills

    There are several books that you can look to enhance your reading skills. All those books have some excellent techniques that’ll help you in improving your reading skills. But, here, I’m sharing with you two excellent books that I think will be best for you if you want to take your reading skills to the next level. These two books contain some efficient and easy techniques you can follow to read anything faster and even with better understanding. Have a look at these books!

    How to Read Better & Faster: 

    How to Read Better & Faster is a book that teaches several Reading techniques that’ll help the readers increase their reading speed and retention time with better understanding. Reading faster isn’t just mean that counting for how many words someone can read in a minute or a particular time frame. What reading faster actually means is how much a person reads and understands in a specific period. In this book, the author, Norman Lewis, explains some efficient ways for a reader to improve his concentration and concept retention. So, these books can be constructive to improve your Reading skills.

    Reading Development and Difficulties: 

    So, reading is not just a single skill, but it is a lot more. Reading is a combination of different abilities that coordinates to make the reader understand things faster. Likewise, in this book, author Kate Cain gives some valuable ways to develop reading skills and make them better and effective. Along with explaining such practices, the author also explains the difficulties that many people face in reading. The author also tells about the quick actions that one can take to avoid those difficulties.

    Conclusion

    Reading is an Art. Not reading, but compelling reading is a good word that focuses primarily on understanding and retaining in his mind after reading. In this blog, I’ve tried to explain everything about Reading skills, tips, and techniques to improve your reading skills and the books that you should look for to develop excellent reading skills. Now, as you read the entire blog, you can start your journey of compelling reading. All the Best!

    Also, you can read our blog on Six Ways to build communication skills

    FAQ’s

  • How to manage time wisely – the best way to use dead time wisely

    How to manage time wisely – the best way to use dead time wisely

    WHAT’S IN IT

    What is dead time?

    To be very honest and straight forward, dead time meaning varies from person to person. For Instance, for someone who is an early bird his meaning of dead time will not match with a night owl.

    So, if we look through the same lens dead time is a fraction of minutes in our 24 hours daily treasure, in which our brain lacks focus or concentration. It is the time when we could not concentrate on our work, alas the points should be noted that this dead time doesn’t come in one flow and we stop focusing (although might happens for some person) but in most of the case (as a person), it occurs frequently after every time.

    When we complete any work or couldn’t complete the work before the deadline, or while doing the work our physical stress or mental stress (worrisome memories of part or dwelling in future) and creates lacunae in concentration. For Example

    Night Owl is usually active at night and utilizes as night working hours, whereas the early-bird focus his energy in the early hours of dawn and tries to maintain the working level throughout the day which eventually comes to an end as sunset or till the dinner time.

    In between his/her, working and leisure hours many dead times come and in the end, a massive one comes which he either uses wisely or waste in social media scrolling over and over.

    Types of Dead Time

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    One which we create unknowingly this type of dead time is a negative one. Although this creates challenges that can be tackled with the help of a few techniques. For instance, The other one emerges after every completion of work. These are positive ones that can be converted into opportunities to enhance our work ethic and leisure enjoyment.

    Positive Dead Time

    It can be also called extra time left or saved time or precious time earned after work completion. One uses this precious time to reward themselves, why shouldn’t they do, after all, it’s hard-earned.

    But one must be careful while utilizing this time, it should not be overdone. Moreover, enjoying this free dead time provides refreshment and a source of energy for the next task.

    Negative Dead Time

    Basically, it’s a case of no work and we have a good amount of time to use, but instead of it, we convert this extra free time into wastage by just surfing or scrolling every social media on the internet or gossip, chitchatting, etc.

    How to use this time efficiently

    So, One should make a to-do list of what he has to achieve in the current day and life and according to it, he should use his dead time. Hence, what is the thing or habits he will be choosing which can help him in his/her betterment of present and future?

    How to use your Dead Time

    1. Reading

    2. Meditate

    3. Writing

    4. Listen to music

    5. Be Motivated

    6. Workout

    7. Other Activity

    Reading

    Dead Time

    One should daily read and read, start slowly if you are bored take a small break then continue, reading not only strengthens your command over language truth also open your imagination, the way you see the world.

    Always start from the books according to your genres it will make your foundation for reading and eventually, you will turn into an avid reader.

    Meditate

    All you have to do it close your eyes at any posture and concentrate on your body sensation without reacting, just sense it. Suppose, if you feel the itchy sensation on your neck, don’t be impatient to scratch or feel hatred, just feel it and it will go by itself. As everything in the universe follows the rule of impermanence.

    The second way is to focus on your nostrils and feel the air which you are inhaling and exhaling while inhaling you will feel cold and warm at exhaling on nostrils and keep on feeling this beautiful sensation on your nose. Practice this for 19 minutes and you fill charged.

    Write

    Dead Time

    Each time you write something you will feel light, your mental stress will lessen, your concentration power will increase and most importantly you will feel good and this technique will rejuvenate you. You can start writing your blog also write whatever you like, about your daily routine, poem, song, jokes anything it will brighten up your mood. Who knows in the future we will find a new J.K. Rowling or George R.R. Martin.

    Listen to Music

    Plug-in the earphone, close your eyes, tune melody and just feel the music and lyrics you will realize at the end of that you are floating in a new universe and you will feel light and good.

    Also, you can start practicing the instrument’s, vocals unless your ambience partner doesn’t get offended.

    Be Motivated

    Watch motivational videos or videos of your field of work. When you have been doing any work for a long time then you start feeling lethargy for a while. Then to remove lethargy go watch 5-10 minute motivational video. Which you will get a little more energy to do that work.

    Workout

    This is also the right thing to use your dead time. And it is very good both physically and mentally. You can join yoga or gym for the workout or you can do them at home. Do this for at least 30 minutes, and the best time for this in the morning. It will not only help you to make you physically tough but your mental strength will also increase.

    Other Activity

    To use your dead time, you can also do any other tasks that you like to do or feel, like doing painting, playing games, and any other work that you enjoy doing.

    Conclusion

    When you do not mind doing any work at all, then you are completely empty, because of which your time is empty so that your most important time is completely empty, so to use that time you need to do whatever you like to do, read the book most of the time so that you will get to learn something new. Don’t suppress yourself from doing good work. Also you can read our blog on Dealing With Lateness – Solving

    FAQ’s