Regardless of whether you are a high school or college student who is having to read things for school, an employee who is having to read things for work, or just someone who is reading a book to gain a bit of knowledge or enjoy a bit of relaxation, one fact remains the same:
Reading will be more rewarding, enjoyable, and productive when you are grasping and being able to recall what you read. And while it is certainly true that some people are more gifted in the area of “recall” than others, there are still some specific (and easy!) things anyone can do in order to increase the amount that they are able to grasp and recall from anything they read. Many people tend to “read aloud” inside their own heads, and they might not even realize this until they start thinking about it; because your brain moves much faster than your eyes, it can be natural for your brain to try to slow things down by saying each word aloud in your head, but this slows down your reading and ends up making your brain so bored that it starts thinking about other things! Practice digesting the words automatically – reading them without ever “hearing” them said – instead of “reading aloud” in your head.
Another great way for you to increase what you are able to grasp from your reading is by moving your finger (or a book marker) along the page, beneath the line you are reading; this helps to speed up the pace at which your eyes are moving across the page by keeping them focused on a specific point, and as you start to speed up your eyes to a point where they are moving as quickly as your brain, your brain will remain more engaged and will grasp more of what you read. And as is the case with just about anything, the more you practice, the better you will become; keep reading consistently and actively, and over time you will find that you are grasping and recalling much more of whatever it is you happen to be reading.
