Are you drowning in a sea of ​​unread papers? Are you frustrated because you can’t keep up with your reading assignments? You may have wondered if you should take a speed reading course. Or can you learn to improve your reading ability on your own?

The good news is that if you’re committed and really put in the work, you can develop your own speed reading program at home. You can greatly increase your reading speed without sacrificing comprehension.

How do you start to improve your reading speed? The first step is to determine what your current reading speed is.

Find some reading material to practice, such as an article in a magazine, or use a chapter from a book. Set a timer for a short period, like five or ten minutes. Start reading at your usual speed and see how far you can get in the allotted time. Don’t try to read faster or slower than normal; the object here is to find out what your usual reading speed is. When the time is up, bookmark the page so you know exactly how much you’ve read. You will have to count how many words you read in this time.

Now using the same item, set the timer again, for the same number of minutes. Start at the point in your article where you last left off. Don’t reread the exact same material you just finished.

This time, focus on reading much faster than the first time. Go as fast as you can while still taking in every word and maintaining your understanding. Calculate your reading speed and compare it to your first effort. Did your score improve? Try again, working to read even faster without sacrificing comprehension.

If your performance has sped up considerably, notice if you feel relaxed or tense. Are you telling yourself that speed reading is hard? Many of the obstacles you face to go faster are mental, they are in your mind and can be changed.

Many people have developed bad reading habits that slow them down. See if you make any of the following mistakes.

When you read, do you read word for word? Or do you scan phrases and sentences? Trying to take in every word will slow you down and even interfere with your understanding. Why? Because in the English language, the meaning of sentences is built up from groups of words, from the way sentences and clauses are put together. Dwelling on each word can prevent you from absorbing the meaning of the entire sentence.

In fact, you can better grasp the meaning of a sentence by using your eyes to scan the sentences and clauses, rather than slowing down to pick up each word separately.

A very common bad reading habit is called “under-vocalization.” You’ve probably noticed that many young children just learning to read pronounce syllables and words on their own. Many people continue to do so even as adults. The habit of subvocalizing is a drag on your potential reading speed because your brain can take in and process information much faster than you can subvocalize.

In fact, you can look at printed information and have it go directly into your mind without moving your lips or speaking the words in your head. If you have been pronouncing the words in your mind as you read, you are not reading at your optimal level. From now on, make a conscious effort to grasp the meaning of the printed page without hearing the words spoken in your mind.

Another bad habit that slows down your reading speed is going back and rereading a line or sentence every time you think you’ve missed a word. In many cases, rereading the line doesn’t really improve comprehension. Simply eliminating this negative habit could double your reading speed!

Consciously practice making the effort to keep reading, refusing to go back, until it becomes second nature to you.

Most people, when reading, will scan each line of print from left to right. When they reach the end of the line on the right, their eyes jump to the beginning of the next line on the left. This is not always necessary and will slow you down. If you’re reading columns that aren’t very wide, you may not need to scan all the lines from left to right. Practice looking at the center of the lines and move your eyes down the printed column. See if you can still grasp the meaning of the entire line this way.

How can you tell if you still understand the material when you increase your reading speed? How do you know if you’re missing something important? Reading an article faster is of little use if you don’t understand most of it or miss vital points.

Every time you finish an exercise to improve your reading speed, ask yourself, “What was the article about? What were the main points? What were the supporting arguments presented?”

Write what you understand and can remember. Then go back and read the original more slowly and carefully. Compare it with what you have remembered. Were you correct in your understanding of what the article was about? Did you understand most of the main points? Did you miss something important?

Keep track of how your reading scores change over time. With practice, you should be able to greatly improve your reading speed while maintaining a good level of comprehension.

Retraining your eyes and brain may take some committed effort on your part, but the results will be worth it in terms of reading speed gained. Stay relaxed and confident as you practice.