Learn to speed read – the Tim Ferriss way – in minutes

How to speed read in a flash: Start with an estimate of how many words are on every page of a particular book. (It should be a standard one, without graphs or lists.) Count the number of words contained in 10 lines. Divide that by 10. That’s the average number of words per line.

Most books have roughly the same amount of lines per page throughout. Let’s say it’s 30 lines. If it has an average of 10 words per line, you multiply those two numbers together and get 300 words per page.

Next, establish your reading baseline. Read for a minute at your usual speed and then count how many pages you covered. If it’s three pages, for example, you’ve read 900 words. This is your ‘words per minute’ rate or wpm. The aim is to double or triple that.

Most of us read the same way: word by word, line by line, left to right. The problem? This doesn’t utilize the space in our peripheral vision. You can fix this by drawing two vertical lines down the pages. Try indenting about one word on either side.

Instead of starting from the far left, start and finish each line within these two parallel margins. Your focus will descend along the page as normal, it’s just that the parameters have been squeezed inward. You’ll still retain full comprehension without as much effort.

If you can easily read like this for 5 to 10 pages, bring the margins in even further so that they include an extra word on each side. Keep reading this way and you will gradually train yourself to absorb text by focusing on the middle-third of a page.

It’s important to note that your eyes don't track in a straight line when, for example, you glance from left to right. Instead, the eyes jump in quick movements between fixed points. This is known as ‘saccade.’

You can use this to your advantage by having fewer fixation points on the page. Use your finger to trace the movement that your eyes you should follow line to line. This keeps your reading pace even and prevents skipping forward or doubling back onto lines you’ve already read.

The next step is to try, for 5 minutes, reading a bit faster than you’d be comfortable with. Losing about 10% of your comprehension rate here is fine. The idea is to ‘reset’ your default reading speed through practice, just like adjusting your driving to a different speed limit.

Now retest your word-per-minute rate. Make sure you retain full comprehension. If you’ve followed every point here, your reading speed will likely have doubled or tripled. Although you haven’t changed, it can feel like unlocking a higher gear you never knew you had.