This is to continue the prior post exploring my breakdown of reading the biography of Steve Jobs, and I want to start off by saying:
I made a key error in calculating my HIITs. It’s not about chapter length, as I don’t read by the page (yet) I read by the word, and therefore, the calculation has to factor in the number of words per page, not just pages per chapter.
Adjustments: I have also pushed myself to 56 minutes, and my mind really goes out at around 48-52 minutes of intense focus. Further, I tried minimizing the recollection period to 1 minute since it’s a story (Job’s Book), but 2 minutes is about as low as I can go to be accurate.
A great lesson I learned: what you decide to measure is just as important, if not more important than the results of the measurements you get. I started with just 4 data points, but now it’s well over 20, but they’re all formulaic and so I reduced my input needed to only entering in 2 numbers for minimal friction/inertia.
Today’s observations: I did 4 reading sessions today and what is remarkable is that I averaged exactly the same amount of pages and reading speed in set 3 and 4 at 494 effective words a minute (including typing notes) and nearly identical 628 to 617 wpm purely reading speed over the course of 112 minutes. Sidenote: I was clocking about 240-245 wpm pre-Kwik/speed reading drill, increase of over 2.5x. Physiology is important too, as sitting up straight, remembering to breathe, and not crossing any body parts seems to bring the biggest sustained level of speed and comprehension.
One more thing to note: This pace makes me feel the book more, like I’m experiencing Job’s life right before my eyes/my brain. Things seem so real, details so vivid at this pace, my only complaint is that it’s a large book, holding it with one hand is a little awkward. This is some intense mind shit going on, my brain hurts, but it’s a muscle and will recover/I’m taking good care of it. I am sensing a mental shift already at the speed I process things in other areas of life. #mindflexinmirror
**Update**
I have finished Job’s book and attached the results. Total time, 9 hours, 39 minutes or rather 579 minutes, with a book of 571 pages, nearly a page a minute. Here are my top 6 coolest observations:
1. 80/20 rule in practice:
Reading: 80.4% of the time at 464 minutes
Prep/review: 19.6% of the time at 113 minutes
2. Pure reading speed:
532 words per minute sustained
3. Best ratio:
Under 1 hour, at least 2 minutes of review, shorter timed intervals to keep the speed up
4. Flow:
At certain points the hour zoomed by, I thought there was an error in my tabata program it ended so quickly I thought
5. Forget everything:
The beginning part of his life where I didn’t know anything and felt captivated by it, I read faster. When it was later on in life and I felt I knew things already, I read slower/mind wandered a bit. It could also be the relevance to my current life of starting things up versus managing/legacy discussion.
6. Felt energy:
I sensed far more than just playing the scene in my head about Jobs’ life, I felt it. I could feel the energy and passion at the beginning of his life, anger at his enemies, and sadness at his slow deterioration. Not felt from reflection on the story, but as I was reading the words and moving quickly through it.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s experiment on mastering speed reading. This is a topic I am sure to revisit in the future and I continue to explore, master, and refine my experience with it.
How do you feel about these 6 observations? Any one ring true to your experience? Any one surprise you? Do you have any suggestions or thoughts on my next experiment?
I hope you found this an interesting read, and I encourage you to explore the spreadsheet for yourself. Should something resonate within you to make a comment, suggestion, or provide feedback, I will instantly welcome your thoughts.
For your benefit: I have made my spreadsheet available to you on Google sheets here.