Is It Better To Read Fast Or Slow? {Or, Procrastinate Your To Do List By Testing Your Reading Speed}

Image Source - The Graphics Fairy

Are you looking for a way to procrastinate those boring and unpleasant tasks on your to do list? Are you stuck in a cubicle and need a break from crunching numbers in an Excel spreadsheet or making PowerPoint presentations?

Not to fear, I'm here to help. After all, why wouldn't I? You all are nice folks. I'm always there for you when it comes to procrastination.

This morning, I'm supposed to try to find the lithium grease so that I can take apart our marine toilet and fix the annoying squeak in the pump handle. Sounds like a good plan, except I can't bear the thought of taking everything out of the v-berth (otherwise known as the scary room of chaos and disorder) to find the lithium grease. Which, of course, will be buried in a deep and dark recess somewhere under one of the berths hiding from me behind a family of spiders who have taken up residence there.

Instead of doing what I'm supposed to be doing, I tested how fast I read on this nifty site. Far more interesting than looking for lithium grease. Let's be honest - pretty much anything would be better than looking for lithium grease.

Turns out I'm a fast reader. Which explains how I can plow through so many books each month. Well, that and the fact that I read as a form of procrastination on a regular basis.

The good thing about avoiding work by taking this reading test is that if your boss catches you slacking off and asks you what you're doing, you can tell him or her that you're trying to improve your reading speed so that you can be more productive at work. That should factor favorably into your next performance review.

It got me thinking about whether it's better to read fast or slow. Yes, I know, thinking about this is another form of procrastination. But, hey, you're reading this blog post, which means you're probably procrastinating something too. So, here's my thoughts on the matter. I'd love to hear what you have to think in the comments.

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Image Source - The Graphics Fairy

Reading For Speed

THE ADVANTAGES

1 - You get through a lot of books, which means more wonderful stories and characters to feed your imagination and dream about at night.

2 - You have time to give books a chance, for example something in a genre you don't normally read. If you end up not liking it or if it bores you to tears, at least you haven't wasted too much time on it.

3 - Other patrons at your local library love you because you return books quickly and the next person on the hold list doesn't have to wait as long to get their hands on the latest bestseller.


THE DISADVANTAGES

1 - You might miss some of detail and nuances. As you skip through the pages quickly to find out what's going to happen next, sometimes you can gloss over things.

2 - Your comprehension might not be as deep if you skim and skip up and down over text looking for important words or phrases.

3 - People don't always believe that you finished a book in just one day and they quiz you on the plot to see if you're telling the truth.

Image Source - The Graphics Fairy

Reading Slowly And Steadily

THE ADVANTAGES

1 - You know a book inside and out and savor every word and phrase.

2 - You don't waste your time reading books that bore you and instead carefully pick and choose what to put on your reading list.

3 - Reading can take on a meditative quality as you become deeply engrossed in a book, turning over each page slowly.


THE DISADVANTAGES

1 - Everyone else you know is on book #7 in that fabulous series about werewolves and vampires, while you're still plowing through book #2. You're constantly worried they're going to throw out spoilers when you get together for coffee.

2 - You don't have time to read all of the wonderful books that people recommend to you.

3 - You feel pressured to read faster, just because some annoying person wrote a blog post about it and bragged about their high score on a speed reading test.

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Like most things in life, everything has its good and bad points. Slow reading isn't better than fast reading or vice versa. The important thing is reading, and enjoying reading, not how many books you read each month. At least that's what I think. Now, I'm off to find the lithium grease. Or, read a book instead.

Check out what other people have to say about fast and slow reading here, here, here, here and here.

Are you a fast or slow reader? What do you thinkthe advantages and disadvantages are? What are you  procrastinating today?

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