THE BIGGEST READING MISTAKE YOU MAKE, AND HOW TO BREAK IT

The biggest mistake that college students make is that they think they have to stop and understand every word as they read. You do not have to read and understand every word. When you read word by word, you get caught up in the words and your comprehension drops. Start pushing yourself to read quicker and look for the larger meaning. When you do this, you will spot ideas instead of isolated words. When you start reading for ideas, instead of words, you will be able to spot information that is important.

With time, you will see that you become better at knowing what's important. When you are reading, if something doesn't make sense, keep reading on. Often by pushing on, you will discover the meaning of what you didn't understand. If you stop at every leaf in the forest and slowly examine it, you get caught up in the leaves and lose sense of the forest around you. If you quickly look at the leaves as you run by, you gain a greater sense of the size and area of the forest. You increase your overall understanding. Then you can decide what you want to inspect.