What’s the purpose in reading?

 One of the things I challenge people in my classes to do is to think about their reading. We live in a world with a lot of information and with the www information overload is an understatement. So, how can we handle this best?

When I went to school there was a bright spark in the class who often asked, “Will this be on the test?” What he was asking is what’s the point? What’s in it for me? Do I really need to know this?

What he was looking for was a purpose. If there’s no point, why bother with it. This attitude to learning is now more relevant than ever especially when it comes to deciding what you want to read.

I’m a PhotoReader and my rule is if I can avoid it, I don’t read it. Just because I can PhotoRead doesn’t mean I have to read everything. It must serve a purpose. My purpose. And if it doesn’t, I’m not spending a minute more than it takes to learn it doesn’t serve my purpose.

We have 1444 minutes in a day.  We read an average  190 words per minute or less than 100 words a minute on the computer screen. In other words a book of about 75,000 or approximately 200 pages take 7 hours for the average reader to read. What’s the point, why do you want to do that? Do you realise without a reason for reading you just drift?  In the same 7 hours I can get the information I need from as many as 10 to 15 books.  Even then they have to serve my purpose.

 If you don’t know where you’re going , you won’t know when you got there.

A lack of purpose also leads to boredom. We cannot comprehend or understand what we are reading effectively. So why bother? Did you know that more than 60% of books bought are not read beyond the third chapter?

No matter how you look at it, it takes time to read and if you are a traditional reader with an average speed of 190 words a minute I ask you do you really have the time to read?

What’s Your purpose for reading?

Is the material before you important And has to be done now? A list reading.
Is it something you might like to read  at some point when you have time? Important but not that important? B list reading
Is it reading that you would like to do but isn’t really important and you just hope to get around to it some day? C list

Here’s a closing tip for today. I’ll write more about how you can discover your purpose for reading next time.

 The tip. 

Everything in your “C” pile or list. Dump it. It’s not important and is only going to create stress. Enjoy life if there’s anything in your “C” pile that you might need some day it will show up again. You may even be more up to date with the later version

© Alex K Viefhaus