Often manifesting as techniques for faster reading, nowadays, there is a mass illusion that reading many books by itself can bring about change into someone’s life. Many try to do it as fast as they can ignoring the fact that taking your time to process a book, or even rereading it, is important to extract and remember its wisdom, or to have fun.

The Issue Behind Reading Hacks

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

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Despite not quite being the role model we all thought he was, I still think Dr Seuss had it right when he said:
<blockquote>"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."</blockquote>
I've always been a book lover, since being a small child I've loved the smell of books, loved being in book shops, and most importantly, I've loved the satisfaction of traveling through the pages of a good story or acquiring the knowledge of a weighty tome. The problem for me however, is I'm slow as sh*t.
If I could be anything that I'm not, it would be a faster reader. Not only do I struggle to actually find the time to read regularly, I've always been relatively slow at the act itself. To combat this, I've tried a variety of methods to try and up my game, increase my speed and subsequently the rate at which I could add hot titles to my list of stuff I'd read that week.
When I became interested in personal development, I naturally started reading a lot of non-fiction. Like millions of other self help hopefuls, I devoured Think and Grow Rich, falling instantly for snappy one liners such as:
<blockquote>"the starting point of all achievement is desire"</blockquote>
Before long, I started looking up reading lists, speeding through them in order to consume the nuggets of gold in each title. Thanks to my new buddy Napoleon, not only had I rediscovered my love for reading, but I'd conveniently figured out that all I needed to do was read constantly, and my mind would magically inflate to such a degree that it would carry me easily to my most lofty goals.
Not long after, I starting getting bombarded with emails from various guru's telling me about the benefits of listening to audiobooks on x2 speed. I started noticing apps that give you the synopsis of lengthy books in a 5 minute podcast and mail order services that send out that months must read titles for a one off fee. Whilst there is of course, nothing at all wrong with any of these things, I for one feel like we've missed the point.
Somewhere down the line, in this world of instant gratification, the idea of actually spending the time to read a book and digest it's contents seems to be dying. Sometimes it takes me weeks to finish a book, that doesn't mean I enjoy it any less. Just last night I started to read Dickens' Hard Times, I got about 10 pages in before my daughter jumped on my back and announced it was time for piggy backs. At this stage of life, I'm grateful for those ten pages.
When did reading become something we are all trying to rush? When did books become things that once simply finished, their wisdom is deemed to be received? I recently finished a quality book by a financial trader, I've read it three times now, and each time I learn more and realise that most of it I didn't take in in the first place. How people think that racing through an audiobook or a complex title on leadership or start-ups is going to realistically give them any actionable insight is beyond me.
As I look around me in today's online world I'm surrounded by people shovelling reading hacks at new readers as if the high speed consumption of the written word is a fast track to the big leagues.
<blockquote>Reading hundreds of books a year won't help you in the slightest if you can't recall any of what's in them.</blockquote>
Reading isn't a competition, it isn't some Olympic sport where we are all trying to tick off as many titles a year as possible, or finish Ulysses in record time. It's the same as it's always been&#8202;-&#8202;a wonderful way to learn about the lives, world and imaginations of others, and gain from their experiences either because we might learn something, or simply because its fun.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no different to anyone else, I've fallen into the same trap, I've skipped segments of a book and I've listened to The Martian at 2x speed. After a while though, I got sick of trying to become some sort of devourer or titles. That's all I was doing, devouring the title. At the rate I was going through hardbacks, softbacks, audiobooks and periodicals there was no way I was remembering anything, or enjoying any of it.
A couple of years ago I did an experiment where I tried to read a 100 books a year. I completely failed, not only did I fail, I started to resent the thing I'd loved all my life. Last year I did something different, I ditched every hack, reading list or guide, and listened simply to my own opinion. The result? I didn't end up reading more than ever, I read pretty much what I normally would, but I had way more fun, internalised more than ever and even ended up starting to write a novel.
I'm not trying to be some humbug on the social aspect of the internet's modern obsession with books, or detract from the scores of people out there who offer genuine and valuable insight into what readers might like. It just seems to me that a certain corner of the web has descended on reading, books, learning and the quest to make ourselves that little bit wiser, repackaged it and spat it as the new hip way to sell success.
In reality, I've nothing against reading lists, or anything that actually helps people enjoy reading, makes learning easier or allows people to find a sense of community online. That said, I think so many people are being conditioned these days into thinking that the measure of your wisdom in life is a direct correlation to the number of books you've read. It isn't. So if you're deep in the well of speed listening or your favourite celeb's reading list, do yourself a favour, ditch it all. Listen to your own mind, your own curiosity, read whatever the hell it is that you like, if we all did that, not only do I think we'd all have a lot more fun, but I think people would feel happy with the very act of reading, be it fast, or like me, contentedly slow.
<blockquote>"Patience is a conquering virtue"&#8202;-&#8202;Chaucer</blockquote>
<figure><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*1Z9VgMkehuH_bOZthwjH5g.jpeg"> </figure> </div>

Despite not quite being the role model we all thought he was, I still think Dr Seuss had it right when he said: "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

Why I'm sick of reading hacks

The Issue Behind Reading Hacks

DR. SEUSS

Jasper Asghar's ideas are part of this journey:

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