Heart ? Hands ? Eyes | Limitless: Learning to Speed Read

Whenever I?m feeling stuck or frustrated with a project, writing, finances, or my energy level I like to watch the first 45 minutes of the movie Limitless on Netflix. ?

The premise of the film is that Bradley Cooper, a writer, suffers from the same issues must of us live with- he?s got enough intelligence but he is a chronic procratonator, he?s woefully disorganized, tired, and messy. ?

Along comes a miracle drug that opens up his brain, makes him organized, gives him razor sharp focus, and allows access to all of the knowledge he has had or has had. ?He gets his act together around this. ?Drama ensues.

I love it because I do wish we had a miracle pill to get us all in working order. ?

As a physician, I also know what it?s like to have patients who wish I could give them a miracle drug that will make their pain go away, make their children listen to them, or ?that helps them to lose weight. ?As much as I long for a magic pill, I recognize that there isn?t going to be one today, or if there is it will likely have terrible, terrible consequences.

So instead of concocting a super cocktail of herbs and medications to make myself smarter, faster, and stronger, I?m doing it the hard way: I?ve created a list of the things I dislike about myeslf, the things that frustrate me and remind me I?m not living up to my potential. ?This includes physical traits, mental apptitude, money management, and even how I wash my dishes. ?

Here are a few examples in a Notes file painfully tiltled ?List of My Problems?:?

slow reader

poor posture

bad at remembering names?

I don?t finish some books

I talk to much/listen to little/and need to flip the ratio

Needless to say, the list is very, very long. ?Also note that these issues are all relative to my own personal performance, not somebody elses. ?Now just to be clear, so that I didn?t absolutely hate myself after writing this list I did work on a (much shorter) list called ?Personal Strengths?. ?

But I really went to town on the problems list.

Next I organized the list because it seemed like a lot of issues were related and had something in common. ?This was great because it helped me to see patterns. ?For instance: ?

Concentration/Reading/Learning:

slow reader

I don?t finish some books

easily distracted from a task

poor focus

bad at math

lose track counting

I found that all of these things were related to concentration and focus. ?Some things fell under social interaction, some fell under finances, ?some were msuculoskeletal/body issues, etc. ?I found this to be an extremely helpful exercise. ?

Finally, once my nightmare habits were organized I just quickly wrote down some ideas that I thought may help the issue.?

At the core of everything the most important improvement is:

hydration, good sleep, clean diet, exercise.

That foundational core is key, and I don?t think one of the four are more important than the others.

I decided to address the things that can affect the most items on the list first. ?And to start, my reading speed was driving me mad. ?It kept me up late reading medical journals, textbooks, and even the fiction I enjoy before bed. ? Reading was taking up a disproportionate amount of my time. ?

So I figured I would try a speed reading program and see if it helped. ?I searched awhile for speed reading programs either for my iphone or online, but nothing caught my eye for the price or hassle.

Then some time ago I found the deceptively simple: ?How to Speed Read: ?A Very Easy Guide by John Connely. ?I think this was written for students at university but it works for a cranky doctor just the same.

First I sat down and mseasured my baseline reading level. ?

231 words per minute. ? That sounds like a lot, but it?s not. ?The average person reads around 200 words per minute. ? I was perfectly average.

10 minutes later I was reading 451 words per minute. ?Wow.

Now the question people ask is: if you?re reading that fast can you comprehend what is on the page? ?At first when I was reading that fast I put away probably 70% of what I was reading. ?Which again, sounds like a lot but is not. ?But like Mr Connely says: ?eventually your brain just ?catches up?.?

I?m amazed by how well this model worked. ?Today I?m currently reading 600+ words per minute with essentially 100% comprehension. ?I described it as though ?a curtain had been lifted from my brain.? ?

I don?t know the guy at all, but I will say this: if you want to learn how to read faster, go get this little Kindle book. ?It?s a dollar. ?I?m so happy with the results I bought all of his books simply out of appreciation. ? ?How to Improve Your Memory & Remember Everything is also excellent, and a very fast read (especially after you learn to speed read) and addressed a few issues on my problem list.

Also, watch Limitless the next time you?re in a rut- perhaps you?ll be inspired to make your own list of problems and solutions?

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Source: http://divinitynine.tumblr.com/post/47063858691

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