| If you know what you want from an article, and recognizing its type, you can extract information from it quickly and efficiently. Get 80% of the information in 20% of the time by simply reading the title, subtitle, bold type, last paragraph and first paragraph--spend only 30-45 seconds. Then reflect on the relevance of the information for you. If it is important to read more, go to the next step. Otherwise, find another article.
Take 1-2 minutes to skim through the article to find the core idea. Know what is being expressed. Do you need more details? If not, find another article.
Read lightly and flexibly. Know what you need. Slow down to fulfill your purpose, answering questions that are most important to you. Since very few words carry the meaning, speed up to pass redundant or useless information. Try reading several words, a phrase, or even a sentence at a time. A good way to practice this is to read newspaper articles by scanning down the column, digesting all the words across, instead of reading each word at a time. A newspaper column usually has 4 or 5 words per line, and you should be able to process all of them at once. Newspapers tend to be arranged in sections. If you read a news paper often, you can learn quickly which sections are useful and which ones you can skip altogether. The most effective way of getting information from magazines is to scan the contents tables or indexes and turn directly to interesting articles. If you find an article useful, then cut it out and file it in a folder specifically covering that sort of information. In this way you will build up sets of related articles that may begin to explain the subject. This method is one of the best for getting used to reading phases instead of words. Just practicing reading this way should noticeably increase your speed. Browse through the publication (frontward or backwards) and you get to know what is in it and where it is located. Notice the layout and how the information is presented. Notice the table of contents and any special sections.
Notice which articles pique your interest, but don't read them yet. Reading for information should be a goal seeking activity. Decide how much time you can afford, and then go for it. Catch titles, subtitles, pictures, and charts. When you find something interesting, think of how you can use it. These tend to give a very fragmented coverage of an area. They will typically only concentrate on the most interesting and glamorous parts of a topic - this helps them to sell copies! They will often ignore less interesting information that may be essential to a full understanding of a subject. Typically areas of useful information are padded out with large amounts of irrelevant waffle or with advertising.
Be active, ask the questioning and be goal oriented. Save time and get more information from the time you spend reading. Storage important articles, pass them on, or recycle the publication. Don't be serious, It's best to be playful.
Follow this tips and your reading will become purposeful. | 
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