9 Most Effective Reading Tips You Need To Get The Most Out Of Study

We all know that reading is just an act of recognizing written words and symbols with the aim of understanding what they represent or connote (i.e. their meaning and the relationship between each words).

It is often described as an act of getting information or facts about a subject matter.

However, studying being an active exercise, could turn out to be a waste of time if one fails to understand the context of what is being read i.e. when one is unable to make out meaning from what he/she is reading.

Therefore, we can say that, it is not every act of reading/studying that ends up being productive.

So when can we say that reading is productive?

Reading is productive only when one is able to accurately understand and interpret a text.

Meanwhile it doesn't stop there . It also involves being able to form argument and questions within the context of the text read, so as to gain better understanding of the book/text.

In simple sentence, we can say that reading is produc

all about reading a book to understand, evaluate, and make judgments about it.

Benefits Of Being Able to Read Effectively

Basically, we know Reading (whether it is productive or not) is important to our personal development because that's how we can easily gain tons of knowledge everyday.

And judging from its concept, the importance of being able to read effectively can neither be de-emphasized because it helps us to improve our reading skills, read in a more focused manner and as a result, get the most out of study.

Effective reading equally help us whenever we read for academic purpose i.e. when reading for exam or test, writing assignment or presentation, and when doing some research. Because it always make us to stand out among peers in term of knowledge and vocabulary.

How To Read Effectively And Get The Most Out Of Study

Reading to understand any kind of material (especially academic materials), doesn't happen at the same rate to everyone.  This is simply because we are all different when using our mental faculties.

Yes, we have different learning styles, different patterns, background, reading habits and stimulants. Which all contribute to the productivity of our studying and influence the choice of our reading technique. But don't worry, i gat your back in spite of all this differences.

So how can you always get the most out of study in spite of all these factors?

Firstly, you have to identify what your purpose of reading the text is.

It can be:

• To know the main subject, idea or topic discussed

• To sift the wheat from the shaft; like kind of extraction.

• To answer questions

• To follow a guideline

• To acquire knowledge about something new

• To criticize or to derive pleasure

Secondly, you have to choose a techniques that matches your purpose of reading the text. In other words, you have to apply a reading method that can help you to easily achieve your purpose of reading.

These reading techniques include:

• Skimming

• Scanning

• Extensive reading

• Intensive reading

Thence, to get the most out of your study, you have to be careful of what technique(s) to use in developing your ideas and arguments, by considering the main purpose of your reading ( i.e. whatever you're trying to maximize the text for).

Having highlighted that your reading technique or strategy should be based on your purpose of reading a book (which could be one of those listed above), it is equally important that you also consider the following tips to get the most out of study.

1: Choose An Environment That Is Good For Reading

Ordinarily, there's nothing wrong with reading anywhere as far as you're convenient with the place. But it is always advisable to choose or create an environment that enables you to study more effectively.

A study-enabling environment should be one that is well-lighted, ventilated, free from noise and distractions, safe – so that you won't have to worry about your security, convenient – but not too convenient like lying on your bed...., and that us memorable –  so that it can aid your retentiveness.

This can be your school library, a designated place, or a spot in your room.

2: Choose What To Read

When I say choose what to read, I do not explicitly mean you should pick only the books you find interesting. Of course you should if you're just developing your interest in reading.

But what I meant by that statement is that, you should select what to read based on what your purpose of reading is (as stated above). What you choose to read may be a topic/section/chapter of a book that answers your need i.e. your intention or purpose.

However, you can just flip through the pages of the material and look at the headings, subheadings, the introductions and the conclusions, to know what part is  relevant to your purpose.

Please note: this method is not applicable when reading your self-written notebook.

3: Make Connections With The Text

Having chose what to read, you should start reading by linking what you've already known to what is inside the text i.e. to what the text is saying. 

In other words, you can get the most out of every book you read by linking the ideas therein with your own primary knowledge about the topic/subject. You can also connect the ideas with your personal or real life experiences.

However, there are times we read things that are not connected to us, especially if they're new ideas. So in this case, I suggest that you make connections by representing the ideas with very related physical or imaginary objects (visualising).

4: Master Skimming

Am sure you know what skimming is, but in case you don't; it is an excellent way of knowing the main idea and other important part of a text, without having to read the whole book. 

So mastering this art of skimming will certainly help you to easily collect relevant information while studying in a quicker and more efficient way. 

Practicing it, will also help you to always focus on the relevant texts in a book. But you may wonder "how do I know what parts to read and what parts to pass by?" Well, since you already have an intention before settling down to read a book, it should be very easy for you to determine what, when and even how to skim.

Nevertheless, you should consider reading the table of content; the introductory and ending parts of a material; the introductory sentence of each paragraphs; examples contained in the text or even any text that stands out; in a more intense and careful manner (usually at average speed).

5: Avoid Bad Reading Habits

To read effectively also depends on your reading habit, at least, to some extent. This is why you have to always try as much as possible, to avoid some bad reading habit which you might have considered to be helpful. Else, you won't get the best while studying.

Some of the poor reading habits that can affect the effectiveness of your reading include; reading out words to yourself, tracing words with pen or finger, rereading a phrase or an expression due to lack of concentration, moving your head sideways instead of your eyes, shaking your legs while reading, reading while lying down and so on. All these habit needs to be avoided/dealt with so that you can fully enhance your understanding.

6: Take & Make Notes

Taking note of salient points and making note of supporting details about a text will help you big time to understand and remember the the main idea of a book, especially when you're revising, writing assignments, or preparing for a test/exam.

You should always take note of relevant ideas or point of views while reading, by either rewriting them using your jotter or underling them (except if you've borrowed the book from the library or someone else). Meanwhile, taking note in your own words and even adding your own personal ideas rather than rewriting the relevant points (as it is in the text), will help you big time to maximize your reading.

7: Generate Questions

Asking and writing down relevant questions while reading a book, with the intention of answering them either to help you assimilate the more or to get new ideas, will help you to stay active while reading and help you to digest and retain information better and longer.

It will even help you to score your findings and emphasise on the valid assumptions and ideas gained.

8: Learn To Summarize

Summarizing a text involves describing what you've gained in a text and reinterpreting the point of views in a reduced but precise form. And since each paragraph often represent new point of view, it's advisable to summarize each paragraph in your own words.

This is because, it will help keep your brain engaged and make sure that you understand what you've read. Although, you may later summarize the whole text, but it's more beneficial to use that approach– summarizing each paragraph. Besides, it will be more easier to summarize the whole text later as you will only be doing the "summary of all summaries".

9: Have Some Breaks

Studying for many hours without break because you want to make the most of your time can stress you and even make you lose interest and concentration in reading. Thence, making your reading less effective.

Therefore, you have to take regular breaks when reading or studying so that you can allow your brain to have some rest and process what you've read. This will give you more chance to cover much areas and take in as much as possible.

Final Thought

In conclusion, to get the most out of study, you have to read effectively. And before your reading can produce the desired result, you have to be purposive and develop a strategy.

I know it'll take a while before you fully integrate these tips to improve your reading skill, but am very sure that you'll experience nothing less if you try them and get used to them.

Well, that's all the productive tips I have for now and I'll keep adding more tips as I try and learn new things. You can also help me with more tips by leaving a comment below.

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