Compulsive training and reading

Quite often our students focus on HOW they read and not on WHAT they read. This focus may generate overload and reduce both reading speed and reading comprehension. Please try to do all the preparatory work during prereading, do all the performance analysis after reading, and concentrate on reading when you read. One way to do it is active reading. A totally different way to address the subject is reducing the stress level.

Reducing your stress level is a sure way to happiness for most of us. Around 20% of us suffer from stress or anxiety disorder, and additional 50% of us simply complain on stress and anxiety. Probably 90% of people reading this post and 100% of people writing it need to relax. There are many ways to do it. Meditation, sleep, sports, social activity, reducing coffee and sugar intake, practising gratitude [gives a totally different perspective].

Another suggestion: do not measure your performance too often. Do it once a week not 5 times a day. Over-analysis is a sure way to paralysis. Do not stress yourself more than you need, do not measure the things you do not REALLY need to measure. Relax and let go. The amount of mental energy released will probably generate a quantum leap in your life.

DJ
Really like this post. Isn’t there an application that can be used to track the amount of time spent in an app? I do a lot of reading on my iPhone but I always feel inadequate and like I’m not meeting the daily reading and practicing goals if I’m not consciously tracking how much time is spent doing each one.

LG
Thank you for your honesty. Many people feel this way.
Anna/Jonathan might help you with timing and measuring.
Controversially, I think that it is better not to measure your reading more than 20 min a day.
Checking your progress too often may generate compulsive habit that may keep you from concentrating on content and reaching your full potential.
Try to calm down and be confident in your skills, your experience may improve as a result.

TS
My issues are my eyes constantly move out of the lines when I am reading and my brain tends to be very racy and fixate on words or sentences previously read. In addition, my eyes tend to skim over sentences and words and I have great difficulty to consciously control my eyeball movements as a result no comprehension

LG
It seams you overestimate the amount of problems right now.
Once your confidence builds up sufficiently hight, your focus will switch from how you read to what you read and this will make the difference
Just relax and keep reading. Try meditation – it helped with my overfocus. Sports also help, especially swimming.
If you can afford 1:1 with Anna, she can easily help both with technique and with extreme self-awareness, but this is not a must.

Whatever you do, use your stress to motivate you and to focus you. Do not allow it to control you or interfere with your activities.