Thinking while reading is very natural for someone who reads slowly but very complex for someone who reads fast. First of all, when speedreading the brain is just too busy. It has to follow the prepare-read-analyse cycle of building up interest, absorbing the information and retaining the information absorbed. When generating interest it needs to follow the reasoning of the text for accurate understanding. When absorbing in needs to be quiet which as hard. And when analysing it has to be consistent to the main theme of markers [e.g. all markers should be in the same genre], which implies complex creativity .
Basically you do not have time to question yourself: “did I choose the right markers?” or “did I get the content correctly?” or “what was that name/date again?”. If you do have time to ask this questions in the middle of paragraph, this means you should read faster. Now the paragraph is over. You should ask yourself the following question: “should I reread the paragraph, stop and think or continue reading”.
If you missed some crucial information you need to reread that particular information slowly enough to remember it. If you do not get what you just read than read again. Some people regularly jump over the paragraphs they have difficulty to focus on, like abstract. This is plain wrong strategy. Read what needs to be read and read as slowly as you need to understand what you read. Finally, sometimes, paragraphs contain important information. This information may be important enough to stop and to think, trying to link the paragraph to prior knowledge.
Once you finish reading a whole section or article (3-10 paragraphs) you need to stop and re-evaluate everything you just learned. This is also a good time to create a wide net of links. Try to evaluate the section from multiple perspectives and determine further reading wishlist or action items.
It is better to read slower and create proper analysis of the text, than to read faster and create false knowledge. Rereading lines of text may be counter-productive, but do reread the paragraphs you do not understand, and always stop to think at the end of the article.
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